Nature's Rest, Inc.

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

May 14, 2004

No. 76424153 (T.T.A.B. May. 14, 2004)

Mailed: May 14, 2004
Paper No. 8
CEW
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
___________
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
___________
In re Nature’s Rest, Inc.
___________
Serial No. 76424153
___________
Brian M. Mattson, Esq. for Nature’s Rest, Inc.
Kathleen M. Vanston, Trademark Examining Attorney, Law
Office 103 (Michael Hamilton, Managing Attorney).
____________
Before Quinn, Walters and Holtzman, Administrative Trademark
Judges.
Opinion by Walters, Administrative Trademark Judge:
Nature’s Rest, Inc. has filed an application to
register on the Principal Register the mark DOWNLOFT for
“pillows,” in International Class 20.1
The Trademark Examining Attorney has issued a final
refusal to register, under Section 2(e)(1) of the Trademark

1 Serial No. 76424153, filed June 24, 2002, based on an allegation of a
bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce.
THIS DISPOSITION
IS NOT CITABLE AS
PRECEDENT OF
THE TTAB
Serial No. 76424153
2
Act, 15 U.S.C. 1052(e)(1), on the ground that applicant’s
mark is merely descriptive in connection with its goods.
Applicant has appealed. Both applicant and the
Examining Attorney have filed briefs, but an oral hearing
was not requested. We affirm the refusal to register.
The Examining Attorney contends that DOWNLOFT is merely
descriptive because “down” refers to feathers and is often
used as a pillow filler; that “loft” refers to the thickness
of a material such as goose down and, in the context of
pillows, refers to pillow thickness; and that the term “down
loft” is commonly used to describe an attribute of down-
filled goods. In support of her position, the Examining
Attorney submitted relevant definitions of “down” as “a
covering of soft fluffy feathers; also: these feathers” and
of “loft” as “the thickness of a fabric or insulating
material (as goose down) – loft-like.”2
Additionally the Examining Attorney submitted excerpts
of articles retrieved from the LEXIS/NEXIS database and from
Internet websites. The following are several examples:
Bed Bath & Beyond has a pillow filled with a
synthetic fiber that originates from corn. It is
sold as the Natural Balance Pillow. This pillow
has a lot of loft and will fluff naturally after
being squashed during a night of sleep…. [The
Columbus Dispatch, August 25, 2002.]
“We didn’t want traditional down pillows for this
crisp space,” said Lewis Goetz, a design

2 These excerpts are from: www.yourdictionary.com, October 29, 2002.
Serial No. 76424153
3
principal. [Topeka Capital Journal, October 26,
2002.]
If you have a down pillow, when you punch into the
pillow and pull your hand out, the pillow will
stay compressed with your fist print. [St. Cloud
Times, October 24, 2002.]
… while Springmaid offerings included a pillow
with a quilted panel-loft construction and a 100
percent cotton cover. [HFN The Weekly Newspaper
for the Home Furnishing Network, July 15, 2002.]
The Super Loft and Dual Support pillows will be
added to PCF’s line of down and feather pillows
while three new constructions will be added to the
line of synthetic…. [Home Textiles Today, October
12, 2001.]
This four-sided border system prevents the down
from shifting to the edges and bottom of your
comforter. Premier stitching patterns allow for
the maximum in down loft, while minimizing the
down from shifting around the inside of your
comforter. [www.downandlinen.com, undated.]
Loft is the technical term for measuring the
filling power of down. One ounce of down can
support a volume of air ranging from 425 to 700
cubic inches, depending upon its quality. A good
average goose down will loft around 550 to 575
cubic inches per ounce. [beddingandbath.com,
undated.]
Applicant contends that DOWNLOFT “provides a
combination of terms that creates a distinct commercial
impression which is not descriptive” (Brief, p. 2); that the
Examining Attorney has inappropriately dissected applicant’s
proposed mark; that DOWNLOFT is, at most, suggestive as it
does not convey the exact nature of the goods and it does
not indicate the particular thickness of the pillow; and
that DOWNLOFT may also suggest that applicant’s pillows,
Serial No. 76424153
4
regardless of the material of the pillows, has a resiliency
similar to that of a down pillow.
The test for determining whether a mark is merely
descriptive is whether it immediately conveys information
concerning a quality, characteristic, function, ingredient,
attribute or feature of the product or service in connection
with which it is used, or intended to be used. In re
Engineering Systems Corp., 2 USPQ2d 1075 (TTAB 1986); In re
Bright-Crest, Ltd., 204 USPQ 591 (TTAB 1979). It is not
necessary, in order to find that a mark is merely
descriptive, that the mark describe each feature of the
goods or services, only that it describe a single,
significant quality, feature, etc. In re Venture Lending
Associates, 226 USPQ 285 (TTAB 1985). Further, it is well-
established that the determination of mere descriptiveness
must be made not in the abstract or on the basis of
guesswork, but in relation to the goods or services for
which registration is sought, the context in which the mark
is used, and the impact that it is likely to make on the
average purchaser of such goods or services. In re
Recovery, 196 USPQ 830 (TTAB 1977).
Contrary to applicant’s contentions, the evidence
clearly establishes that the composite term DOWNLOFT as well
as the individual terms DOWN and LOFT are merely descriptive
of applicant’s goods, pillows. As the record shows, in the
Serial No. 76424153
5
context of pillows, “down” is the feather filling of a
pillow and “loft” is the thickness or fluffiness of that
feather filling. In the phrase “down loft,” “down” modifies
“loft” and clearly refers to the thickness of down.
Contrary to applicant’s contentions, in the context of
pillows, prospective purchasers are likely to perceive
applicant’s proposed mark DOWNLOFT as merely indicating that
the loft of the pillow is created by a filling material of
down.
In conclusion, when applied to applicant’s goods, the
term DOWNLOFT immediately describes, without conjecture or
speculation, a significant feature or function of
applicant’s goods as indicated above. Nothing requires the
exercise of imagination, cogitation, mental processing or
gathering of further information in order for purchasers and
prospective customers for applicant’s goods to readily
perceive the merely descriptive significance of the term
DOWNLOFT as it pertains to applicant’s goods.
Decision: The refusal under Section 2(e)(1) of the Act
is affirmed.