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
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.
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About the Authors
Thomas F. Zuber is a Partner of Zuber & Taillieu, focusing on intellectual property protection and exploitation.
Laura D. Castner is a Counsel of Zuber & Taillieu, focusing on intellectual property litigation and arbitration.
Image Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/dulezidar
