The Top 10 Biggest Trademark Battles of 2019
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Booking.com
The practice of trademarking anything and everything isn’t just being spearheaded by celebrities. In July 2019, Booking.com attempted to register the term ‘Booking.com’ for trademark.
The request was immediately denied by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), but the Solicitor General petitioned and brought this to the US Supreme Court, which in November granted certiorari to hear the case.
The travel website wanted to register trademark for the domain name Booking.com, as per the business name it operates, but as under the Lehman Act, 15 USC 1051 it has been refused the trademark registration, leaving Booking.com has no option but to appeal in what could be a precedent setting case for trademark law. The Solicitor General has stated that based on previous case law, generic terms such as ‘booking’ and ‘.com’ may not be used as trademarks.
Booking.com has no option but to appeal in what could be a precedent setting case for trademark law.
Depending on the US Supreme Court’s pending ruling, this could change, opening up a can of loose trademark filings in 2020. The hearing is due in Spring and the Supreme Court will make its final ruling by June, so we have about six months to prepare all of our looney and irrational trademark registrations that end in .com.
