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"KIDS INN" and "CHILDREN'S INN" Confusingly Similar, At Least According to the TTAB

By John L. Welch

Vinod Bhandari must have thought he was home free when he convinced the TTAB in 1999 to reverse a Section 2(d) refusal of his application to register the mark KIDS INN for hotel, motel, and restaurant services. The PTO had refused registration on the ground of likelihood of confusion with the registered mark CHILDREN'S INN, owned by NIH, for "lodging services for use of children and their families who are patients at NIH," but the Board found the likelihood of confusion to be de minimis. Unfortunately for Mr. Bhandari, however, when his application was published for opposition, The Children's Inn at NIH opposed. Eight years later, the Board sustained the opposition on Section 2(d) grounds. So ends another valiant pro se tilt at the TTAB windmill...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on January 03, 2008 (boomark / email).