Vector Products, Inc.

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

Mar 19, 2008

No. 76645698 (T.T.A.B. Mar. 19, 2008)

Mailed: March 19, 2008
PTH

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
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In re Vector Products, Inc.
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Serial No. 76645698
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George W. Lewis of Jacobson Holman PLLC for Vector
Products, Inc.

Karen Bracey, Trademark Examining Attorney, Law Office 116
(Michael W. Baird, Managing Attorney).
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Before Hairston, Kuhlke, and Taylor, Administrative
Trademark Judges.

Opinion by Hairston, Administrative Trademark Judge:

Vector Products, Inc. has appealed from the final
refusal of the trademark examining attorney to register the
mark TRAVEL COOLER in the form shown below,

THIS OPINION IS NOT A
PRECEDENT OF THE TTAB
Ser No. 76645698
2
for a “portable electric cooler and warmer for use with
foods, cans and drink.”1 Registration has been finally
refused pursuant to Section 2(e)(1) of the Trademark Act,
15 U.S.C. 1052(e)(1), on the ground that applicant’s mark
is merely descriptive of the goods.
Applicant and the examining attorney have filed
briefs. We affirm the refusal to register.
The examining attorney maintains that the mark TRAVEL
COOLER is merely descriptive of a feature or use of
applicant’s goods, namely, “a portable device for cooling
and/or warming food that is compact enough to be moved from
place to place such as on trips and outings.” (Brief at
unnumbered 6). In support of the refusal, the examining
attorney submitted the following definitions:
travel: adjective - for traveler: intended for,
accompanying, or used by a traveler · a travel
iron. (Encarta World English Dictionary (North
American Edition 2005).

travel: verb to move or go from one place to
another. (Compact Oxford Dictionary, on-line
version).

traveler: One who travels or has traveled, as to
distant places. American Heritage Dictionary of
the English Language (Third Edition 1992).

1 Application Serial No. 76645698, filed August 26, 2005, which
alleges a date of first use anywhere and in commerce at least as
early as January 2000.
Ser No. 76645698
3
portable: easily moved around: designed to be
light or compact enough to carry or move easily
from place to place. Encarta World English
Dictionary (North American Edition 2005).

cooler: A device, container, or room that cools or
keep cools. American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language (Third Edition 1992).

In addition, the examining attorney submitted an
Internet printout from applicant’s website which contains
the following statement about applicant’s goods: “With
many models to choose from, 5 to 17 liter capacity, these
coolers are great for day trips, camping, picnics, tailgate
parties and more.”
Applicant, in urging reversal of the refusal to
register, argues that the mark TRAVEL COOLER is at most
suggestive of its goods. Applicant does not dispute the
descriptive significance of the word COOLER as applied to
its goods. Rather, applicant maintains that the word
TRAVEL is not descriptive of its goods because applicant
does not market the goods as travel products and the goods
may be used in connection with activities that do not
involve travel, e.g., a picnic in one’s own backyard.
Applicant maintains that the word TRAVEL in its mark is
intended to suggest that its goods are portable in nature.
Applicant asserts that the examining attorney has failed to
establish that the term TRAVEL COOLER is merely descriptive
Ser No. 76645698
4
because there is no evidence of third-party uses of such
term. Finally, applicant contends that the combination of
the terms TRAVEL and COOLER results in a designation which
in its entirety is incongruous.
A mark is deemed to be merely descriptive of goods or
services, within the meaning of Section 2(e(1) of the
Trademark Act, if it forthwith conveys an immediate idea of
an ingredient, quality, characteristic, feature, function,
purpose or use of the goods or services. 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;
rather, it is sufficient that the term describe one
significant attribute, function or property of the goods or
services. In re H.U.D.D.L.E., 216 USPQ 358 (TTAB 1982);
and 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 the goods or 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
Ser No. 76645698
5
in different contexts is not controlling. In re Bright-
Crest, Ltd., 204 USPQ 592, 593 (TTAB 1979).
When two or more descriptive terms are combined, the
determination of whether the composite mark also has a
descriptive significance turns on the question of whether
the combination of terms evokes a new and unique commercial
impression. If each component retains its descriptive
significance in relation to the goods or services, the
combination results in a composite that is itself
descriptive. See, e.g., In re Tower Tech, Inc. 64 USPQ2d
1314 (TTAB 2002) [SMARTTOWER merely descriptive of
commercial and industrial cooling towers]; In re Sun
Microsystems Inc., 59 USPQ2d 1084 (TTAB 2001) [AGENTBEANS
merely descriptive of computer programs for use in
development and deployment of application programs]; In re
Putnam Publishing Co., 39 USPQ2d 2021 (TTAB 1996) [FOOD &
BEVERAGE ONLINE merely descriptive of news information
services for the food processing industry]; and In re
Copytele Inc., 31 USPQ2d 1540 (TTAB 1994) [SCREEN FAX PHONE
merely descriptive of facsimile terminals employing
electrophoretic displays].
We find that the mark sought to be registered is
merely descriptive of the nature of applicant’s product,
that is, that the product is a cooler used for travel. As
Ser No. 76645698
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previously noted, applicant does not dispute that the word
COOLER is descriptive of a feature of its goods, namely, a
“portable electric cooler and warmer for use with foods,
cans and drink.” (emphasis added). With respect to the
word “travel,” we are not persuaded by applicant’s
arguments that such word is not descriptive of applicant’s
goods. Applicant’s goods are portable in nature and may be
used by individuals when going from one place to another,
i.e., for travel. Indeed, the printout from applicant’s
website contains the statement that applicant’s goods are
for use on day trips. The fact that applicant does not
market the product strictly as a travel product and that it
also may be used in connection with activities that do not
involve travel is not dispositive.
We also find that the individual words do not somehow
lose this descriptiveness in the combination TRAVEL COOLER.
While a combination of words may be registrable if it
creates a unitary mark with a unique, nondescriptive or
incongruous meaning, in this case each component of
applicant’s mark TRAVEL COOLER retains its descriptive
significance when used in the combination, and the
combination as a whole is also merely descriptive of
applicant’s goods. In short, we perceive no incongruity in
applicant’s mark.
Ser No. 76645698
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Finally, the absence on this record of any third-party
uses of the term TRAVEL COOLER does not justify
registration of applicant’s mark, where as here, the only
significance projected by the term is merely descriptive.
In sum, we conclude that the mark TRAVEL COOLER, when
applied to a “portable electric cooler and warmer for use
with foods, cans and drink” is merely descriptive of such
goods.
Decision: The refusal to register under Section
2(e)(1) is affirmed.