Decisions · 87405211
In re Ocean Technology, Inc.
Serial No. 87405211 · Decided 2019-11-21 · Other
What happened
The Board refused a crab-picture label reading ALL NATURAL 100% REAL CALLINECTES CRAB GOURMET CRABMEAT PASTEURIZED for crabmeat: the words and even the realistic crab picture just tell shoppers what the product is, so the label does not function as a brand, and the company also failed to answer the examiner’s required questions.
The marks
Applicant
ALL NATURAL 100% REAL CALLINECTES CRAB GOURMET CRABMEAT PASTEURIZED and design -- stylized wording "ALL NATURAL" above a crab design, "Gourmet" in stylized italicized font over the crab's right claw, "CRABMEAT" in stylized uppercase font inside a shaded banner beneath the crab, and "PASTEURIZED" along the bottom; to the right of the crab design a small label consisting of a stylized circular design and the wording "100% REAL Callinectes CRAB"; "CRAB" and "CRABMEAT" disclaimed; color not claimed
"Crabmeat" in International Class 29 (as amended; originally "crabmeat; package combinations consisting primarily of crabmeat; packaged entrees consisting primarily of crabmeat; prepared appetizers consisting primarily of crabmeat")
Why this decision is significant
Precedential extension of picture-word legal equivalence to failure-to-function — a photorealistic crab image is itself merely informational — plus confirmation that Rule 2.61(b) noncompliance is an independently sufficient ground of refusal.
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.
Related decisions
Application saved by disclaimer
In re Panificio Villa S.r.l.
After the Board initially upheld the requirement that Panificio Villa disclaim exclusive rights in the descriptive term PIZZACCIA in its stylized pizza-bakery logo, the company timely filed…
79351998 · 2025-07-29 · PIZZACCIA (stylized) with tagline LA PIZZA PIÙ FOCACCIA CHE C'È!
In re Gail Weiss
The Board affirmed the refusal to register GABBY’S TABLE for computerized on-line retail store services featuring food, cookware, and culinary/lifestyle books, magazines and videos, because…
88621608 · 2024-07-31 · GABBY'S TABLE
In re Carlton Cellars, LLC
The Board refused registration of SEVEN DEVILS for wine and wine accessories because the applicant listed goods spanning four different filing categories but paid for only one and never…
87438793 · 2020-03-11 · SEVEN DEVILS
In re Rainier Enterprises, LLC
The Board dismissed the appeal and let the vodka applicant’s application go abandoned because the applicant never fixed a required drawing and color-claim problem with its MONTE CARLO…
87384516 · 2019-12-03 · MONTE CARLO and design (words "MONTE CARLO" in red with six small red and two white diamonds at the top right of "O" in "CARLO"; words "WORLD'S MOST PRESTIGIOUS VODKA" in black below "MONTE CARLO"; all words outlined in gold; colors red, black, and gold claimed)
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.
Who checked this
Not yet reviewed by an attorney. This summary is generated from coded data, and it says so until a lawyer has read it.
Provenance — Generated from database rows without re-reading the opinion.
General information about how trademark law works. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not make anyone your lawyer.