TTABlog Test: Is "BLUEBERRY MUFFIN" Generic For Beer?

[This guest post was written by Kira-Khanh McCarthy, a 2L at University of Notre Dame Law School.] The USPTO refused to register BLUEBERRY MUFFIN, in standard characters, finding the term generic for "beer." Applicant Humboldt Street Collective had conceded that the term is merely descriptive by amending its initial application to seek registration on the Supplemental Register, but Examining Attorney Natalie Kenealy nonetheless refused registration under Section 23(c). How do you think this came out? In re Humboldt Street Collective LLC, Serial No. 87152277 (March 29, 2019) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Peter Cataldo).

The TTAB applied its standard two-part test to determine whether BLUEBERRY MUFFIN is generic: (1) what is the genus of the goods at issue and (2) whether relevant purchasers understand that designation primarily to refer to that genus of goods.