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TTAB Finds "HERBAL REPUBLIC" and "THE REPUBLIC OF TEA" Confusingly Similar for Tea

By John L. Welch

Some say a trademark registration is like a tea bag: you don't know how strong it is until you put it in hot water. The registration of HERBAL REPUBLIC (in the stylized form shown below) for tea, herbal teas, and other tea-related products proved to be not very strong. In fact the Board cancelled the registration on Section 2(d) grounds in light of the previously-used mark THE REPUBLIC OF TEA for tea. The Republic of Tea, Inc. v. Herbal Republic Inc., Cancellation No. 92043748 (January 16, 2007) [not precedential].Petitioner Republic of Tea had its own problems in turning up the heat on Applicant. Although it pleaded four registrations, Petitioner failed to put any of them into evidence. It attached evidence to its brief, which evidence the Board found untimely...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on February 05, 2008 (boomark / email).