REI Being a ‘Co-Op’ Doesn’t Bar Its Use as Trademark, TTAB Says

Recreational Equipment Inc. can register “Co-Op” as a trademark for bikes because the term is descriptive of the company but not the goods, a trademark tribunal ruled.

The company, known as REI, convinced the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to reverse a trademark examiner’s refusal to register its trademark as merely descriptive. Marks that describe a product or its attributes must mean something to consumers to be registered, but no hard-line rule bars trademarks descriptive of the product’s producer, the board said in a Nov. 20 precedential ruling.

Marks that are descriptive of a producer can sometimes be deemed ...