A recent decision from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) highlighted several mistakes made by the Applicant when appealing a descriptiveness refusal. See In re Olawale Mafolasire, Serial Nos. 85895010, 85895067, 85895083 and 85895103 (January 12, 2016), where the Board affirmed the Examining Attorney’s refusal to register several…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently reminded trademark owners that secondary meaning may not necessarily develop over time for a merely descriptive trademark. A merely descriptive mark is one that describes a feature, function, purpose, ingredient, quality, or use of an applicant’s goods or services. This…
In a recent precedential decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the Board) issued on April 21, 2015 the Board affirmed the Examiner’s refusal to register the mark BUYAUTOPARTS.COM with a disclaimer for “.com”. Meridian Rack & Pinion (the “Applicant”) sought registration on the Supplemental Register for the mark…
At the end of 2014, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board” or “TTAB”) issued a surprising decision (albeit non-precedential), finally questioning the rule that bars all titles of single creative works from receiving federal trademark registration. See In re King Productions, Inc. Serial No. 76703458 (November 19, 2014)…
One of the most frequently asked questions in our trademark practice is, can my last name be used as a trademark? The answer is that it depends on the nature of the surname. In this blog post we will examine an example of when a surname can be used as…
One week ago in a precedential opinion, the TTAB affirmed the Examining Attorney’s refusal of the mark TOURBILLON & Design filed by The Swatch Group Management Services AG (hereinafter either “Applicant” or “Swatch”). The proposed trademark TOURBILLON & Design was seeking registration for “jewellery, horological and chronometric instruments” in International…
In a precedential decision released on February 28, 2014, the TTAB (Trademark Trial and Appeal Board) granted the petition for cancellation of Frito-Lay Inc. (“Frito-Lay”) and the Board declared the term “Pretzel Crisps” was generic for pretzel crackers. In turn, the Supplemental Registration for Pretzel Crisps owned by Princeton Vanguard,…
On February 6, 2013, King.com Limited (“King”), the social game publisher of the popular Candy Crush Saga, filed a trademark application for the mark CANDY in international classes 9, 25, & 41. Among other goods and services, King was looking to protect the term CANDY for computer games, downloadable software,…