OTA sues patent office for trademark rejection
Saturday, 25 Apr, 2016
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Booking.com has filed a lawsuit against the US Patent and Trademark Office in the latest step in a long running battle to trademark its name.
The OTA had seen trademark applications and a subsequent appeal denied.
The term Booking.com is too generic, the Patent and Trademark Office ruled.
Its appeals board upheld a 2014 decision to reject the trademark application.
"There is no evidence that plaintiff’s actual claimed trademark Booking.com is the common descriptive name of a class of goods or services,’ it said.
In response to the ruling, the travel firm conducted a survey which it claims 75% of its customers associate ‘Booking.com’ with a trademark and not merely a name, the lawsuit said.
The company has used the domain for a decade and has invested huge sums to build brand awareness globally, the lawsuit states.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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