Addressing whether the word
“tequila” can be registered in the United States as a
certification mark, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB)
answered in the affirmative, dismissing an opposition alleging that
“tequila” is a generic word for distilled spirits.
Luxco, Inc. v. Consejo Regulador Tequila A.C.,
Opp. No. 91190827 (TTAB, Jan. 23, 2017) (Bergsman,
ATJ).
Consejo Regulador del Tequila (CRT) is a Mexican nonprofit civil
association and the only entity accredited and approved by the
Mexican government to ensure the authenticity, origin, quality and
safety of tequila. As part of its accredited role, CRT sought to
register TEQUILA as a certification mark for “distilled
spirits, namely, spirits distilled from the blue tequilana weber
variety of agave plant,” so that TEQUILA, as used by persons
authorized by CRT, would certify that the spirits are manufactured
in Mexico from a specific variety of the blue agave plant grown as
defined by Mexican law and
