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Giving Added Weight to the Rareness Factor, TTAB Reverses Surname Refusal of "BERGFELD" for Wine

Perhaps the TTAB is moving toward adoption of Judge Seeherman's enlightened view of the Section 2(e)(4) surname refusal, a view expressed in her concurring opinion in In re Joint-Stock Company "Baik", 84 USPQ2d 1921 (TTAB 2007) [precedential]. [TTABlogged here; further discussion in Section IV of this article]. The Board reversed a Section 2(e)(4) refusal of the mark BERGFELD for wine, giving "much more weight" to the first Benthin factor (the rareness of the surname) than the other three factors. In re Hall Wines, LLC, Serial No. 78926151 (February 10, 2009).Applying the standard four-factor analysis for surname refusals, the Board considered: (1) the degree of the surname?s "rareness"; (2) whether anyone connected with applicant has the mark as a surname; (3) whether the mark has any recognized meaning other than as a surname; and (4) whether the mark has the "look and sound" of a surname...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on March 06, 2009 (boomark / email).