The Board affirmed a Section 2(e)(5) refusal to register the
product configuration shown below, for "yoga blocks,"
finding the proposed mark to be de jure functional and
therefore unregistrable. Applicant's advertising touted the
advantages of the design and "there appear to be no
alternative designs available that would work as well . . . ."
In re Amanda Field d/b/a Republic
Yoga, Serial No. 87562426 (August 14, 2019) [not
precedential] (Opinion by Judge Jonathan Hudis).
Applicant described the design as "a three-dimensional
configuration of a triangular block which has beveled edges."
Examining Attorney Saima Makhdoom submitted the text of a U.S.
patent application filed in 2008, entitled "Yoga comfort Wedge
System," describing and claiming a wedge-shaped device, but
the Examining Attorney did not include the patent application
drawings. The Board noted that it could not take judicial notice of
the complete application, and it concluded that it could not
