1210.01(a) Geographically Descriptive Marks – Test
To support a refusal to register a mark as primarily geographically descriptive under Section 2(e)(2) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C §1052(e)(2), the examining attorney must show that:
- (1) the primary significance of the mark is a generally known geographic location (see TMEP §§1210.02–1210.02(b)(iv));
- (2) the goods or services originate in the place identified in the mark (see TMEP §1210.03); and
- (3) purchasers would be likely to believe that the goods or services originate in the geographic place identified in the mark (see TMEP §§1210.04–1210.04(d)). Note: If the mark is remote or obscure, the public is unlikely to make a goods/place or services/place association (see TMEP §1210.04(c)).
See Spiritline Cruises LLC v. Tour Mgmt. Servs., Inc., 2020 USPQ2d 48324, at *5 (TTAB 2020) (citing In re Nantucket, Inc., 677 F.2d 95, 96-97, 213 USPQ 889, 891 (C.C.P.A. 1982)); see also In re Newbridge Cutlery Co., 776 F.3d 854, 860-61, 113 USPQ2d 1445, 1448-49 (Fed. Cir. 2015); In re Societe Generale des Eaux Minerales de Vittel S.A., 824 F.2d 957, 959, 3 USPQ2d 1450, 1452 (Fed. Cir. 1987); In re JT Tobacconists, 59 USPQ2d 1080, 1081 (TTAB 2001). Relevant purchasers are the purchasing public in the United States of the types of goods or services identified in the involved application. City of London Distillery, Ltd. v. Hayman Grp. Ltd., 2020 USPQ2d 11487, at *6 (TTAB 2020); In re Broken Arrow Beef & Provision, LLC, 129 USPQ2d 1431, 1432 (TTAB 2019) (citing In re Newbridge Cutlery Co., 776 F.3d at 861, 113 USPQ2d at 1449).