• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, November 22, 2023

When SSP (supply-side platform) OpenX announced a reboot and rebranding of its purported CTV ad inventory solution to "TV+," rival platform Simulmedia COO Jon Werther spoke with OpenX CEO John Gentry asking him to stop using the name -- which has long been the federally registered trademark of Simulmedia's CTV advertising inventory solution.

Nearly a week later, OpenX is still using it and Simulmedia isn't happy about it.

“I’m totally surprised, because when you’re going to rename your platform you should No. 1, check to see if it’s used in the market; and No. 2, is it federally marked?," Simulmedia CEO Dave Morgan told MediaPost, adding: "Obviously, we’re going to have to take legal action to stop them."

Morgan, a practicing lawyer himself before he entered the ad tech world, noted that Simulmedia first originally filed for the TV+ trademark in 2012 and that it was granted registration in 2017.

He also said that, while other industry players -- most notably the Apple TV+ streaming platform -- incorporates the name, it is always connected with Apple, and it's a service marketed to consumers and not the advertising industry so there likely is no market confusion about it.

But the biggest reason Morgan says he's taking action against OpenX is that Simulmedia has spent years building a brand associated with high-quality CTV and linear TV advertising inventory, and OpenX is only cleaning up its act now after what he said has been years of peddling a mix of "web video" and "out-stream video" as part of a CTV advertising offering, and he doesn't want Simulmedia's brand to be associated with that.

"I can understand the nature of their announcement is that their platform has been selling a lot of web video out-stream video, labeled apparently as CTV. And now they’re putting a new label on it and saying, ‘Hey, we’re cleaning all that up and we’re taking stuff down and now it’s all CTV, so don’t worry that you’re going to be buying bad stuff, too high, mislabeled on a platform anymore'," Morgan explained, adding: "Obviously, I don’t want to be associated with someone who has been selling mislabeled video as CTV, so it’s particularly concerning to us."

OpenX executives did not return multiple MediaPost attempts to reach out for a comment and/or clarification on their announcement by presstime.

A search query conducted by MediaPost on OpenX's website this morning returned 46 results for the term "TV+," including OpenX's November 16 press release and a blog post explaining the platform's reboot and rebranding.