One of the fundamental principles of trademark law is that certain terms cannot function as trademarks because, as being merely descriptive of the goods or sources, these marks lack the role as an origin of source of those goods or services. Section 2(e) of the Lanham Act[1] codifies the mere descriptiveness principle, prohibiting registration of …
Tag: descriptiveness
Heating Up: FIREBALL Not Generic
Understanding Trademark Genericism Trademark law exists to protect distinctive marks that identify the source of a particular good or service. However, when a trademark becomes so widely known that it no longer acts as a source identifier, but the mark primarily describes the product in which it is being used, it risks becoming “generic” and …