Decisions · 87168719
In re Lee Greenwood
Serial No. 87168719 · Decided 2020-12-01 · Other
What happened
The Board affirmed refusal of GOD BLESS THE USA as a trademark for pillows and decorative wood/wall items because dozens of unrelated sellers already use the same patriotic phrase on similar decorative goods, so consumers would see it as a patriotic sentiment rather than a brand; the Board also rejected the singer’s fallback attempt to add his own registered name/collection mark to the front of the phrase, holding that change was too big a change to the mark to allow.
The marks
Applicant
GOD BLESS THE USA
"accent pillows; decorative centerpieces of wood," in International Class 20 and "decorative wall hangings, not of textile" in International Class 27
Why this decision is significant
Precedential decision providing the Board’s most thorough historical treatment of the material-alteration doctrine under Trademark Rule 2.72, resolving conflicting dicta between Florasynth and In re John LaBatt Ltd., alongside a well-developed failure-to-function analysis applying the D.C. One Wholesaler/Wal-Mart line to a celebrity-associated patriotic phrase.
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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