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My Goodness? TTAB Reverses Mere Descriptiveness Refusal of "MY HORSE PLAYER" for Handicapping Software

Does addition of the word "MY" make an otherwise merely descriptive mark inherently distinctive? Maybe, maybe not, said the Board, but it did the trick in In re Scott McKeever, Serial No. 78919885 (September 10, 2008) [not precedential]. The Board reversed a Section 2(e)(1) refusal of the mark MY HORSE PLAYER, finding the mark not merely descriptive of horse handicapping software and related Internet services.The PTO maintained that MY HORSE PLAYER is comprised of merely descriptive components that retain their descriptive meaning when combined. HORESEPLAYER is defined as "one who regularly bets on horses" and is therefore descriptive of the intended users of McKeever's goods and services. Furthermore, according to the PTO, both HORSE and PLAYER are individually descriptive of a feature of the goods and services: HORSE means horse, and PLAYER means someone who bets on horses...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on September 12, 2008 (boomark / email).