On appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the
US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the
TTAB’s refusal to register a stylized form of the mark
CHURRASCOS for restaurant services, finding that the trademark is
generic and thus unregistrable. In re: Cordua Restaurants,
Inc., Case No. 15-1432 (Fed. Cir, May 13, 2016) (Dyk,
J).
Since 1988, Cordua has operated the
Churrascos chain of restaurants in Texas. The restaurants serve
South American cuisine, including churrasco-style grilled meats. In
2008, Cordua obtained a US trademark registration for the word mark
CHURRASCOS in connection with restaurant and bar services. However,
when Cordua applied for a stylized version of the CHURRASCOS mark
in 2011, the trademark examiner rejected the application on grounds
that the mark is generic for Cordua’s restaurant services,
since the word “churrascos” simply identifies a type of
restaurant and the food it serves.
