Booking.com Supreme Court Trademark Case Has Experts Divided

Three amicus briefs filed at the U.S. Supreme Court Monday show a split opinion among intellectual property experts as to whether combining a generic word with ".com” can create a valid trademark.

The case involves Booking.com B.V.‘s attempt to register a trademark for its name. The PTO and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board rejected Booking’s application, finding the mark generic. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed, ruling that the generic word “Booking” combined with ".com” can create a protectable descriptive trademark if the public perceives the entire mark to be a non-generic brand name. ...