Hotels.com Loses Major Trademark Battle
On July 23, 2009 the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided, in In re Hotels.com, L.P., that Hotels.com was not entitled to a federal registration for its service mark HOTELS.COM. (For a brief overview of trademarks and service marks, see Trademark Protection in One Easy Lesson.)
Background: Hotels.com sought to register its mark for the services of ?providing information for others about temporary lodging; travel agency services, namely, making reservations and bookings for temporary lodging for others by means of telephone and the global computer network.? The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) refused the registration on the ground that the mark is a generic term for these services (generic terms, by definition, are incapable of indicating the source of goods or services). (more…)
