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Test Your TTAB Judge-Ability: Must "SERVICE CREW" be Disclaimed for Retail Store Services?

When Sears sought to register the mark SEARS BLUE SERVICE CREW in standard character form, for "retail department store services; retail store services featuring appliances, electronics, lawn and garden equipment," the Examining Attorney required a disclaimer of SERVICE CREW. The Board rendered a split decision. What do you think? In re Sears Brands, LLC, Serial No. 77558337 (December 20, 2010) [not precedential]Examining Attorney Paul A. Moreno relied on dictionary definitions of the constituent words and on several Internet website pages using the term "service crew." Sears claimed that SERVICE CREW is not merely descriptive and that the entire mark is a unitary phrase or slogan that does not require the disclaimer.According to Sears, consumers must perform "additional mental steps to conclude what type of assistance may be involved...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on January 06, 2011 (boomark / email).