Decisions · 86700941
In re Vox Populi Registry Ltd.
Serial No. 86700941 · Decided 2020-10-29 · Other
What happened
The Board upheld the refusal to register the plain word mark .SUCKS for domain registry and domain-name-registration services, finding that consumers see .SUCKS as just another web-address ending rather than as a brand name identifying who is providing the service.
The marks
Applicant
.SUCKS (standard characters)
"Domain registry operator services related to the gTLD in the mark," in International Class 42; and "Domain name registration services featuring the gTLD in the mark; registration of domain names for identification of users on a global computer network featuring the gTLD in the mark," in International Class 45
Why this decision is significant
Precedential opinion establishing how the Board applies the failure-to-function/gTLD framework from TMEP 1215.02(d) and In re AC Webconnecting to a real registry operator’s own bare gTLD mark, including how it weighs interested-party declarations and third-party gTLD-use evidence.
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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In re Vox Populi Registry Ltd.
The Board also upheld the refusal to register .SUCKS shown in a retro, pixelated ‘LED display’ style font for domain registry services, finding the special lettering was too ordinary…
87187215 · 2020-10-29 · .SUCKS displayed in a stylized "font suggesting an LED display" (retro pixelated font resembling early CRT computer-screen lettering)
Refusal affirmed
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The Board held that .CAM (in plain text) cannot be registered even on the Supplemental Register for webcam-related business, telecommunication and entertainment services, because consumers…
85635277 · 2020-09-15 · .CAM (standard characters)
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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