Decisions · 85710350
In re Canine Caviar Pet Foods, Inc.
Serial No. 85710350 · Decided 2018-05-17 · Other
What happened
Refusals mostly reversed — 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 that the food contains fish eggs, but it affirmed the requirement that the applicant disclaim the descriptive word CANINE.
The marks
Applicant
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)
"animal foodstuffs, pet foods, edible pet treats" in International Class 31
Why this decision is significant
Precedential two-prong deceptiveness analysis holding that a plausibly literal ingredient term (CAVIAR) used metaphorically for luxury quality is not misdescriptive of pet food; useful template for laudatory-metaphor rebuttals to Section 2(a)/2(e)(1) refusals. Split disposition (disclaimer requirement affirmed) adds practical interest.
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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