February 2015

Spotlight Info

In In re Newbridge Cutlery Co., No. 13-1535 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 15, 2015), the Federal Circuit reversed the TTAB’s refusal to register the mark NEWBRIDGE HOME as being primarily geographically descriptive.  The Court explained that to refuse registration of a mark for being primarily geographically descriptive, a trademark examiner must show that (1) “the mark sought to be registered is the name of a place known generally to the public”; (2) “the public would make a goods/place association, i.e., believe that the goods for which the mark is sought to be registered originate in that place”; and (3) “the source of the goods is the geographic region named in the mark.”  Slip op. at 9-10 (quoting In re Societe Generale Des Eaux Minerales De Vittel S.A., 824 F.2d 957, 959 (Fed. Cir. 1987); In re Jacques Bernier, Inc., 894 F.2d 389, 391 (Fed. Cir. 1990)).  The Court found that the evidence as a whole suggested that Newbridge, Ireland—home of the headquarters of the applicant for the mark—is not generally known.  Thus, to the relevant public, the mark is not primarily geographically descriptive of the goods.  See this month’s edition of Last Month at the Federal Circuit for a full summary of this decision.