A Practice Note discussing US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) trademark refusals to register based on Lanham Act Section 2(e)(1) (15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(1)), refusing the proposed mark as merely descriptive of the goods or services in the application. Topics discussed include the nature of descriptiveness refusals and their basis in the Lanham Act, the test for descriptiveness, and key considerations for responding to mere descriptiveness refusals, including arguing inherent distinctiveness and asserting an acquired distinctiveness (2(f)) claim.