JASPE Trademark Held “Deceptively Misdescriptive” For Shirts And Pants

A “deceptively misdescriptive” mark is a mark that merely describes an aspect of the goods or services for which it is used. However, those goods or services do not in fact possess that aspect (misdescription) although consumers are likely to believe they do (deception).

Such a mark cannot be registered on the Principal Register of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office unless it has acquired distinctiveness through use (known as acquiring a “secondary meaning”).

This is the fate that befell the term JASPE when registration was sought for various clothing items including shirts and pants in Class 25. Readers may join the author in not knowing that “Jaspe” has two descriptive meanings: First, it is a fabric made by twisting or weaving two different colors or shades of dyed yarn. Second, it also means a blended, veined, spotted, mottled, or variegated appearance resembling or imitating jasper. Jaspe fabric does not have a uniform appearance or texture, but it still identifies a type of