‘Smart Bezel’ Too Descriptive to Act as Trademark, Board Says

A sound and lighting company can’t register a “smart bezel” trademark because it merely describes the product despite the company’s claims it’s not a bezel, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board said.

Images of the relevant product on Zuma Array Ltd.'s website made clear that the “Smart Bezels” are “designed to be incorporated into the bezels of various electronics appliances, and lighting and heating systems,” the board said, affirming an examiner’s refusal. Zuma had argued the “electronic sensor modules” the mark would cover don’t contain bezels, meaning the mark can’t be descriptive.

The precedential decision makes clear the importance of ...