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ARTICLE · 26 AUGUST 2022

"EL CABO" Character Name In TV Show Fails To Function As A Source Indicator For Entertainment Services

Wolf Greenfield & Sacks
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Continuing our scintillating series of failure-to-function rulings, the Board affirmed a refusal to register the proposed mark EL CABO, in standard character and composite form (shown below), ...

United StatesIntellectual Property
John L. Welch
John L. Welch
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Continuing our scintillating series of failure-to-function rulings, the Board affirmed a refusal to register the proposed markEL CABO, in standard character and composite form (shown below), for entertainment services. The Board found that Applicant's specimen of use "does not reflect that consumers of Applicant's services will perceive [either mark] as trademarks indicating . . . television entertainment services." In re Caracol Televisión S.A., Serial Nos. 87916944 and 879169481 (August 24, 2022) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Peter W. Cataldo).

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The Board observed that "a proposed trademark is registrable only if it functions as an identifier of the source of the applicant's goods or services."In re DePorter, 129 USPQ2d 1298, 1299 (TTAB 2019) (citing 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051, 1052, and 1127). Sections 1, 2, 3, and 45 of the Trademark Act provide the statutory basis for a refusal to register subject matter that fails to function as a service mark. "[N]ot every

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