Global Gaming League, Inc.

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

Feb 19, 2008

No. 78687059 (T.T.A.B. Feb. 19, 2008)

Mailed:
Feb. 19, 2008

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
________

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
________

In re Global Gaming League, Inc.
________

Serial No. 78687059
_______

Marvin H. Kleinberg of Kleinberg & Lerner, LLP for Global
Gaming League, Inc.

Dorritt Carroll, Trademark Examining Attorney, Law Office
116 (Michael W. Baird, Managing Attorney).
_______

Before Bucher, Grendel and Cataldo, Administrative
Trademark Judges.

Opinion by Grendel, Administrative Trademark Judge:

Global Gaming League, Inc., applicant herein, seeks
registration on the Principal Register of the mark HIP HOP
GAMING LEAGUE (in standard character form) for goods and
services identified in the application as:

Class 9:
Software for enabling connectivity between
gamers, gathering and tracking multiplayer gaming
statistics, providing opportunity for multiplayer
gamers to interact in the field of computer
THIS OPINION IS NOT A
PRECEDENT OF THE TTAB
Ser. No. 78687059
2
games; software for matching multiplayer gamers
based on skill and interests in the field of
enabling digital interactivity; computer
peripheral devices, namely, joysticks, game
controllers, steering wheels, trackballs, laser
pointing devices, mouse pads and speakers;
headphones; downloadable computer game software
for computers consoles and mobile devices;

Class 16:
Newsletters and magazines in the field of
computer gaming; and

Class 41:
Entertainment services, namely, providing
competitive multi-player video gaming via
worldwide and local computer networks; on-line
video gaming information services, namely,
providing dynamically-updated statistics and
results of the performance of video game players
and related content, connecting video game
players to others with similar interest and skill
levels to compete in a multi-player game
environment by means of a global network;
computer gaming information, namely, providing
editorial content and commentary concerning video
games and related content for transmission by
means of cable television, over the air
broadcasts, worldwide computer networks, wireless
and other digital transmission means; providing
on-line web logs, articles and editorial
publications in the field of computer gaming.1

The Trademark Examining Attorney has issued a final
refusal to register applicant’s mark on the ground that the
mark is merely descriptive of the goods and services

1 Serial No. 78687059, filed on August 5, 2005. The application
is based on applicant’s asserted bona fide intention to use the
mark in commerce. Trademark Act Section 1(b), 15 U.S.C.
§1051(b).

Ser. No. 78687059
3
identified in the application. Trademark Act Section
2(e)(1), 15 U.S.C. §1052(e)(1).
Applicant has appealed the final refusal. After
careful consideration of the evidence of record and the
arguments of counsel, we affirm the refusal to register as
to all three classes of goods and services.
A term is deemed to be merely descriptive of goods or
services, within the meaning of Trademark Act Section
2(e)(1), if it forthwith conveys an immediate idea of an
ingredient, quality, characteristic, feature, function,
purpose or use of the goods or services. See, e.g., In re
Gyulay, 820 F.2d 1216, 3 USPQ2d 1009 (Fed. Cir. 1987), and
In re Abcor Development Corp., 588 F.2d 811, 200 USPQ 215,
217-18 (CCPA 1978). A term need not immediately convey an
idea of each and every specific feature of the applicant’s
goods or services in order to be considered merely
descriptive; it is enough that the term describes one
significant attribute, function or property of the goods or
services. See In re H.U.D.D.L.E., 216 USPQ 358 (TTAB
1982); In re MBAssociates, 180 USPQ 338 (TTAB 1973).
Whether a term is merely descriptive is determined not in
the abstract, but in relation to the goods or services for
which registration is sought, the context in which it is
being used on or in connection with those goods or
Ser. No. 78687059
4
services, and the possible significance that the term would
have to the average purchaser of the goods or services
because of the manner of its use. That a term may have
other meanings in different contexts is not controlling.
In re Bright-Crest, Ltd., 204 USPQ 591, 593 (TTAB 1979).
Moreover, it is settled that “[t]he question is not whether
someone presented with only the mark could guess what the
goods or services are. Rather, the question is whether
someone who knows what the goods or services are will
understand the mark to convey information about them.” In
re Tower Tech Inc., 64 USPQ2d 1314, 1316-17 (TTAB 2002).
See also In re Patent & Trademark Services Inc., 49 USPQ2d
1537 (TTAB 1998); In re Home Builders Association of
Greenville, 18 USPQ2d 1313 (TTAB 1990); and In re American
Greetings Corporation, 226 USPQ 365 (TTAB 1985).
Applying these principles in the present case, we find
as follows.
First, we find that the words GAMING LEAGUE are merely
descriptive of applicant’s goods and services as they are
identified in the application. “Gaming” is defined, in
pertinent part, as “the playing of games, especially video
games.” The American Heritage Dictionary of the English
Language (4th ed. 2000). Applicant itself repeatedly uses
the word “gaming” descriptively or even generically in its
Ser. No. 78687059
5
identification of goods and services. Based on this
evidence, we find that GAMING is merely descriptive of
applicant’s goods and services. Applicant does not contend
otherwise.
We also find that the word LEAGUE is merely
descriptive of applicant’s goods and services as they are
identified in the application. “League” is defined in
pertinent part as: “Sports An association of teams or
clubs that compete chiefly among themselves.” (Id.)
Applicant’s primary argument in opposition to the mere
descriptiveness refusal in this case is that its goods and
services do not involve or relate to a “league” under this
definition, because they do not involve structured
competition among “teams” or “clubs,” but rather involve an
unstructured and only loosely organized opportunity and
forum for competition among individual gamers. We are not
persuaded.
First, applicant’s identification of goods and
services is broad enough to encompass a gaming environment
which is organized and structured as a competition among
teams, not just competition among individual gamers. That
is, nothing in the identification of goods and services
would preclude applicant from organizing individual gamers
into teams for team competition, based on skill level,
Ser. No. 78687059
6
preferred types of games, or otherwise. Due to the nature
of video games, the individual contests most likely would
pit individuals against individuals in either one-on-one or
multiplayer competition, but, consistent with the
identification of goods and services, these individual
gamers readily could be organized into teams and compete as
teams in a team league format as well.
Second, it is apparent from excerpts from applicant’s
website (made of record by the Trademark Examining
Attorney) that applicant has structured and patterned its
gaming competition environment in the manner of a sports
league, with many of the trappings of a league. Like
sports leagues, applicant’s gaming league has a
commissioner (the hip-hop star Snoop Dogg). Like sports
leagues, the competition is organized into yearly seasons
(there are references to “season one” and “season two”).
Each season involves “regular season” competition and
“playoffs” competition. The competition leads to a season-
ending tournament which determines the league championship.
The menu tabs on applicant’s website include “standings,”
“schedule” and “stats,” all of which are typical of league
play. Like professional sports leagues, applicant’s gaming
league has a “draft day” every year.
Ser. No. 78687059
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In answer to this evidence showing that applicant’s
competition environment is organized in a typical league
format, applicant argues that these league trappings do not
pertain to the identified goods and services which are
directed to applicant’s purchasers (individual gamers who
join as members). Rather, “the championship and playoff
matches are simply a promotional campaign that ONLY
features celebrities and it does not go to the goods and
services of the mark.” (Applicant’s brief at 5.) This
argument is unpersuasive. There is nothing in applicant’s
identification of goods and services which limits use of
the league format, including playoffs, tournaments and
championships, to celebrity gamers. Second, even if the
league format is limited to celebrity gamers, and
applicant’s ordinary members/purchasers are relegated to
the role of spectators, those spectators still would view
the celebrity competition as being in the form of a league,
essentially similar to the National Football League or
Major League Baseball with its National League and American
League.
Alternatively with respect to the mere descriptiveness
of LEAGUE, we note that “league” also is defined as “an
association of states, organizations or individuals for
common action….” The American Heritage Dictionary of the
Ser. No. 78687059
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English Language (4th ed. 2000)(emphasis added).
Applicant’s goods and services clearly are intended or
designed to create an opportunity for individual gamers to
associate together for the purpose of sharing their common
interest in gaming. The word “league” merely describes
this aspect, function and purpose of the goods and
services.
For these reasons, we find that LEAGUE is merely
descriptive of applicant’s goods and services. The word as
it appears in applicant’s mark and as it is applied to
applicant’s goods and services would have no other
significance to purchasers than its merely descriptive
significance. We have considered all of applicant’s
arguments to the contrary, but find them to be
unpersuasive.
To summarize, we find that the word GAMING and the
word LEAGUE are merely descriptive of applicant’s goods and
services, and that the combination GAMING LEAGUE likewise
is merely descriptive. It directly informs purchasers that
the goods and services involve or relate to a league for
competitive gaming and gamers.
Having found that GAMING LEAGUE is merely descriptive
of applicant’s goods and services, we likewise find that
HIP HOP is merely descriptive of the goods and services.
Ser. No. 78687059
9
“Hip-Hop” is defined as a noun meaning “a popular urban
youth culture, closely associated with rap music and with
the style and fashions of African-American inner-city
residents.” As an adjective, “hip-hop” is defined as “of
or characteristic of hip-hop culture.” The American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed. 2000).
Applicant’s identification of goods and services is
sufficiently broad to encompass a gaming league which is
based on or involves hip-hop culture. Moreover, it is
apparent from applicant’s website that applicant’s goods
and services are marketed specifically to gamers who are
involved in or interested in hip-hop culture. The
commissioner of applicant’s gaming league is Snoop Dogg, a
world-famous hip-hop star. Applicant’s celebrity gamers
are primarily hip-hop personalities and stars such as
Method Man and Ying Yang Twinz. The purchasers and other
users of applicant’s goods and services would immediately
and directly understand that HIP HOP in applicant’s mark
refers to this hip-hop focus of applicant’s gaming league.
Thus, HIP HOP is merely descriptive of applicant’s goods
and services.
Finally, we find that applicant’s combination of the
merely descriptive terms HIP HOP and GAMING LEAGUE does not
negate the mere descriptiveness of the two terms in
Ser. No. 78687059
10
themselves, nor does it result in a composite that is
unique, incongruous or otherwise distinctive. We note that
applicant has not identified any such distinctive meaning
for the composite phrase. Indeed, there is content on
applicant’s website which suggests that there is a
connection in the relevant public’s perception between hip-
hop culture and gaming culture. An article on the “HHGL
NEWS” page of applicant’s website, under the headline “Hip
Hop and Video Games: Unwanted Children Unite!”, begins:

Right now, all over the world, the suits are
struggling to catch up to what we have known for
years. Hip-hop and video games are it. It’s a
familiar arithmetic: two rejected art forms
forced underground reemerge dominant. Now,
everybody wants a piece. But, that ain’t gonna
happen. Like Paul Wall, hip hop and video games
are by the people, for the people. So, get your
shovel, we goin back underground.

For all of the reasons discussed above, and
notwithstanding applicant’s unpersuasive arguments to the
contrary, we find that HIP HOP GAMING LEAGUE is merely
descriptive of applicant’s goods and services. HIP HOP
GAMING LEAGUE directly describes the subject matter of
applicant’s Class 41 entertainment and information
services. It directly describes applicant’s Class 9
software and hardware products, which would be used to
provide access to the gaming league and enable users to
Ser. No. 78687059
11
participate. It directly describes the subject matter of
the Class 16 publications. We find that registration
therefore is properly refused under Trademark Act Section
2(e)(1) as to all three classes.

Decision: The refusal to register is affirmed.