system
A chat on subreddit /r/wallstreetbets
human
&gt; the owner doesn't even care that he can't franchise

That doesn't sound right.  If they had the name first and were actively using it appropriately, then BB is actually infringing on _their_ rights and not the opposite.
gpt
It's been a while since I asked about it (because I thought the same as you) and I'm not a lawyer, so take this with a grain of salt. But, from what I remember they're allowed to keep using it because they could prove they had been using it for some years before the show. However, since they never filed a trademark they couldn't expand the use of the name.