In re United Distillers, PLC
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
56 U.S.P.Q.2d 1220 (2000)
- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
United Distillers, PLC, (United) (plaintiff) sought to register the mark “Hackler” as a trademark for alcoholic beverages. United identified the term “Hackler” in its advertisements as a person who produced flax and sought to associate the brand with a historical hackler in nineteenth-century Ireland who was also a distiller. The trademark examiner refused the registration on the grounds that the mark was primarily merely a surname. United appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Chapman, J.)
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