Decisions · 86490930
In re Fat Boys Water Sports LLC
Serial No. 86490930 · Decided 2016-04-27 · Section 2(d) Ex Parte Appeal, Other
What happened
Refusal affirmed on both grounds — the Board found HOUSEBOAT BLOB for inflatable water-launch float pads merely descriptive (each word keeps its ordinary meaning in combination) and separately too similar to the registered mark THE BLOB for giant inflatable floating air bags, with the goods and trade channels overlapping.
The marks
Applicant
HOUSEBOAT BLOB (standard characters; BLOB disclaimed)
"Inflatable float mattresses or pads for recreational use, namely, mattresses and pads from which the user may be launched into the air and onto a body of water; Inflatable mattresses for recreational use, namely, mattresses from which the user may be launched into the air and onto a body of water" in International Class 28
Cited registration
THE BLOB (standard characters)
"Giant inflatable, floating air bags, constructed of PVC reinforced vinyl, for use by commercial, institutional, for-profit and not-for-profit youth camps, church camps, campgrounds, and other outdoor recreation businesses as a component of their aquatic recreational facilities, namely, the ocean, lakes, ponds, and swimming pools in which such floating air bags are placed such that patrons can jump from a diving platform onto, and be launched off of, such floating air bags and into the water" in International Class 28
How the marks compared
| Dimension | Finding | What the Board said |
|---|---|---|
| sound | Similar | Both marks share the distinctive word BLOB, which the Board found similar in sound despite the added word HOUSEBOAT. |
| appearance | Similar | The marks overlap in the shared term BLOB; THE and HOUSEBOAT are subordinate elements. |
| meaning | Similar | Both convey the same inflatable water-launch ‘blob’ product concept. |
| commercial impression | Similar | The shared distinctive term BLOB creates similar overall commercial impressions for overlapping inflatable goods. |
The Board found the marks similar overall based on the shared distinctive term BLOB, with the descriptive additions unable to distinguish them.
du Pont factors that bore on the outcome
| # | Factor | Weight | What the Board found |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Similarity of the marks | Dispositive — Favored Refusal | Comparing THE BLOB and HOUSEBOAT BLOB in their entireties, the Board found the marks similar in appearance and sound to the extent each includes BLOB, with HOUSEBOAT and THE as points of dissimilarity. |
| 2 | Relatedness of the goods or services | Dispositive — Favored Refusal | Applicant’s identification (inflatable float mattresses/pads from which a user is launched into the air and onto water) was compared to Registrant’s more specific identification (giant inflatable floating air bags of PVC reinforced vinyl for camps/outdoor recreation businesses, placed in bodies of water so patrons can jump from a platform and be launched off into the water). |
| 3 | Similarity of trade channels | Dispositive — Favored Refusal | Relying on the legal presumption applicable to legally identical goods (In re Viterra), the Board held Applicant’s and Registrant’s goods are presumed to move in the same trade channels to the same classes of consumers without requiring separate trade-channel evidence. |
Why this decision is significant
Precedential dual-ground affirmance useful on composite descriptiveness (combining two descriptive words adds no new meaning where each retains its ordinary significance) and on 2(d) analysis confined to the closest cited registration; also a clean example of ‘BLOB’ dominance analysis where the shared term is the distinctive element.
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
Read the opinion and every filing on the Board's own docket. The summary above is our paraphrase, not a quotation from the opinion. The opinion is the authority.
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