TTABlog Test: Is BLOCKCHAIN DRILLING Merely Descriptive Of Offshore Drilling Services?

The USPTO issued a Section 2(e)(1) refusal to register the mark BLOCKCHAIN DRILLING, finding it to be merely descriptive of "Drilling of offshore oil or gas wells utilizing blockchain technology and solutions to enhance efficiencies and reduce costs" and "Implementation of blockchain technology and solutions, namely, providing a nondownloadable cloud-based computer software platform to enhance efficiencies and reduce costs in drilling offshore oil and gas wells" [DRILLING disclaimed]. Applicant argued that the mark is incongruous and therefore "at worst suggestive" of the services, since the "blockchain is traditionally used in ledgers, accountant's records, and in other data storage systems," not in the rough-and-tumble field of oil and gas well drilling. How do you think this came out? In re Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc., Serial No. 87766205 (April 27, 2020) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Lorelei Ritchie).