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In re Joint-Stock Company “Baik”

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

84 U.S.P.Q.2d 1921 (2007)

Intellectual Property
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Joint-Stock Company Baik (Joint-Stock) (plaintiff) applied to register "BAIK" as a trademark for its vodka, but the examining attorney denied the application on the ground that "Baik" is a surname; Joint-Stock appealed to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), presenting evidence that the surname "Baik" is extremely rare in the U.S. with no connection to anyone at the company, and that "Baik" sounds Russian, evoking "Baikal," a Siberian region.

IssueFree

Whether a mark that is primarily merely a surname can be registered as a trademark.

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