Justices Talk Monopolies, Generic Marks in Booking.com Case (1)

In its first-ever remote oral argument, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday showed concerns on both sides of the argument about whether “Booking.com” and similar terms are entitled to federal trademark protection.

The justices expressed concern that such trademarks could monopolize the use of generic terms in domain names. But they also questioned whether ".com” marks could rightly be compared to other combinations of generic marks that have been previously held unprotectable.

Smooth Proceedings

Justice Clarence Thomas, who rarely questions attorneys during oral argument, asked the USPTO’s attorney whether Booking.com was closer to a personal telephone number than a generic ...