Decisions · 86782562
In re Weiss Watch Company, Inc.
Serial No. 86782562 · Decided 2017-06-13 · Other
What happened
Registration refused — WEISS WATCH COMPANY is primarily merely a surname under Section 2(e)(4). The Board rejected applicant’s foreign equivalents doctrine argument (that WEISS means ‘white’ in German) because WEISS is not the standard German orthography (correct spelling is ‘weiß’ with eszett). Census data, phone directories, and applicant’s own website identifying WEISS as the founder’s name supported the surname finding.
The marks
Applicant
WEISS WATCH COMPANY
Cases for clocks/watches, clocks and watches, watches, watch parts, watch cases, and related goods
Why this decision is significant
Precedential decision on foreign equivalents doctrine in surname context. Establishes that non-standard foreign spelling defeats the doctrine — WEISS vs. weiß distinction dispositive.
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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