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TTAB Deems "EVITAMINS" Merely Descriptive of On-line Vitamin Services, But Not Generic

Applicant Twin Associates faced twin refusals to register its mark EVITAMINS for catalog and on-line services featuring vitamins and dietary supplements: genericness and mere descriptiveness. Twin argued, alternatively, that its mark is either inherently distinctive or has acquired distinctiveness. The Board served up the bitter pill of defeat. In re Twin Associates, LC dba EVitamins, Serial No. 77443720 (November 24, 2009) [not precedential].Genericness: The question was whether the relevant consumers [the general public] would understand the term EVITAMINS to refer to the genus at issue ["the sale of vitamins and vitamin-related products"]. [Why not a sub-genus: sale of vitamins via the Internet? - ed.].Examining Attorney Steven W. Jackson contended that the "Board has repeatedly held that when the prefix 'e' ...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on December 10, 2009 (boomark / email).