The USPTO refused registration of the mark shown below left, for "flavored bottle water, flavored enhanced water, flavored water, purified bottled drinking water, bottled artesian water, drinking water with vitamins, ...
The USPTO refused to register the mark AMERICAN BARRISTER for legal services, deeming the mark to be merely descriptive under Section 2(e)(1) and primarily geographically descriptive under Section 2(e)(2). Applicant ...
The USPTO refused to register the mark GUINEA for, inter alia, collectible coins, deeming the mark merely descriptive under Section 2(e)(1). Applicant East India pointed out that a "guinea" is ...
The USPTO issued a Section 2(e)(1) refusal of the mark TOON KICKER, finding it to be merely descriptive of "outboard motor mounts, namely, brackets specifically design for connection to pontoon ...
In this Section 2(d) cancellation proceeding, Respondent Cooper moved to compel the parties to mediate. The Board denied Cooper's motion, pointing out that, although the Board encourages settlement, the Board ...
The TTAB squelched Paul D. Marotta's attempt to register the designation THE CORPORATE LAW GROUP for various legal services, on the ground of genericness. For the sake of completeness, the ...
Last Friday, the Board decided three Section 2(d) appeals, reversing one of the refusals. Some say that 95% of the time, one can predict the outcome of a Section 2(d) ...
The Board affirmed alternative refusals of the mark É, in the form shown below, for "dietary and nutritional supplements," finding it to be deceptive under Section 2(a), or alternatively, deceptively ...
The Board dismissed two oppositions brought under Section 2(e)(4) and claiming that the mark SCHLAFLYfor beer is primarily merely a surname. The Board did not rule on the Section 2(e)(4) ...

Recommended Reading: Rebecca Tushet – “Registering Disagreement: Registration in Modern Trademark Law”
Those of us in the trademark trenches, involved in various day-to-day skirmishes for our clients, seldom have time to step back and consider the Big Picture. Professor Rebecca Tushnet not ...