Precedential No. 23: MEDICAL EXTRUSION TECHNOLOGIES Lacks Aquired Distinctiveness, Says TTAB

In an enervating, yet precedential decision, the Board sustained an opposition to registration of the mark MEDICAL EXTRUSION TECHNOLOGIES, in standard character form, for polyurethanes for use in the manufacture of medical devices, finding applicant's evidence inadequate to support its Section 2(f) claim of acquired distinctiveness for this highly descriptive term. Apollo Medical Extrusion Technologies, Inc. v. Medical Extrusion Technologies, Inc., Opposition No. 91219435 (August 18, 2017) [precedential] (Opinion by Judge Jeffrey T. Quinn).

By seeking registration under Section 2(f) of the Trademark Act, applicant conceded that its mark was not inherently distinctive. An applicant who resorts to Section 2(f) bears the ultimate burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the applied-for mark has acquired distinctiveness. Moreover, "the applicant's burden of showing acquired distinctiveness increases with the level of descriptiveness; a more