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The Ten Worst TTAB Decisions of 2007? [Part 1 of 2]

By John L. Welch

Every year, as a prologue to the "10 Worst" list, I remind readers that no one is perfect, not even yours truly. After all, Babe Ruth failed to hit safely 65% of the time and Michael Jordan missed about half his shots. So is it any wonder that, out of the 500 or so final decisions issued by the TTAB in 2007, there were a few that were "off the mark," so to speak? I list below what I consider to be the Board's ten worst decisions of last year. [Part 2 of this two-part posting will appear shortly]. Obviously, these are subjective judgments, and some of you may disagree with one or more of my selections. I can live with that.In re PNC Bank, N.A., Serial No. 78492942 (January 16, 2007) [not precedential]. In this dubious decision, the Board found the mark GREEN BRANCH not to be merely descriptive of banking, financial, investment, and insurance services, and it therefore reversed the PTO's Section 2(e)(1) refusal to register...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on January 22, 2008 (boomark / email).