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"MERCURY" for Vodka and Distilled Spirits Likely to Confuse: TTAB Affirms 2(d) Refusal

It's time for another WYHA? case. Suppose your application to register MERCURY for vodka is refused registration under Section 2(d) in view of the identical mark registered for distilled spirits. Would You Have Appealed? Applicant Mercury-2 LTD did, and the result must have been dispiriting. In re Mercury-2 LTD, Serial No. 78729582 (January 12, 2009) [not precedential].Examining Attorney Christina M. Sobral stirred the PTO's drink, submitting evidence that vokda is a type of distilled spirit: e.g., a dictionary definition of "vodka" as "an unaged, colorless, distilled spirit, originally made in Russia." Thus facing marks that are identical and goods that overlap, Applicant was left with little to argue.Nonetheless, it came up with a few lame attacks on the refusal...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on January 28, 2009 (boomark / email).