Spotlight On Upcoming Oral Arguments – August 2023

Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Universal Life Church Monastery Storehouse v. American Marriage Ministries, No. 22-1744, Courtroom 201

American Marriage Ministries ("AMM") filed a Notice of Opposition of Universal Life Church Monastery Storehouse's ("ULC") application to register the GET ORDAINED trademark in connection with Class 35 (online retail store) and 45 (ecclesiastical) services. The opposition was based on several grounds including that the mark was "merely descriptive," "generic," "comprise[d] matter that, as a whole, [was] functional," "failed to function as a mark," "not inherently distinctive," and, fraud. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board dismissed the fraud and functionality claims. The remaining claims were reviewed at trial. After trial, the Board found that GET ORDAINED was descriptive "without proof of acquired distinctiveness" and failed to function as a mark in connection with ULC's services. Specifically, "[b]ecause 'get ordained' is so