Alison Grabell Wins Appeal at Trademark Office on Registrability of TINSELTOWN – In Time for the Holidays

Partner Alison Grabell successfully appealed the U.S. Trademark Office’s refusal to register the mark TINSELTOWN for clothing. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board reversed the refusal on the grounds that the mark was primarily geographically descriptive of Hollywood, California, and agreed instead that TINSELTOWN, as a nickname for Hollywood, was suggestive of “the glitz and glamour” of the motion picture industry as used in connection with the client’s clothing. Historically, the TTAB reverses refusals to register in only about 15% of cases.