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1 1 (June 02, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdazs0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Resarh Set-vic Isn't It Generic: Supreme Court to Consider Whether Web Addresses Using Generic Terms May Be Trademarked June 2, 2020 What can be trademarked? On May 4, 2020, in its first telephonic oral argument ever, the Supreme Court heard arguments addressing this question. Generally, trademarks protectthe goodwill that a company has built in a distinctive name or mark. Whether a mark is distinctive can depend on a number of factors, but, under long-standing trademark principles, a generic mark is never distinctive and therefore may not be protected under trademark law. Amark is generic if it is the common name of a product or the genus of which the particular product is a species. For example, one could not trademark the name LITE BEER for light beer, or CONVENIENT STORE for convenience stores. Booking.com, a hotel reservation company, applied to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) for a trademark on its business name, BOOKING.COM. The PTO denied the application, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Fourth Circuit) held that BOOKING.COM is a protectable mark. In PTO v. Booking.com, the Supreme Court is poised to address the question whether combining two generic terms can result in a protectable, distinctive trademark. Specifically, the case presents the question whether the addition by an online business of a generic top-level domain ('.com') to an otherwise generic term can create a protectable trademark. This Sidebar will discuss the relevant legal background before addressing potential implications for Congress. Legal Background Trademark law protects the goodwill represented by particular marks. These protections allow customers to recognize and distinguish between particular product sources. Because trademark law restricts the words and images that can be used in commerce, however, it also implicates concerns regarding free expression and fair competition. Trademark law protects this linguistic commons by not offering protection for words that do not identify goodwill attached to products or product sources but rather are used for their common meaning or meanings not indicative of products and product sources. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10485 CRS Lega i&sebar Prepared .'r Membersand C o m, ..m : i f Cen go lo C: n ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...........

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