This morning the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion in a trademark case appealed from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The court also issued a nonprecedential order denying as moot a petition for a writ of mandamus directing the Eastern District of Texas to rule on a motion to dismiss or transfer venue. Here are the introductions to the opinion and order.
Brooklyn Brewery Corp. v. Brooklyn Brew Shop, LLC (Precedential)
The Brooklyn Brewery Corporation (“Brewery”) appeals a decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”). Brewery petitioned to cancel Brooklyn Brew Shop, LLC’s (“BBS”) registration of the mark “BROOKLYN BREW SHOP,” in standard characters, for goods identified as “Beer making kit[s]” in Class 32 (the “Cancellation”), and opposed BBS’s application to register a stylized version of the same mark for beer-making kits in Class 32 and sanitizing preparations for household use in Class 5 (the “Opposition”).
We affirm the Board’s denial of Brewery’s petition for cancellation. As for the Opposition, we dismiss the appeal as to the Class 5 goods for lack of standing. We vacate and remand in part because we find the Board erred by not entering judgment in favor of Brewery on the Class 32 goods deleted from BBS’s application. As to the remaining goods in Class 32 (beer-making kits), we affirm the Board’s dismissal of the claim that, under Section 2(d), the mark is likely to cause confusion. We vacate and remand with respect to the descriptiveness issue under Section 2(e)(1), because the Board erred by not reaching Brewery’s claim that the applied-for mark lacked acquired distinctiveness under Section 2(f) as to the beer-making kits, but affirm the Board’s refusal to consider geographic descriptiveness under Section 2(e)(2).
In re Signify N.V. (Nonprecedential Order)
On September 24, 2021, Signify N.V. filed a petition for a writ of mandamus asking this court to direct the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to “rule on Signify N.V.’s motion to dismiss or transfer before proceeding to the merits of the case,” including before the November 10, 2021 claim construction hearing. Pet. at 4. On October 22, 2021, the district court ruled on Signify’s motion.
Upon consideration thereof,
IT IS ORDERED THAT:
The petition is dismissed as moot.