TGIF for the "Barbecook"

Thanks to John L. Welch at the TTABlog for calling attention to In re Saey N.V., Serial No. 75826909 (Sept. 21, 2005) [not citable] where the application described the mark


"consists of two holes and a handle, which are meant to represent and give the appearance of the eyes and nose features of a face on a tubular section of the barbecue." The applicanty went on in the briefs to describe this design as representing

. . . a face with eyes and nose that gives the appearance of the
face on the tubular section of the barbeque. The mark consists of two holes and
a handle, which are meant to represent and give the appearance of the eyes and
nose features of a face on the tubular section of the barbeque. The face is that
of the Barbecook and the graphic mark is a personification of the Applicant’s
personalized word mark Barbecook.

But the TTAB was not presuaded:

Applicant’s counsel is quite creative in ascribing to the design the
personalization of “the face of Barbecook” comprising two eyes and a nose.
However, the record is absolutely devoid of any promotion of the matter as the
“face” of Barbecook, or even that there is any fictional character named
“Barbecook.” Rather, “Barbecook” appears to be the trademark for applicant’s
grill. In point of fact, the record does not include even a single reference in
any promotional materials to the “face” design as a trademark for the goods.
There is a total absence of any “look for” promotion of the face as a trademark
for applicant’s goods. Rather, applicant’s brochures for the barbeque grills
point to the holes as follows: “Ventilation holes to control the air flow”; and “The intensity of the fire can be controlled by adjusting the ventilation system.”

Needless to say, the refusal to register was affirmed, and

Thank Goodness It's Friday,

--Bill Heinze