Decisions · 85281360
In re Heatcon, Inc.
Serial No. 85281360 · Decided 2015-09-29 · Other
What happened
Refusal upheld — the control-panel configuration of Heatcon’s composite-repair hot bonder was found dictated by function rather than source identity, and functional product shapes cannot be registered even on the Supplemental Register.
The marks
Applicant
3D product configuration of HCS9200M Composite Repair Set user interface
Equipment for controlling and recording the application of heat and pressure during composite fabrication, repair and assembly operations, namely, portable hot bonder units incorporating heat controllers with thermocouple connections, vacuum controllers with vacuum connections, display screens, power connections, and printers (Class 9)
Why this decision is significant
Precedential opinion clarifying that Section 2(e)(5) does not govern the Supplemental Register — Section 23(c) does, applying the same functionality case law — and providing a full Morton-Norwich analysis of a configuration composed entirely of functional parts; cited by one decision in this database. Re-proposed with justification per the 2026-07-04 deferral.
Research significance is Trademark Valet's editorial rating of how useful a decision is to practitioners. It is not a statement of precedential weight — that is the separate Precedential field, which comes from the Board.
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The original record
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