Trademark Office Actions: Mere Ornamentation Refusals | Practical Law
A Practice Note discussing US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) trademark refusals to register based on a proposed mark's inability to function as a trademark because it is merely ornamental. Topics discussed include the nature of ornamentation refusals and their basis in the Lanham Act, and key considerations for responding to mere ornamentation refusals, including evaluating commercial impression, arguing secondary source, and asserting an acquired distinctiveness (2(f)) claim.