Shammas v. Rea

MEMORANDUM OPINION

T.S. ELLIS, III, District Judge.

At issue on cross motions for summary judgment in this action seeking review of a decision from the Patent and Trademark Office’s (“PTO”) Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) is whether the TTAB erred in denying registration for the term “PROBI-OTIC” on the grounds that the term is generic in connection with fertilizer, and alternatively, that the term at best is descriptive and has not acquired secondary meaning. For the reasons that follow, the TTAB did not err in denying registration to plaintiff. Accordingly, plaintiffs motion for summary…