Intellectual Property » TTAB Misses Double Entendre, Rejects “SharpIN” Mark

TTAB Misses Double Entendre, Rejects “SharpIN” Mark

March 29, 2017

name-censorship-trademark-cut-67521897-420

The applicant, whose product is a knife holder with a built in sharpener, wanted to register the mark “SharpIN,” but it was rejected by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The examiner felt the consumer would perceive it as equivalent to “sharpen” and thus labeled it merely descriptive. Apparently the reason is related to the TTAB’s system for fielding such applications being unable to get the double entendre. “A standard character mark may be depicted in any font style or size, but the USPTO will convert the depiction to a standardized typeface for printing in the Official Gazette and on the registration certificate,” explains Wolf Greenfield attorney John L. Welch. “Similarly, if the application is filed electronically, the mark will be automatically converted into the standard-character field to a standardized typeface.”

Read full article at:

Daily Updates

Sign up for our free daily newsletter for the latest news and business legal developments.

Scroll to Top