TTABlog Test: Is "ICY (Stylized)" Confusable With "ICEE" For Clothing?

The USPTO refused registration of the mark ICY (stylized) on the ground of likelihood of confusion with the registered mark ICEE, for overlapping clothing items (sweatshirts). So it all boiled down to the marks. Applicant American Branding failed to show that the cited mark is weak, either inherently or conceptually. However, it further maintained that the marks engender different commercial impressions. How do you think this came out? In re American Branding Agency, Corporation, Serial No. 88683570 (September 29, 2021) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Robert H. Coggins).

The Board found that the cited mark ICEE "likely has a meaning approximating 'resembling or suggestive of ice or something intensely cold.'" [BTW: see registrant's website here) - ed.]. As to the commercial impression of applicant's mark, evidence of third-party registrations and ornamental uses of ICY on clothing "suggest[] that ICY may have a different commercial impression than ICEE