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Trademark Valet

Decisions · 86433989

PrecedentialNotableNo later change on its docket

In re Construction Research & Technology GmbH

Serial No. 86433989 · Decided 2017-05-17 · Other

What happened

The Board affirmed the refusal to register NP - - - for joint sealant compounds because the trailing dashes stand in for up to three changing digits, so the application really tried to claim more than a thousand different possible marks instead of the single mark an application is allowed to cover.

The marks

Applicant

NP - - -

"sealant compounds for joints" in International Class 17

Why this decision is significant

Precedential holding that a product-grade mark with a variable numeric suffix (‘- - -’ standing in for up to three digits) is an impermissible phantom mark even though facially capped — more than a thousand permutations exceed the single mark an application may claim. Shared rating with companion SL - - -.

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The original record

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