The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s refusal to register the stylized mark CHURRASCOS for bar and restaurant services based on genericness.  In re Cordua Restaurants, Inc., 2016 WL 2786364 (Fed. Cir. May 13, 2016).

The Board refused registration of the stylized version of the mark CHURRASCOS, holding that “churrascos” is a generic term for both a type of meat as well as a restaurant featuring that type of meat.  The applicant, Cordua Restaurants, appealed the decision of the Board, arguing that the mark CHURRASCOS is incontestable based on Cordua’s already-existing federal registration for the word mark CHURRASCOS, and that the Board’s refusal was therefore an error.Continue Reading Federal Circuit Affirms Refusal to Register “Churrascos” Based on Genericness, Despite Prior Federal Registration of the Mark