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"ZIP AND STEAM" Merely Descriptive of Cooking Pouches, Says TTAB, Not Surprisingly

Here's another WYHA decision for our collection. Would you have appealed the TTAB's mere Section 2(e)(1) mere descriptiveness refusal of ZIP AND STEAM for "cooking containers, namely, plastic cooking bags and pouches?" The Board affirmed the refusal in In re SteamFast Europe Limited, Serial No. 76636092 (September 24, 2008) [not precedential].Examining Attorney Andrea D. Saunders relied on website pages showing that "bags such as applicant's zip and are often described as having a zipper enclosure, and that food can be cooked by steaming it." Applicant conceded that its bags closed by zipping, but it took issue with the descriptiveness of the word "steam.""[A]pplicant argues that the bag or pouch is not steamed, 'rather steam is generated within the bag which cooks the contents by steam...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on October 20, 2008 (boomark / email).