The USPTO refused to register the mark QUERCUS
COFFEE for coffee [COFFEE disclaimed], finding a
likelihood of confusion with the registered
mark QUERCUS for wine. Not surprisingly,
the Board found the marks to be "highly similar." But
what about the goods? Are wine and coffee related?
In re Quercus Coffee LLC, Serial No. 88484601
(February 16, 2021) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Jyll
Taylor).
Examining Attorney Crystal Yi maintained that coffee and wine
are indeed related because they commonly emanate from a single
source under the same name. She made of record a number of websites
offering both products under the same mark: H & L (stylized),
Harry & David, Hoodsport, Biltmore and Biltmore Estate, Fly
Creek, Cherry Republic, Devils Gulch Ranch, Nocking Point NP, PB
Pepper Bridge Winery and Vampire. She also submitted twenty
use-based, third-party registrations showing registration of the
same mark by a single entity for both coffee and wine.
