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September 23, 2005
My Famous Blog Post (R)
By Mark McKenna
A couple of days ago I received an email from Restoration Hardware advertising its Famous Fall Lighting Sale(R). On top of my mild annoyance at yet another piece of spam, I couldn't help but ask: "Are you serious?"
Are they seriously claiming that they've registered "Famous Fall Lighting Sale" as a trademark? Well, they have. And I'm almost speechless.
It's not so much that I can't believe they were able to register this laudatory/descriptive phrase - I rarely can work up much indignation about the things that the PTO will register these days. I'm speechless because I cannot figure out what value claiming this mark possibly could add to Restoration Hardware's business. Seriously, the scope of protection for this phrase has to be incredibly narrow. They can't stop other companies from advertising their "fall lighting sales" and I doubt they could even stop someone from saying that have a "famous fall lighting sale," if in fact they do. But even if they could, do they really think that this mark matters to consumers whatsoever? Ooh, another retailer claiming that their sale is "famous" - that'll really pack 'em in!
It strikes me that some lawyer convinced them that they needed to register this thing, so they did. But it probably also reflects how branding has gone completely haywire. I hope they don't sue me for the title of this post.
Posted by Mark McKenna at September 23, 2005 10:30 PM | Trademark
Comments
Mark --- I agree with you. Restoration Hardware was able to register the mark, even thogh it is considered "merely descriptive" under a provision that allows registration for descriptive (but not generic) marks if they have been used for more than 5 years before the registration issues. But I also fail to see the utility of the registration here. Are they really going to spend time and money challenging other uses of the mark?
As for the title of your post, see 15 U.S.C. Sect. 1111.
Posted by: John at September 26, 2005 03:40 PM