Dupont Scope Must Be Interpreted Consistently

In Apex Bank v. CC Serve Corp., No. 2023-2143 (Fed. Cir. Sep. 25, 2025), the Federal Circuit affirmed-in-part, vacated-in-part, and remanded the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) decision to sustain an opposition proceeding and refuse registration of the standard character mark and design mark for ASPIRE BANK for banking and financing services. In review of a likelihood of confusion determination, the Board turned to the second Dupont factor, holding that Apex's banking and financing services are legally identical to that of CC Serve's credit card services. Then, the Board turned to the sixth Dupont factor, where Apex submitted third-party uses of marks, including the word "ASPIRE," in connection with credit card services and various other financial services. The Board held that because of the overlap between Apex and CC Serve's services, the properly defined relevant public is consumers of credit card services. As such, the Board only looked at the 9 marks