The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled in a lawsuit concerning a refusal by the USPTO to register as a trademark the following expression – ‘First Tuesday’ for “lottery cards; scratch cards for playing lottery games” and for “lottery services”.
The reason behind this refusal was that according to the Office this mark was descriptive for the respected goods and services – the mark tells consumers when the lottery game will take place – every first Tuesday of the month.
The Applicant argued that this conclusion was incorrect because the mark requires some imagination in order to be connected with its goods and services.
The Patent Office and the Court disagreed, accepting that this phrase is completely descriptive due to the fact that consumers will understand it as a direct message for the time when such lottery games take place.
Source: WIPR.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PLANET 