1202.07(b) Marks That Identify Columns and Sections of Online Publications
Providing an online non-downloadable publication is considered a service rather than a product. Therefore, refusal of registration on the ground that the proposed mark is not used on goods in trade is inappropriate. Unlike a printed, downloadable, or recorded column or section, an online non-downloadable column or section can be accessed directly and can exist independent of any single publication. See Ludden v. Metro Weekly, 8 F. Supp. 2d 7, 14, 47 USPQ2d 1087, 1093 (D.D.C. 1998) . Therefore, a mark used in connection with the service of providing an online non-downloadable column or section is registrable on the Principal Register without resort to §2(f) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1052(f), if registration is not barred by other sections of the Act.