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Emphasizing Rareness of the Surname, TTAB Reverses Section 2(e)(4) Refusal of "BOVIS FOODS"

Judge Seerherman applied her rareness-focused approach to the Section 2(e)(4) analysis of the mark BOVIS FOODS for "wholesale distributorship services featuring food products," resulting in a Board ruling that the mark is not primarily merely a surname. Consequently, it reversed the Section 2(e)(4) refusal. In re Nick Bovis, Serial No. 77502609 (September 28, 2010) [not precedential].The Applicant and the Examining Attorney did not argue that the word "FOODS" was of any import on the at issue at hand, and the Board agreed. It proceeded to apply the four Benthin factors to the word BOVIS in view of the record evidence.Closely reviewing the Examining Attorney's directory evidence, the Board boiled it down to 72 listings, leading it to conclude that BOVIS is an "extremely rare" surname...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on October 01, 2010 (boomark / email).