Trademark Rights Law: Penn State Not Geographically Descriptive

On February 21, 2019, Pennsylvania State University (the "Applicant") filed a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO"), seeking registration of: 1) the word mark PENNSTATE HEALTH; and 2) the words PENNSTATE HEALTH with a logo of a Nittany lion (the "Marks"). The Trademark Examining Attorney refused registration of the Marks, asserting that PENNSTATE HEALTH is primarily geographically descriptive under applicable trademark rights law. On March 9, 2021, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ("TTAB") reversed the Examining Attorney's refusal, ruling that the Examining Attorney had "failed to establish the threshold element of geographic descriptiveness."