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Precedential No. 42: TTAB Affirms Refusal to Register Shape of Chevron's "Pole Spanner Sign" as Non-Distinctive

A punster might say that Chevron simply ran out of gas in its attempt to register the shape of its "pole spanner sign" (shown below) for "vehicle service station services and automobile maintenance and repair services." The Board agreed with Examining Attorney Odessa Bibbins that the design comprises non-distinctive trade dress that has not acquired distinctiveness. In re Chevron Intellectual Property Group LLC, Serial No. 78490836 (November 23, 2010) [precedential].Inherent Distinctiveness: The Board applied the CCPA's Seabrook test to determine whether Chevron's spanner design is inherently distinctive trade dress. The photos immediately below shows "how consumers encounter the pole spanner design sought to be registered."The Examining Attorney submitted photos of pole spanner signs from other service stations, maintaining that Chevron's design is a "mere refinement of a commonly adopted and well known form of ornamentation...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on December 02, 2010 (boomark / email).