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ARTICLE · 31 OCTOBER 2017

TTAB Orders Cancellation Of Three Registrations For Bag Closure Configuration Marks Due To Section 2(E)(5) Functionality

Wolf Greenfield & Sacks
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In a case argued at Suffolk Law School in Boston on April 4, 2017, the Board granted a petition for cancellation of three registrations for the product configurations shown immediately below.

United StatesIntellectual Property
John L. Welch
John L. Welch
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In a case argued at Suffolk Law School in Boston on April 4, 2017, the Board granted a petition for cancellation of three registrations for the product configurations shown immediately below, on the ground of Section 2(e)(5) functionality: on the left, a "horizontal stripe adjacent the bag top" for "plastic bags;" in the center, the configuration of flexible plastic reclosable fastener strips (the "zipper flange" mark); and on the right, "a continuous colored stripe extending for the length of plastic film tubing and plastic film sheeting having a continuous reclosable strip on the surface" (the "rollstock" mark) for "reclosable film tubing and plastic film sheeting, not for wrapping." Poly-America, L.P. v. Illinois Tool Works Inc., Cancellation No. 92056833 (October 18, 2017) [precedential] (Opinion by Judge Peter W. Cataldo).

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