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WYHA? TTAB Affirms Section 2(e)(4) Surname Refusal of "WEIS" for Frozen Dairy Products

The Board not surprisingly affirmed a Section 2(e)(4) refusal to register the mark WEIS in the design form shown below, for frozen dairy products. More than four thousand household listings for "Weis," coupled with the fame (believe it or not) of recently deposed Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis, convinced the Board that Weis is not a rare surname. Rumbling through the Benthin factors, the Board found that Examining Attorney Daniel S. Brody had made a prima facie case under 2(e)(4), which Applicant failed to rebut. In re Weis Australia Pty Ltd, Serial No. 79047172 (January 20, 2010) [not precedential].The Board repeated its usual mantra that "there is no minimum number of listings needed to prove that a mark is primarily merely a surname...continue to full post

Full post as published by The TTABlog on January 22, 2010 (boomark / email).