Decisions · Application Serial No. 87054820
In re Guaranteed Rate, Inc.
Application Serial No. 87054820 · Decided 2020-07-30 · Other
What happened
The Board refused to register GUARANTEED RATE in plain words for mortgage lending services: the phrase merely describes a mortgage feature (a rate that is guaranteed), and the company’s huge sales and advertising figures did not prove consumers see it as a brand because many competitors use the same phrase descriptively.
The marks
Applicant
GUARANTEED RATE (in standard characters), under the provisions of Section 2(f) of the Trademark Act based on a claim of acquired distinctiveness
"Financial services, namely, mortgage refinancing; mortgage banking; mortgage banking services, namely, origination, acquisition, servicing, securitization and brokerage of mortgage loans; mortgage brokerage; mortgage lending; mortgage refinancing," in Class 36 (referred to collectively in the opinion as "mortgage lending services")
Why this decision is significant
Precedential application of the heightened acquired-distinctiveness burden for highly descriptive terms — $140 million in advertising and $3.58 billion in loan volume failed against widespread third-party descriptive use — plus Rule 2.142(g) conditional-disclaimer practice for the companion design mark.
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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