Research library · Decisions
The decision library
178 Board decisions, each coded to a fixed schema and rewritten so a non-lawyer can follow it. The outcome is on every card, so you can rule one out without opening it. Every record also says whether its own Board docket has been checked for a later reversal or vacatur — 25 have not been, and they say so. A docket check does not show whether later cases changed the law.
All 28 industries
By du Pont factor
97–120 of 178 decisions · newest first · page 5 of 8
In re Society of Health and Physical Educators
The Board refused SHAPE XXXX (where XXXX stands for any U.S. state name or Puerto Rico) for an educators' association’s materials and services because one application may only seek…
87107590 · 2018-08-16 · SHAPE XXXX (standard characters; per Applicant's miscellaneous statement, as amended, "The 'XXXX' in the mark denotes the unabbreviated name of a state of the United States and Puerto Rico," clarified by the Board to mean a single state name or Puerto Rico, not multiple state names)
In re Peace Love World Live, LLC
The Board upheld the refusal to register I LOVE YOU for bracelets on two independent grounds: the phrase, spelled out across the bracelet’s segments, is merely decorative wording rather…
86705287 · 2018-07-23 · I LOVE YOU v. I LUV U
Refusal upheld
In re I-Coat Company, LLC
I-Coat’s INDIGO marks (word and two design versions) for corrective lenses were found too similar to the registered INDIGOSNOW and INDIGO marks for eyewear, blocking all three applications.
86802467, 86802618, and 86802733 · 2018-06-07 · INDIGO (and variants) v. INDIGOSNOW / INDIGO
In re Inn at St. John's, LLC
The Board found 5IVE STEAKHOUSE (with a fork-and-knife design) for restaurant and bar services too similar to the registered mark 5IVESTEAK for identical services, and blocked the newer…
87075988 · 2018-06-06 · 5IVE STEAKHOUSE and design (the wording "5ive" in stylized letters, set above the design of an intersecting fork and knife, all set above the word "Steakhouse"; "Steakhouse" disclaimed) v. 5IVESTEAK and design (wording 5IVESTEAK presented in the colors red and brown, with red in the number "5" and letters "IVE" and brown in the letters "STEAK"; colors red and brown claimed as a feature of the mark)
Refusals mostly reversed
In re Canine Caviar Pet Foods, Inc.
The Board held CANINE CAVIAR for pet foods is not deceptive and not deceptively misdescriptive because ‘caviar’ would be understood as a metaphor for premium quality rather than a claim…
85710350 · 2018-05-17 · CANINE CAVIAR (standard characters; disclaimer of "CANINE" offered in the alternative; claim of acquired distinctiveness under Section 2(f) for the mark as a whole)
In re Mueller Sports Medicine, Inc.
The Board upheld the refusal to register RECOIL for medical and athletic cohesive tape, finding the word merely describes the tape’s ability to stretch and spring back to its original shape.
87209946 · 2018-05-16 · RECOIL
In re American Furniture Warehouse CO
For a stylized “American Furniture Warehouse / Lifestyle Furniture” logo used on retail furniture stores, the Board agreed the wording is merely descriptive of a place and type of store…
86407531 · 2018-04-23 · Stylized design mark consisting of a curved letter "A" beginning the word "AMERICAN" (with stripes on the left side of the A and a swooping ribbon design filled with stars on the right, with an outer line that turns and dots the letter "I" with one star), under which appears "FURNITURE WAREHOUSE", under which appears "LIFESTYLE FURNITURE"
Refusal upheld
In re FCA US LLC
Jeep-maker FCA’s MOAB for vehicles and parts is too similar to the registered MOAB INDUSTRIES for automotive conversion services, and an earlier court win by FCA involving the different…
85650654 · 2018-04-10 · MOAB v. MOAB INDUSTRIES
In re Aquitaine Wine USA, LLC
The Board refused to register a French winery’s LAROQUE wine label showing a house and vineyard because it was too similar to an already-registered wine brand called CHATEAU LAROQUE, even…
86928469 · 2018-04-02 · LAROQUE Cité de Carcassonne and design (word mark with picture of a house behind a field of grape vines with trees bordering both sides of the image; "Cité de Carcassonne" disclaimed) v. CHATEAU LAROQUE
In re Serial Podcast, LLC
The USPTO’s refusal to register the plain word mark SERIAL for Serial Podcast’s ongoing investigative audio program was upheld in full — the Board found SERIAL is simply the common name for…
86454420 · 2018-03-26 · SERIAL
In re Serial Podcast, LLC
The refusal to register Serial Podcast’s black-and-white logo mark — the word SERIAL in outlined letters, each letter inside a separate rounded-corner rectangle — was partially overturned…
86454424 · 2018-03-26 · SERIAL (word and design: the word 'SERIAL' in outlined letters, with each letter placed in a rectangle with rounded corners; color not claimed as a feature of the mark)
The refusal to register Serial Podcast's color logo mark
In re Serial Podcast, LLC
The word SERIAL in yellow letters outlined in red, each letter inside a black rounded-corner rectangle — was partially overturned: the color logo as a whole can be registered (with a note…
86464485 · 2018-03-26 · SERIAL (word and design: the word 'SERIAL' in yellow letters outlined in red, with each letter placed in a black rectangle with rounded corners; colors red, yellow, and black claimed as features of the mark; white in drawing represents background and is not a feature of the mark)
In re Mecca Grade Growers, LLC
The Board refused registration of MECHANICALLY FLOOR-MALTED for malt for brewing and distilling and for grain-processing services, finding the phrase simply describes those goods and…
86358219 · 2018-03-12 · MECHANICALLY FLOOR-MALTED
In re Minerva Associates, Inc.
The Board sided with the applicant, finding that screenshots showing the AWLVIEW mark displayed above the login and search screens of its downloadable warehouse-management software were…
86430215 · 2018-02-12 · AWLVIEW
Refusal reversed
In re Pitney Bowes, Inc.
The Board accepted Pitney Bowes' webpage specimen for its concentric-circles “pb” design mark covering mail and package delivery services, finding that the company’s explanation of how it…
86502157 · 2018-01-10 · a circle containing four partial circles on the left and three partial circles on the right, divided by the lower case letters "p" and "b", all resembling a series of concentric circles (design/special-form mark; color not claimed)
In re Solid State Design Inc.
The Board upheld the refusal to register a stylized “populace” mark with a person-silhouette design for map-based, real-time popularity-visualization software, finding it too similar to an…
87269041 · 2018-01-03 · populace (stylized, with silhouette of a person's head centered within the letter "o") v. populace (orb or ball-shaped design in alternating red/white bands, with the word "populace" below in small black letters)
In re Olin Corporation
The Board upheld the refusal to register OLIN for industrial chemicals, finding that OLIN is primarily merely a surname and that the applicant did not provide sufficient evidence that the…
86651083 · 2017-09-22 · OLIN
Refusal upheld
In re General Mills IP Holdings II, LLC
General Mills could not register the color yellow for Cheerios packaging because so many other cereal makers sell in yellow boxes that shoppers do not see the color alone as identifying a…
86757390 · 2017-08-22 · Color yellow
In re Keep A Breast Foundation
Three of four refusal grounds affirmed for 3D breast/torso cast trade dress for breast cancer awareness services. (1) All specimens failed — original showed mark but no services; first…
85316199 · 2017-08-17
Refusal upheld
In re Empire Technology Development LLC
COFFEE FLOUR names the product itself (flour made from coffee-cherry skins and pulp), and even the company that invented the category cannot register the generic name of the goods, not even…
85876688 · 2017-08-03 · COFFEE FLOUR (standard characters)
In re Change Wind Corp.
The Board refused Change Wind Corp.'s application to register the three-dimensional shape of its vertical-axis wind turbine — four twisting wings straddling a cone-topped cylindrical tower…
86046590 · 2017-07-20 · Three-dimensional product configuration of a wind-powered turbine: four vertically extending turbine wings, obliquely curved in a twisting (helical) manner, straddling a vertically extending cylindrical base that tapers at its upper end into a truncated cone (design-only configuration mark; Section 2(f) claimed)
Refusal affirmed (both marks)
In re PharmaCann LLC
The Board upheld the USPTO’s refusal to register PHARMACANN and PHARMACANNIS for retail-store and dispensing services featuring medical marijuana, holding that because selling and…
86520135 · 2017-06-16 · PHARMACANN
Refusal affirmed (both marks)
In re PharmaCann LLC
The Board upheld the USPTO’s refusal to register PHARMACANN and PHARMACANNIS for retail-store and dispensing services featuring medical marijuana, holding that because selling and…
86520138 · 2017-06-16 · PHARMACANNIS
Registration refused
In re Weiss Watch Company, Inc.
WEISS WATCH COMPANY is primarily merely a surname under Section 2(e)(4). The Board rejected applicant’s foreign equivalents doctrine argument (that WEISS means ‘white’ in German) because…
86782562 · 2017-06-13 · WEISS WATCH COMPANY
Who checked this
Drafted with automated assistance. Not yet reviewed by an attorney, and this page says so until it is.