When you see the name DOTBLOG, what does it mean to you? Is it
just a blog about DOTS candy? Or about the painter George Seurat? Maybe it indicates a service
that will help you punctuate your blog entries? Ok, probably not,
but it must have something to do with blogs, right? Or something
online, perhaps? If these assumptions are correct, does that make
the mark merely descriptive for trademark purposes? The Federal
Circuit recently explored these questions in a somewhat strange opinion in In Re: Driven Innovations,
Inc.
Merely Descriptive v. Suggestive Marks
A mark is merely descriptive if it conveys an immediate idea of
an ingredient, quality, characteristic, feature, function, purpose
or use of the goods or services sold under the mark. A mark is
suggestive, on the other hand, if it requires some imagination,
thought and perception to see the mark and then reach a conclusion
as to the nature of the services. For example, the fictional mark
SUNSTOP would likely be
