Notwithstanding a gallant fight from Reed Elsevier Properties, Inc. at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (”TTAB”), the TTAB judges found the mark lawyers.com, for a website providing access to an online interactive database featuring information exchange in the field of law, to be generic. In a decision that has left many trademark attorneys scratching their heads, the TTAB reasoned that the public would readily identify a site bearing the name lawyers.com with a site containing information about lawyers and the law, and accordingly, the trademark was generic.

In fact, the site does contain information about lawyers. It does not, however, contain actual lawyers, nor does it give users the ability to talk to a lawyer through the site (except on special occasions). The site also contains information about cases, legal topics, and legal tips. While most would have no quibble with the suggestion that a site called lawyers.com is dedicated to lawyers and the law, longstanding trademark law suggests that generic refusals of trademarks are reserved for terms that represent the exact definition of what’s offered (a site called poetry.com, that featured actual poetry). Indeed, in this case, it appears that the mark lawyers.com is descriptive rather than generic, since it describes an element of the site, rather than the site itself.

This entry was posted by Tsan Abrahamson on Thursday, March 9th, 2006 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Trademarks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.