Annual Review
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® Official Journal of the International Trademark Association ANNUAL REVIEW United States: The Fifty-Seventh Year of Administration of the Lanham Trademark Act of 1946 David J. Kera Theodore H. Davis, Jr. Vol. 95 January-February, 2005 No. 1 INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARK ASSOCIATION Representing the Trademark Community since 1878 1133 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036-6710 USA Telephone: +1 (212) 768-9887 email: [email protected] Facsimile: +1 (212) 768-7796 OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION ANNE GUNDELFINGER..............................................................................................................President PAUL W. REIDL ...............................................................................................................President Elect RHONDA STEELE ..............................................................................................................Vice President DEE ANN WELDON-WILSON .............................................................................................Vice President RICHARD HEATH.......................................................................................................................Secretary SCOTT E. THOMPSON............................................................................................................... Treasurer ALAN C. DREWSEN .................................................................................................... Executive Director EDITORIAL BOARD SANDRA EDELMAN, Editor-in-Chief ROBERT M. KUNSTADT, International Original Articles Editor LANNING G. BRYER, International Original Articles Editor CLIFFORD W. BROWNING, United States Original Articles Editor SHERRI FELT DRATFIELD, United States Original Articles Editor BENJAMIN Y. AGRESS ELENA GRIMME REGINA A. O'BRIEN RAYMOND G. AREAUX STACY GROSSMAN SALVATORE ORLANDO ALLEN J. BADEN FRED W. HATHAWAY JOHN PEACOCK WILLIAM G. BARBER CHRISTY L.E. HUBBARD DEBORAH PECKHAM MARTIN J. BERAN JAMES HUMANN ANTHONY M. PRENOL DANIEL R. BERESKIN RITA M. IRANI H. JONATHAN REDWAY CHRISTOPHER P. BUSSERT SCOTT KAREFF PIER LUIGI RONCAGLIA MICHAEL CANTWELL IMAN KARKHANEHCHI MAURIZIO SARPI THOMAS L. CASAGRANDE BRUCE P. KELLER DARREN W. SAUNDERS ROSEMARIE CHRISTOFOLO FARRUKH I. KHAN ERIC P. SCHROEDER LAURENCE P. COLTON EDWARD G. LANCE IV MARK J. SEVER PATRICK CONCANNON BINGHAM B. LEVERICH ALEX SIMONSON JOHN M. CONE KWAN-TAO LI SUSAN A. SLATER RUTH CORBIN CARMEN LICHTENSTEIN BARRY I. SLOTNICK BARTH DE ROSA THAD G. LONG RANDY S. SPRINGER CHRIS DEJARDIN MARIE LUSSIER JAMES STRONSKI WENDY DIAZ KEVIN MACKINNON JAMES L. VANA JOAN L. DILLON MICHELLE MANCINO MARSH JOHN THOMAS WARLICK JON A. DORF DOUGLAS N. MASTERS MICHAEL J. WEBER TILA M. DUHAIME JONATHAN D. MATKOWSKY CONRAD WEINMANN JONATHAN M. EISENBERG JOHN GARY MAYNARD JORDAN S. WEINSTEIN CATE ELSTEN J. THOMAS MCCARTHY JOSEPH J. WEISSMAN THEOPHILUS I. EMUWA KATHLEEN E. MCCARTHY JOHN L. WELCH DANA A. FERESTIEN ANTONY J. MCSHANE SUSAN NEUBERGER WELLER GERALD L. FORD GABRIEL R. MENESES THOMAS WETTERMANN GREGORY FRANTZ CHRISTOPHER MICHELETTI PETER E. WILD EILEEN KING GILLIS C. JOE MILLER ERIN WILLIAMS CHRISTOPHER GLANCY KAREN A. MONROE DOUGLAS R. WOLF DANIEL C. GLAZER JONATHAN MOSKIN BARRY JOSEPH YEN MARIA K. NELSON RANDI MUSTELLO, Managing Editor JOHN MORALES, Assistant Editor Advisory Board—Former Editors MILES J. ALEXANDER THEODORE C. MAX PASQUALE A. RAZZANO WILLIAM M. BORCHARD VINCENT N. PALLADINO SUSAN REISS ANTHONY L. FLETCHER JOHN B. PEGRAM HOWARD J. SHIRE ARTHUR J. GREENBAUM ALLAN S. PILSON JERRE B. SWANN WERNER JANSSEN, JR. ROBERT L. RASKOPF STEVEN M. WEINBERG CHARLOTTE JONES ALLAN ZELNICK The views expressed in The Trademark Reporter7 are those of the individual authors. The Trademark Reporter7 (ISSN 0041-056X) is published bimonthly by the International Trademark Association, 1133 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036-6710 USA. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY POSTMASTER: Send address change to The Trademark Reporter7, 1133 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036-6710 USA. Annual subscription rate for members is $90 (single copy $20), which is included in their annual dues. Subscriptions to nonmembers available, in the interests of education, only to schools, public libraries and government agencies at a cost of $60 (single copy $20) per year. Rates for membership on request. Material may not be reproduced without permission. Claims for missing numbers must be made within the month following the regular month of publication. The publishers expect to supply missing numbers free only when losses have been sustained in transit and when the reserve stock will permit. Reprints of most leading articles and other material available for nominal charge on inquiry to INTA. ® (USPS 636-080) Copyright 2005, by the International Trademark Association All Rights Reserved Vol. 95 January-February, 2005 No. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ARTICLES AND REPORTS UNITED STATES ANNUAL REVIEW Introduction ........................................................................................1 The Fifty-Seventh Year of Administration of the Lanham Trademark Act of 1946 David J. Kera and Theodore H. Davis, Jr.............................5 Part I. Ex Parte Cases.....................................................................5 A. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.....................................5 1. Likelihood of Confusion ...........................................................5 a. TTAB Decision Refusing Registration Reversed and Remanded.............................................................................5 2. Mere Descriptiveness...............................................................7 a. Mark Found to Be Descriptive ............................................7 3. Geographical Deceptive Misdescriptiveness.........................10 a. TTAB Decision Denying Registration Vacated and Remanded...........................................................................10 4. Scandalous Matter .................................................................13 a. Matter Found to Be Scandalous........................................13 5. Mark Not Distinctive .............................................................15 a. Configuration of Container ...............................................15 B. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ..........................................17 1. Likelihood of Confusion .........................................................17 a. Likelihood of Confusion Not Found ..................................17 b. Likelihood of Confusion Found .........................................21 This issue of THE TRADEMARK REPORTER® (TMR) should be cited as 95 TMR ____ (2005). 2. Mere Descriptiveness.............................................................22 a. Mark Found to Be Descriptive ..........................................22 b. Descriptiveness Not Found ...............................................25 3. Genericness ............................................................................27 a. Genericness Found ............................................................27 4. False Suggestion of a Connection..........................................29 a. Suggestion Was Not False.................................................29 5. Surnames................................................................................30 a. Mark Was Primarily Merely a Surname..........................30 6. Certification Marks................................................................33 a. Mark Not a Certification Mark.........................................33 7. Foreign Registration as Basis of Application .......................34 a. Foreign Registration Must Exist up to Issuance of Registration........................................................................34 8. Failure to Provide Information to an Examining Attorney ..................................................................................35 a. Failure Resulting in Refusal of Application.....................35 C. Director of the Patent and Trademark Office ...........................36 1. Filing Date..............................................................................36 a. Earlier Filing Date Granted..............................................36 Part II. Inter Partes Cases .............................................................37 A. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit...................................37 1. Proper Party to File Opposition ............................................37 B. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ..........................................37 1. Likelihood of Confusion and Dilution ...................................37 a. Likelihood of Confusion and Dilution Found ...................37 2. Mere Descriptiveness.............................................................44 a. Mark Found to Be Descriptive ..........................................44 3. Genericness ............................................................................45 a. Mark Not Generic ..............................................................45 b. Terms Found Generic ........................................................48 4. Fraud ......................................................................................50 a. Fraud Found ......................................................................50 5. Evidence..................................................................................51 6. Failure to State a Claim Upon Which Relief May Be Granted...................................................................................51