University of Washington

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

Jan 13, 2017

No. 86668588 (T.T.A.B. Jan. 13, 2017)

This Opinion is not a
Precedent of the TTAB

Mailed: January 13, 2017
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
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In re University of Washington
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Serial No. 86668588
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Chad M. Smith of Ironmark Law Group PLLC,
for University of Washington

Ellen Awrich, Trademark Examining Attorney, Law Office 116,
Christine Cooper, Managing Attorney.
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Before Bergsman, Wellington and Lynch,
Administrative Trademark Judges.

Opinion by Lynch, Administrative Trademark Judge:
University of Washington (“Applicant”) seeks registration on the Principal
Register of the proposed mark GLOBAL INNOVATION EXCHANGE in standard
characters for “Educational services, namely, providing courses of instruction at the
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college and post-graduate level and distributing course materials in connection
therewith” in International Class 41.1
The Trademark Examining Attorney refused registration of Applicant’s proposed
mark under Section 2(e)(1), 15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(1), as merely descriptive of the
identified services. After the Trademark Examining Attorney made the refusal
final, Applicant appealed to this Board. The appeal has been fully briefed. We
affirm the refusal to register.
Section 2(e)(1) of the Trademark Act precludes registration of a mark which,
“when used on or in connection with the goods [or services] of the applicant is
merely descriptive . . . of them.” 15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(1). A term is merely descriptive
within the meaning of Section 2(e)(1) “if it immediately conveys knowledge of a
quality, feature, function, or characteristic of the goods or services with which it is
used.” In re Chamber of Commerce of the U.S., 675 F.3d 1297, 102 USPQ2d 1217,
1219 (Fed. Cir. 2012) (quoting In re Bayer Aktiengesellschaft, 488 F.3d 960, 82
USPQ2d 1828, 1831 (Fed. Cir. 2007)); see also In re TriVita, Inc., 783 F.3d 872, 114
USPQ2d 1574, 1575 (Fed. Cir. 2015).
We consider whether someone familiar with the identified services will
understand the mark to convey information about them, rather than whether
someone presented only with the mark could guess the products or activities listed
in the description of goods or services. DuoProSS Meditech Corp. v. Inviro Med.
Devices Ltd., 695 F.3d 1247, 103 USPQ2d 1753, 1757 (Fed. Cir. 2012); In re Abcor

1 Application Serial No. 86668588 was filed on June 19, 2015, based on Applicant’s intent to
use the proposed mark in commerce under Section 1(b) of the Trademark
Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1051(b).
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Dev. Corp., 588 F.2d 811, 200 USPQ 215, 218 (CCPA 1978); In re Remacle, 66
USPQ2d 1222, 1224 (TTAB 2002). Descriptiveness must be assessed “in relation to
the [services] for which registration is sought, the context in which it is being used,
and the possible significance that the term would have to the average purchaser of
the [services] because of the manner of its use or intended use.” Bayer
Aktiengesellschaft, 82 USPQ2d at 1831 (citing Abcor Dev., 200 USPQ at 218).
Applicant has identified its services as “Educational services, namely, providing
courses of instruction at the college and post-graduate level and distributing course
materials in connection therewith.” Considering the proposed mark in the context of
these services, the first word, GLOBAL is defined as “including or affecting the
whole world.”2 To that end, Applicant’s website states that its GLOBAL
INNOVATION EXCHANGE program “aims to foster talent with a global vision and
entrepreneurial spirit, and to tackle the global challenges faced by mankind.”3
According to Applicant, its program will have international faculty and will be “a
place where students from different corners of the world can collaborate, innovate
and create.”4 Regarding INNOVATION, which is “the invention or use of new
ideas,”5 Applicant’s website states that its program will “serve as a laboratory for
innovation,” bring people together to “innovate,” and “bolster[] the innovation

2 September 10, 2015 Office Action at 2-7 (macmillandictionary.com).
3 January 25, 2016 Office Action at 8-9 (emphasis added) (washington.edu).
4 Id. at 3 (emphasis added).
5 September 10, 2015 Office Action at 2-7 (macmillandictionary.com).
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ecosystem.”6 EXCHANGE is defined as “a situation in which one person gives
another person something and receives something else of a similar type or value in
return,” as well as “a situation in which people give each other information or
discuss their ideas and opinions.”7 Applicant’s website emphasizes that within its
program, “[l]earning will be … team-based” and will include collaboration and “an
open exchange of faculty from China and beyond.”8 While elsewhere the website
refers to the program as the “GLOBAL INNOVATION EXCHANGE,” or by the
abbreviation “GIX,” at one point it identifies an individual “who is helping lead
development of the curriculum for the innovation exchange.”9 We find that this
reference reflects descriptive use of “innovation exchange.” Overall, Applicant’s
website shows that the subject matter of its educational services involves an
exchange of ideas and faculty to develop new concepts and inventions (i.e.
innovation) on a global scale, both in terms of the participants and the issues
addressed.
Additional third-party evidence shows that in the context of college and
university educational services, the same “innovation exchange” terminology in
Applicant’s proposed mark is used by others to describe their programs and
conferences, including those of an international nature. Examples of such usage
include the following:

6 January 25, 2016 Office Action at 3, 4, 6 (emphasis added) (washington.edu).
7 September 10, 2015 Office Action at 2-7 (macmillandictionary.com).
8 January 25, 2016 Office Action at 6, 8 (emphasis added) (washington.edu).
9 Id. at 7.
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• An article on the website of Laurier MBA Program, titled “Laurier Celebrates
Global Innovation Exchange Groundbreaking,” noting the start of
construction of a building for a program to “connect Laurier and [its] region
increasingly to the global community” and “expand the university’s ability to
deliver integrated and engaged learning opportunities to students locally and
globally.”10

• A webpage of Montclair State University for its “Innovation exchange in the
Americas,” describes “a new study and research exchange,” with study-
abroad programs that include “mini courses in biotechnology research
methods, as well as workshops and seminars.”11

• Wayne State University’s online Event Calendar shows an entry for a
conference called “Urban Innovation Exchange,” and describes the
opportunity to: “Meet innovators leading impact. Learn about the places
they’re bringing to life. Find out how their work holds important lessons for
cities everywhere.”12

• The University of Chicago Innovation Exchange website notes that the
university has established its center to “be a hub for multidisciplinary
collaborations and support for business start-up activities.”13

• A UNICEF website online article with the headline “UNICEF Bay Area
partners in Corporate Innovation Exchange at Singularity University,”
announcing this U.S.-based venture to “work with partners that share the
mission to reach impact at scale with innovations in areas of unmet need.”
The article also notes “a series of local events and discussions around the
opportunities and challenges in creating scalable businesses with social
impact….”14

This evidence convincingly refutes Applicant’s argument that consumers
encountering the terms GLOBAL INNOVATION EXCHANGE in the context of its
services must use a “multi-stage reasoning process” to determine the attributes of
the services. Rather than requiring consumer imagination, the evidence shows that

10 Id. at 39-40 (lauriermba.ca).
11 Id. at 64-65 (Montclair.edu).
12 Id. at 69-70 (events.wayne.edu).
13 Id. at 54 (innovation.uchicago.edu).
14 Id. at 61-62 (unicefstories.org).
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consumers would tend to come across these words as common terms to describe
educational services. Applicant criticizes some of this evidence as irrelevant to
college and post-graduate coursework. However, we find it relevant, as the
examples come from colleges and universities, and we do not agree with Applicant
that the record reflects that they are not at least a component of the college and
post-graduate educational services.
Other third-party evidence lends further support for finding that consumers
frequently encounter the terms in the mark to refer to events or programs where
participants can collaborate on novel ideas and entrepreneurship, including those of
an international nature, characterized as “global.” For example:
• An online article about “a virtual seminar” titled “the Global Innovation
Exchange” detailed that the keynote speaker “provided attendees with some
keen insights on how to drive global innovation in a large, decentralized
corporation.”15

• The California Global Innovation Exchange webpage states that it was
“founded to address Climate Change and Economic Development through
Investing in early stage deals linked to our network of Global Incubators as
well as later stage and public companies.”16

• The U.S. Small Business Administration co-sponsors “the Global Innovation
Exchange,” which is “a global platform designed to leverage relevant
innovations/products/ideas around the world where they are needed most….
The Exchange connects innovators with funders, resources, markets,
collaborators and even customers around the world to identify, support, and
scale high-impact solutions for good.”17

• An online article titled “Global Innovation Exchange: Extending R&D and
Innovation into the Virtual World Allows Harnessing the Problem-Solving

15 Id. at 47 (innovationmanagement.se).
16 Id. at 27 (nordicsgosocap.org).
17 Id. at 30 (content.govdelivery.com).
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Expertise of the Worldwide Scientific Community” describes leveraging the
internet “to draw upon the expertise of the global R&D community to solve
specific technical and business problems.”18

• The webpage of Detroit’s Urban Innovation Exchange identifying it as “an
initiative to inform, engage and advance Detroit’s growing innovation
movement.”19

• The webpage of Ashoka Innovators for the Public promotes “Ashoka’s
Technology Innovation Exchange” to “bring together leading players in the
technology and social change sectors through a series of networking and
brainstorming events focusing on entrepreneurial solutions and opportunities
for scalable social impact.”20

• A webpage of Launch Tennessee promoting “Innovation Exchange” identifies
it as an “initiative that engages corporate, entrepreneur and institutional
stakeholders for industry-driven conversations about a specific sector’s
market challenges and solutions to them” and includes information on
upcoming speakers.21

• A webpage for the “BluePrint Healthcare Innovation Exchange” regarding its
healthcare innovation centers that bring different entities together “to learn
from each other” and work collaboratively for process improvements.22

Applicant criticizes the descriptiveness refusal, asserting that the words in the
mark have numerous possible relevant definitions, and the many possible
combinations of meanings result in multi-stage reasoning for consumers. However,
the evidence of record, including the definitions, Applicant’s website, and third-
party use, reflects sufficient consistency that we find recognized meanings for these
terms in the industry, such that consumers would immediately understand
GLOBAL INNOVATION EXCHANGE to describe the subject matter of Applicant’s

18 Id. at 43 (questia.com).
19 Id. at 59 (uixdtroit.com).
20 Id. at 60 (ashoka.org).
21 Id. at 66 (launchtn.org).
22 Id. at 76 (blueprinthit.com).
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educational services. Considering the wording in the context of the identified
services, and not in the abstract, Chamber of Commerce, 102 USPQ2d at 1219, we
find the meanings of the terms set forth above to be the most relevant and
appropriate. See In re ActiveVideo Networks, Inc., 111 USPQ2d 1581, 1587 (TTAB
2014).
If the individual components of a mark retain their descriptive meaning in
relation to the goods and/or services, the combination results in a composite mark
that is itself descriptive and not registrable. In re Fat Boys Water Sports LLC, 118
USPQ2d 1511, 1516 (TTAB 2016); In re Cannon Safe, Inc., 116 USPQ2d 1348, 1351
(TTAB 2015) (holding SMART SERIES merely descriptive of metal gun safes,
because “each component term retains its merely descriptive significance in relation
to the goods, resulting in a mark that is also merely descriptive”). Applicant makes
no argument that the combination of the words GLOBAL INNOVATION
EXCHANGE changes the meaning in the proposed mark, and we find no altered
significance from joining the words in the mark. Moreover, the third-party use
supports the descriptiveness of the combination.
Consumers would immediately understand GLOBAL INNOVATION
EXCHANGE, when used in connection with Applicant’s identified services, to
describe their nature and subject matter as an exchange of ideas and international
faculty to help “students from different corners of the world” develop global
innovation.
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Decision: The refusal to register Applicant’s mark GLOBAL INNOVATION
EXCHANGE as merely descriptive is affirmed.