MTV Sued Overseas

MTV has had a prominent presence in the United States since the station launched in 1981. Since launching, the music channel has expanded into several countries overseas with seemingly no problems.

When MTV recently attempted to expand into Hungary, though, the station was met with resistance. Hungary’s leading public television station, Magyar Televizio, with its initials "MTV", is suing MTV Music Television for trademark infringement. Magyar Televizio is claiming that it has been using "MTV" as its initials for decades and currently has the initials registered with the Hungarian Patent Office. Most countries' trademark law gives a trademark owner the right to exclude others from using a mark which may be confusingly similar to its own mark.

Will trademark infringement kill the music video star?