The trademark application for HONEY.COM, a mark consisting of the keyword plus the TLD, was refused at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO.)
The application for the registration of HONEY.COM was filed last September, following an increased interest in generic domains used as trademarks, all thanks to a positive decision for BOOKING.COM in June 2020.
In the case of HONEY.COM, the panelist stated:
Registration is refused because the applied-for mark merely describes a feature of applicant’s goods.
Further, the addition (of) the term “.COM” does not diminish the descriptive nature of the mark. The non-source-identifying generic top-level domain (gTLD) “.com” merely indicates an Internet address for use by commercial, for-profit organizations.
Further, applicant owns a prior registration (Registration No. 5982126) where applicant disclaims the term “HONEY.COM”.
Perhaps the latter did not help; the applicant now has the opportunity to respond to this decision that is not final.
