“Pariah Island” Series Name to Change
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008The Red Band Film Company is unable to secure the name “Pariah Island” as a trademark through the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The word is currently trademarked by Hollywood producer Gavin Polone as the name of his production company, “Pariah”.
An attempt to resolve the conflict was made by Red Band management and Mr. Polone, without success.
The PTO took over six months to rule on the application of “Pariah Island”, and an early trademark search did not reveal any problems.
Red Band is now working on renaming the series, although the phrase “Pariah Island” may be retained as the name of the fictional setting of the show, referenced only occasionally in dialog between the characters.
The official series site, www.pariahisland.com, will be retooled once the new name is finalized. In the interim, a message explaining the issue will be put on that site, and site functionality will be limited.
“We are not in the business of intellectual property theft,” Red Band executive Chris Paris said. “We respect Mr. Polone’s trademark and will not infringe on it. We are early enough into the production that a name change is easily accomplished.”