Decisions · Application Serial No. 87484450
In re Integra Biosciences Corp.
Application Serial No. 87484450 · Decided 2022-01-24 · Other
What happened
The Board refused to register the pastel blue color of pipette-tip rack inserts as a trademark: lab suppliers commonly color-code tip sizes, so the color is not inherently a brand, buyers have not come to see it as one, and using color to signal size is functional.
The marks
Applicant
Pastel Blue single-color mark - the color pastel blue, defined as Pantone number 550C, applied to the packaging for pipette tips, specifically on the rack inserts (rectangular plastic trays having aligned rows and columns of vertical openings for holding an array of disposable pipette tips in a box or tub); the specifically claimed tint and hue of pastel blue alone is the mark; broken lines showing the rack-insert shape indicate position only; color pastel blue claimed as a feature of the mark
"Disposable pipette tips fitted with a customized mounting shaft," in International Class 9
Why this decision is significant
Precedential application of Seabrook/Forney to single-color packaging marks — pastel colors on rack inserts are a mere refinement of the industry’s common tip-size color-coding — with functionality resting on the applicant’s own declarations tying each color to a tip size.
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
In re National Concessions Group, Inc.
The Board refused BAKKED for an ‘essential oil dispenser’ because the product is actually a cannabis dabbing tool — federal drug-paraphernalia law makes it unlawful in commerce, and…
87168058 · 2023-05-03 · BAKKED (standard characters)
In re National Concessions Group, Inc.
The Board refused the teardrop logo used on the same cannabis dabbing tool as the BAKKED word mark: because the product is federal drug paraphernalia, no federal trademark registration is…
87183434 · 2023-05-03 · Stylized drop design mark -- "The mark consists of two parallel curved lines forming a teardrop, being wrapped around a smaller solid teardrop." Color is not claimed as a feature of the mark.
In re Erik Brunetti
The Board affirmed the refusal to register FUCK (standard characters) for cell phone and laptop carrying cases, eyewear cases, spectacles and sunglasses, finding the word is such a…
88308426 · 2022-08-22 · FUCK (standard characters)
In re Erik Brunetti
The Board affirmed the refusal to register FUCK (standard characters) for jewelry, earrings, rings, bracelets, lapel pins, watches and watch accessories, finding that widespread third-party…
88308434 · 2022-08-22 · FUCK (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.
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.