United States Annual Review The Sixty-Fifth Year of Administration of the U.S. Trademark (Lanham) Act of 1946 Theodore H. Davis Jr. John L. Welch 2013 Vol. 103 No. 1 INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARK ASSOCIATION Powerful Network Powerful Brands 655 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017-5646 Telephone: +1 (212) 768-9887 email: [email protected] Facsimile: +1 (212) 768-7796 OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION TOE SU AUNG ............................................................................................................................. President BRET I. PARKER ................................................................................................................. President Elect MEI-LAN STARK................................................................................................................... Vice President GABRIELLE OLSSON SKALIN ................................................................................................ Vice President J. SCOTT EVANS ........................................................................................................................ Treasurer RUSSELL PANGBORN ..................................................................................................................Secretary MICHAEL METTEAUER ................................................................................................................... Counsel ALAN C. DREWSEN ....................................................................................................... Executive Director EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief PIER LUIGI RONCAGLIA Senior Editors JESSICA ELLIOTT GLENN MITCHELL DANIEL C. GLAZER JONATHAN MOSKIN KATHLEEN E. MCCARTHY RAFFI V. ZEROUNIAN Editor Managing Editor Senior Periodicals Editor BEVERLY HARRIS LISA BUTKIEWICZ JOEL L. BROMBERG Editors NIGAMNARAYAN ACHARYA ALEXANDER J.A. GARCIA CHRISTINA S. MONTEIRO BRYAN BAER STEVEN M. GETZOFF MANUEL MORANTE SUSAN D. BEAUBIEN ANDREW J. GRAY KARINA HAIDAR MULLER JEREMY M. BEN-DAVID JENNIFER LYNN GREGOR JOANNE NARDI MARTIN J. BERAN GUY HEATH MARIA K. NELSON STEFANIA BERGIA NARYTH H. HEM JOSHUA WILLIAM NEWMAN RONIT BARZIK-SOFFER CHRISTINE HERNANDEZ MAX NG PETER BOLGER ANNE HIARING HOCKING MASA NODA CHRISTOPHER BOLINGER IRENE HUDSON ROBERT M. O'CONNELL KAREN BROMBERG RENEE INOMATA CHARLENE L. OH CLIFFORD W. BROWNING E. DEBORAH JAY MICHAEL A. PEROFF SHELDON BURSHTEIN PAUL JONES NEAL PLATT CHRISTOPHER P. BUSSERT SIEGRUN D. KANE GENEVIÈVE M. PRÉVOST SARAH BUTLER BRUCE P. KELLER SUSAN D. RECTOR JUAN PABLO CADENA DARLENE S. KLINKSIECK ALEXANDRA J. ROBERTS BRIAN CARDOZA SIMON KNEEBONE JEREMY ROE LEIGHTON CASSIDY PETER KOZINETS ZEINA SALAMEH SIMON CLARK ROLAND KUNZE MARTIN PETER SCHMIDT JENNIFER CO MATT KUYKENDALL SULTAN SHEIKH JOHN M. CONE SID L. LEACH GIULIO ENRICO SIRONI CASIMIR WALTER COOK KATHLEEN LEMIEUX RANDY S. SPRINGER RUTH CORBIN REBECCA LIEBOWITZ PAUL TACKABERRY COLIN DAVIES NELS T. LIPPERT OLIVIER TAILLIEU MICHAEL S. DENNISTON PAUL C. LLEWELLYN CHRISTIAN THOMAS RICHARD A. DE SEVO MANUEL LOZANO SCOTT E. THOMPSON ANNE DESMOUSSEAUX NIKOLAOS LYBERIS KATARZYNA TOBIASZ-DUMANIA ANASTASIA A. DUBROVSKY ILARIA MAGGIONI MATTHEW WALCH KIMBERLY AYN ECKHART MATTHEW D. MARCOTTE BRYAN K. WHEELOCK SERGIO ELLMANN DOUGLAS N. MASTERS CHARLES E. WEINSTEIN CHRISTIAN ERNST J. DAVID MAYBERRY JORDAN WEINSTEIN ELISABETH KASZNAR FEKETE NATHALIA MAZZONETTO JOHN L. WELCH STEPHEN W. FEINGOLD J. THOMAS MCCARTHY JUSTINE WHITEHEAD DIEGO FERNANDEZ JENNIFER MCKAY MEREDITH M. WILKES ANNALIESE F. FLEMING KATIE W. MCKNIGHT NEIL J. WILKOF GERALD L. FORD DEVIKA MEHRA KENNETH L. WILTON TARUN GANDHI FABRIZIO MIAZZETTO HISHAM ZAHR ALESSANDRA GARBAGNATI CHRISTOPHER MICHELETTI Advisory Board MILES J. ALEXANDER WERNER JANSSEN, JR ROBERT L. RASKOPF WILLIAM M. BORCHARD ROBERT M. KUNSTADT PASQUALE A. RAZZANO CLIFFORD W. BROWNING THEODORE C. MAX SUSAN REISS LANNING G. BRYER VINCENT N. PALLADINO HOWARD J. SHIRE SANDRA EDELMAN JOHN B. PEGRAM JERRE B. SWANN ANTHONY L. FLETCHER ALLAN S. PILSON STEVEN M. WEINBERG ARTHUR J. GREENBAUM ALLAN ZELNICK . The views expressed in The Trademark Reporter are those of the individual authors. The Trademark Reporter (ISSN 0041-056X) is published five times a year by the International Trademark Association, 655 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017-5646 USA. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY POSTMASTER: Send address change to The Trademark Reporter, 655 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017-5646 USA. Annual subscription rate for members is $90 (single copy $20), which is included in their annual dues. Subscriptions to nonmembers are 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. INTA, the INTA logo, International Trademark Association, Powerful Network Powerful Brands, The Trademark Reporter, and inta.org are trademarks, service marks and/or registered trademarks of the International Trademark Association in the United States and certain other jurisdictions. The Trademark Reporter® (USPS 636-080) Copyright 2013, by the International Trademark Association All Rights Reserved 2013 Vol. 103 No. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS UNITED STATES ANNUAL REVIEW The Sixty-Fifth Year of Administration of the U.S. Trademark (Lanham) Act of 1946 Theodore H. Davis Jr. and John L. Welch Introduction .................................................................................... 1 Part I. Ex Parte Cases ................................................................. 7 A. United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ......... 7 1. Likelihood of Confusion ...................................................... 7 2. Mere Descriptiveness ......................................................... 9 3. Functionality ....................................................................... 10 B. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ........................................ 13 1. Immoral or Scandalous ....................................................... 13 2. Official Governmental Insignia ......................................... 15 3. Likelihood of Confusion ...................................................... 19 a. Likelihood of Confusion Found ..................................... 19 b. Likelihood of Confusion Not Found .............................. 20 4. Mere Descriptiveness ......................................................... 23 5. Primarily Geographically Deceptively Misdescriptive ..... 25 6. Acquired Distinctiveness .................................................... 27 7. Genericness ......................................................................... 28 8. Failure to Function ............................................................. 32 This issue of THE TRADEMARK REPORTER® (TMR) should be cited as 103 TMR ___ (2013). 9. Goods in Trade .................................................................... 35 10. Collateral Estoppel ............................................................. 36 Part II. Inter Partes Cases ............................................................ 37 A. United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ......... 37 1. Likelihood of Confusion ...................................................... 37 a. Likelihood of Confusion Found ..................................... 37 b. Likelihood of Confusion Not Found .............................. 38 2. Acquired Distinctiveness .................................................... 39 3. Dilution by Blurring ........................................................... 40 4. Discovery Sanctions ............................................................ 41 B. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ........................................ 43 1. Likelihood of Confusion ...................................................... 43 a. Likelihood of Confusion Found ..................................... 43 b. Likelihood of Confusion Not Found .............................. 57 2. Primarily Geographically Deceptively Misdescriptive ..... 59 3. Non-use ............................................................................... 62 4. Lack of Bona Fide Intent .................................................... 63 5. Dilution by Blurring ........................................................... 66 6. Functionality ....................................................................... 74 7. Defective Section 44 Basis .................................................. 75 8. Concurrent Use ................................................................... 77 9. Certification Mark Validity ................................................ 78 10. Title of a Single Creative Work .......................................... 80 11. Procedural Issues ................................................................ 82 a. Standing ......................................................................... 82 b. Standing for Foreign Trademark Owner ...................... 83 c. Res Judicata ................................................................... 85 d. Filing of Madrid Oppositions ........................................ 87 e. Proper Service of Petition for Cancellation .................. 88 f. Alternative