Decisions · 86358219
In re Mecca Grade Growers, LLC
Serial No. 86358219 · Decided 2018-03-12 · Section 2(e)(1) Ex Parte Appeal, Genericness (Supplemental Register) Ex Parte Appeal
What happened
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 services and is in fact the common name for malt made by a mechanized floor-malting process.
The marks
Applicant
MECHANICALLY FLOOR-MALTED
Malt for brewing and distilling (Class 31); processing of agricultural grain (Class 40)
Why this decision is significant
Precedential decision holding that an adjectival phrase can be generic and that genericness does not require third-party use of the precise term where the applicant’s own specimen supplies the most damaging evidence. It is a standard citation for applying the Marvin Ginn/Gould framework to phrases and for the probative force of an applicant’s own marketing statements.
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.
The original record
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