D13: Market Reality / Other
Shades of Green: How Pantone Designations Saved a Color Trademark Appeal
Green (Pantone 2274C) // Green (Pantone 7488U)
TTAB Ex Parte Appeal
A curated index of ex parte appeal summaries before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). This section breaks down recent and notable appeals of USPTO examiner refusals, highlighting the critical legal strategies, evidentiary thresholds, and arguments that successfully overcome registration hurdles.
D1: Similarity of Marks
Doctrine of Foreign Equivalents Defeated, Leading to 2(d) Refusal Reversal
FLAT EARTH SURF CLUB // TERRA PLANA
D4: Purchaser Sophistication
Inherent Elevated Level of Care and Sound Difference Overcome 2(d) Refusal
GASPER ROOFING || JASPER CONTRACTORS
D3: Channels of Trade & Class of Consumers
Charitable Fundraising Unrelated to Fundraising Software
POTS || POTS
D1: Similarity of Marks
Oversize Initialism & Suggestive Cited Mark Lead to Reversal of Section 2(d) Refusal
LBI LUXURY BRANDS INTERNATIONAL || LUXBRAND
D6: Third-Party Uses
Crowded Field & Consumer Awareness Mitigate Likelihood of Confusion
MISTER JUNETEENTH || MISS JUNETEENTH
D1: Similarity of Marks
Dominant Term Overshadows Foreign Translations
MICHAEL THE BULL || ABOGADO EL TORO
D6: Third-Party Uses
How Conceptual Weakness and Mark Dissimilarity Overcome Identical Services at the TTAB
GHOST || GHOST
D1: Similarity of Marks
Using Additional Elements to Imbue New Meaning Into Shared Initialisms
NORTHWEST NWA AIRLINE || NWA
D2: Similarity of Goods or Services
Mind the Gap: When Identical Marks Fail to Bridge the Chasm of Unrelated Goods
SPINFLOW // SPINFLOW
D2: Similarity of Goods or Services
Service Dissimilarity Overcame Identical Marks in a 2(d) Appeal
WHERE LIFE HAPPENS // WHERE LIFE HAPPENS
D6: Third-Party Uses
How Distinctive Connotations and Conceptual Weakness Can Overcome a Section 2(d) Refusal
GOOD TIMES // GOODE TIMES GUARANTEED