The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has scheduled three (III) oral hearings for the month of October 2016. The hearings will be held in the East Wing of the Madison Building, in Alexandria, Virginia. Briefs and other papers for these cases may be found at TTABVUE via the links provided.
October 4, 2016 – 10 A M: In re Forney Industries, Inc., Serial No. 86269096 [Refusal to register the color scheme “yellow into red with a black border near the top” used on packaging for metal hardware, welding equipment, safety goods and marking products, on the ground that the mark is not inherently distinctive and therefore is registrable on the Principal Register only upon proof of acquired distinctiveness].
October 13, 2016 – 10 AM: In re Orbit Irrigation Products, Inc., Serial Nos. 85945749 et al. [Refusals to register the color green as applied to a top portion of a sprinkler head and contrasting with the adjoining portion of the sprinkler head, on the ground that the proposed marks lacks acquired distinctiveness under Section 2(f)]. [Isn’t it functional? What color would you want your sprikler heads to be? – ed.].
October 25, 2016 – 2 PM: Farmaco-Logica B.V. v. The TriZetto Group, Inc., Opposition No. 91184047 [Opposition to registration of the mark FACETS for computer software in the health care management field, on the ground that applicant deliberately misused the federal registration symbol after its prior registration expired, and thereby committed fraud].
