DICKMAN'S Pickles: Just Another Unregistrable Surname

The US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has, again, explained how and when surnames may function as trademarks. In re Enumclaw Farms LLC, Application Serial No. 85942195 (TTAB June 24, 2016). This blog has discussed this topic in the past, but the facts in this most recent case are worth another post.

In this case, the trademark examining attorney had refused registration of the mark DICKMAN'S for "fruit-based spread; jellies and jams; marmalade; pickled fruit; pickled vegetables; pickle; preserved fruit and vegetables; preserved fruit; processed food; processed vegetables and fruits" under Section 2(e)(4) of the Trademark Act on the grounds that the mark was primarily merely a surname. Under US trademark law, a word which is considered "primarily merely a surname" cannot be protected and registered as a trademark without evidence that the name has been in long and exclusive use which has changed its significance to the public from merely the surname of an