Descriptive Trademarks Get Sent to Rehab
I used to wonder, “What happens to the bad brands?” What are bad brands? Descriptive trademarks are bad brands since they don’t qualify for the Principal U.S.Trademark Register. Descriptive trademarks are words that describe the quality, characteristics or ingredients of the goods or services for which they are used. The U.S. Trademark Office offers rehab for descriptive trademarks, a type of trademark rehab for bad brands, namely descriptive trademarks. Descriptive trademarks that are refused registration on Principal Register are given the opportunity to go to rehab.
They must remain for five years before seeking to be released. The rehab center is known as the Supplemental Register, where descriptive trademarks wait in punishment and suffering until they can be cleansed, purified, and elevated to the land of distinctiveness, maybe. Even after release, they must still prove secondary meaning in order to be enforceable against third parties. I’ve often discussed How to Choose a Good Trademark. And, do follow the Brandaide 3-Step Trademark Registration Process SELECT | SECURE | SUSTAIN.
In 2015 alone, the Trademark Office rejected 29,992 applications on grounds the applicants’ marks were descriptive and not registrable.https://brandaide.com
Bad brands are descriptive trademarks sent to the Supplemental Register
Bad brands are names their owners can’t let go of. They either didn’t get proper advice early on, or they insisted on using the mark, despite the best efforts of their trademark lawyer to dissuade them. Others are trademarks that have been in use for years, in which their owners have invested heavily without understanding the importance of choosing a distinctive brand name. In short, these brand owners are stuck with a pig in a poke.
Bad brands are most often descriptive words, ones that attempt to sneak their way into a real trademark registration pretending they are distinctive and memorable.
These are words or phrases that do not help a product stand out from the competition. Instead, they are words that describe a quality, characteristic or ingredient of the product or service being sold under the mark. They may also involve a word or prefix that is in such common use that no one can obtain rights. In short, they are trademark light, and the public will likely never remember them. There is no association with the owner as the source of the goods or services
Descriptive terms are usually stopped at the gates of trademark registration where they receive a “Refusal to Register on grounds of “Section 2(e).” This is legalese for “you are not a real trademark.” These also include common surnames, literary titles, trade dress and colors. Descriptive words are however by far the greatest challenge.
While the owner is given a chance to convince the Trademark Examiner that the bad brand is not descriptive, the odds are not good. What are the odds? In 2013, 85.1% of all appeals from refusals to register were affirmed.
Here’s a recent example. The Trademark Trial & Appeal Board recently upheld a refusal to register LIMITED for “sports trading cards” on grounds LIMITED is descriptive of sports trading cards. Topps Company v. Panini America. It mattered not that Panini had used the mark since 1994! The court record was chock-full of articles showing the use of the term “limited edition” in connection with trading cards. In short, parties often release “limited” quantities of cards to protect their collectability. Panini could not prove the mark had become distinctive, especially because lots of others in the trading card industry also use the term “limited.” Panini’s mark is now no mark at all, and all its efforts were wasted.
The Supplemental Register: Purgatory or a Graveyard?
Many of those who don’t appeal the refusal to register are sent to the “Supplemental Register.” Clients, and even their lawyers, don’t always under the meaning of the Supplemental Register. The “Supplemental Register” is often a burial ground for words that describe what the owner is selling. Sadly, most never leave, or if they do, they may be stigmatized forever. Any registration on the Supplemental Register is presumed to be merely descriptive, and the registration alone cannot be used to enforce rights absent proof of secondary meaning.
Secondary Meaning, aka Acquired Distinctiveness
A few descriptive trademarks sent to the Supplemental Register are eventually able to make the grade and successfully graduate by becoming distinctive if they can prove they have “acquired distinctiveness.” also known as a secondary meaning. It’s a difficult, expensive journey even for those who win. A famous example is Apple proved secondary meaning in order to register the iPad as a distinctive trademark. Apple did not even have to go to rehab as it was able to prove secondary meaning based on massive sales and millions in advertising spend. Most mere mortals don’t have the resources or fame to create secondary meaning as easily as Apple, since their customer base is smaller, their advertising budgets are more limited and the products are less known.
Acquired distinctiveness is just what is says. After 5 years, the owner must often come up with expensive evidence that shows that when the public sees or hears the trademark, they associate it with the product or service of the trademark owner.. If the owner can show the public so loves the name, the once bad brand can leave purgatory and goes to trademark heaven. There is takes its rightful place among the other distinctive and highly protectable trademarks of the world. This is done by showing extensive advertising and sales, including consumer surveys.
A recent victor in 2012 was Coca-Cola for its mark ZERO for Diet Coke despite the fact that “zero” is often used to describe zero calories. The marketing and advertising power of Coca-Cola was sufficient to find acquired distinctiveness
And the moral of the story is: Choose an inherently distinctive trademark, one that can pass the test at the gates of trademark heaven. Trademark rehab on the Supplemental Register is a perilous place to live when it comes to protecting your online business and brand assets.
When deciding the best trademark service for registering a name, review this Consumer Guide to Trademark Services.
Updated: October 2021
