Trademark Law | Expert Legal Commentary
June 26, 2009
In re Spirits Int’l: A Mark Is Geographically Deceptively Misdescriptive Only if Materially Deceptive to a Substantial Portion of the Intended Audience
In re Spirits International
By
Thomas F. Zuber and Laura D. Castner of Zuber & Taillieu LLP
Clarifying the application of the doctrine of foreign equivalents, the Federal Circuit held that a mark is geographically deceptively misdescriptive if a substantial portion of the relevant consumer market is likely to be deceived by the mark. In In re Spirits International, 563 F.3d 1347 (Fed. Cir. 2009), the Federal Circuit vacated a TTAB decision that had affirmed the Patent Office’s refusal to register a mark on the grounds that it was primarily geographically deceptively misdescriptive. The Federal Circuit remanded the case for a determination of whether a substantial portion of the target audience would be deceived by the mark.
To continue reading this article, subscribe now
It's FREE and only takes seconds
About the Authors
Thomas F. Zuber is a Partner of Zuber & Taillieu LLP, focusing on intellectual property protection and exploitation.
Laura D. Castner is a Counsel of Zuber & Taillieu LLP, focusing on intellectual property litigation and arbitration.
Image Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/dulezidar
View a PDF of the judicial opinion