Greenwood, Inc.

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

Jan 19, 2007

No. 78566061 (T.T.A.B. Jan. 19, 2007)

Mailed: January 19, 2007

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
________

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
________

In re Greenwood, Inc.
________

Serial No. 78566061
_______

Douglas J. McEvoy of Gifford, Krass, Groh, Sprinkle, Anderson for
Greenwood, Inc.

Alex Seong Keam, Trademark Examining Attorney, Law Office 114 (K.
Margaret Le, Managing Attorney).
_______

Before Holtzman, Zervas and Kuhlke, Administrative Trademark
Judges.

Opinion by Holtzman, Administrative Trademark Judge:

An application has been filed by Greenwood, Inc. (applicant)
to register the mark ALUMABRONZE (in standard character format)
for the following goods, as amended:1
Personalized engraved memorials, namely, bronze tomb plaques
in Class 6;

Personalized engraved memorials, namely, medallions in Class
14; and

1 Application Serial No. 78566061, filed February 11, 2005, based on an
allegation of a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce.
THIS OPINION IS
NOT PRECEDENT OF
THE TTAB
Serial No. 78566061
2
Personalized engraved memorials, namely, funerary urns in
Class 20.

The trademark examining attorney has refused registration on
the ground that the mark is merely descriptive of the goods under
Section 2(e)(1) of the Trademark Act.
When the refusal was made final, applicant appealed.
Applicant and the examining attorney have filed briefs.2
We affirm the refusal.
A term is merely descriptive within the meaning of Section
2(e)(1) if it immediately conveys knowledge of the ingredients,
qualities, or characteristics of the goods or services with which
it is used. In re Gyulay, 820 F.2d 1216, 3 USPQ2d 1009 (Fed.
Cir. 1987). A mark does not have to describe every such
attribute of the goods in order to be found merely descriptive;
it is sufficient for the purpose if the mark describes a single
significant attribute. See In re Patent & Trademark Services
Inc., 49 USPQ2d 1537 (TTAB 1998); and In re Venture Lending
Associates, 226 USPQ 285 (TTAB 1985). Moreover, the question of
whether a particular term is merely descriptive must be
determined not in the abstract, but in relation to the goods or
services for which registration is sought, the context in which
the term is used, and the possible significance that the term is

2 The examining attorney's objection to the materials attached to
applicant's brief as untimely is not well taken. The attachments are
Serial No. 78566061
3
likely to have to average purchasers as they encounter the goods
or services in the marketplace. See In re Engineering Systems
Corp., 2 USPQ2d 1075 (TTAB 1986).
Applicant intends to use the mark ALUMABRONZE in connection
with personalized engraved memorials consisting of bronze tomb
plaques (Class 6), medallions (Class 14) and funerary urns (Class
20). The term ALUMABRONZE directly conveys information about a
significant attribute of applicant's engraved memorials, namely
the composition of or finish applied to the goods. The examining
attorney has submitted pages from a number of websites showing
that "alumabronze" is a metal alloy, that the alloy is used in
making a variety of products, including both industrial and
consumer goods, and that the term is commonly used by others to
indicate that their products are made from or with this alloy.
Excerpts of these web pages are shown below (emphasis added).
* www.plaquesandletters.com
PLAQUES&LETTERS.com
Engraved Bronze & Aluminum Pricing Factors
Length x Width (in ") x $2.00 for Bronze, $1.00 for
Aluminum and AlumaBronze (which appears bronze).
[Italics in original.]
...

* www.specialtypetproducts.com
This urn features a high resolution casting of your
pet's image (from your photograph), along with your
personalized text. The urn is hand-crafted from cast
aluminum then powder coated with a bronze finish.
...

simply duplicates of materials which were timely made of record prior
to appeal.
Serial No. 78566061
4
Photographic AlumaBronze Urn

* www.dogwalkforlife.pmboard.net
The Place For Pets
...
Memorialize and dedicate your effort to a special pet
or person in your life by purchasing a 4"x 5"
alumabronze medallion memorial, made by The Place 4
Pets.
...

* www.mcfarlaneaviation.com
McFarlane
Aviation Products
...
...The Teledyne/Continental carburetor heat boxes are
made from brazed steel and are used on many of the
older light aircraft. Repair kit includes replacement
butterfly shaft assembly with detent spring, bearings,
bearing housing, .... This improved kit has solid
alumabronze bearing for better vibration resistance
and longer life.

* www.clamptitetools.com
THE OFFICIAL CLAMPTITE WEBSITE
Clamp Anything...Any Size, Any Shape, Any Where
The Clamp Making Tool
...
Just under 6 inches in length the CLAMPTITE tool is
about the size of a pencil and is precision machined
from stainless steel and alumabronze.

* www.gagosian.com [artists/Frank Stella]
[photograph of sculpture]
Wappinger Falls, 1995
Steel, alumabronze and aluminum. 81 x 159 x 114
inches

* http://...theforce.org
Alumabronze
Category: Technology
Type: Materials
An alloy used in making door casings and other
interior structures

* www.sierranet.net
HMT HORN MACHINE TOOLS
Serial No. 78566061
5
...
SPECIFICATIONS/CAPACITY
Steel tubing YP to 40,000 PSI...
EQUIPPED WITH
...
Steel Slides With Alumabronze Wear Strips
...

It is clear from the evidence that the metal alloy
"alumabronze" is used in making, among other goods, the very
types of goods identified in the application, namely, engraved
memorials such as bronze plaques (plaquesandletters.com),
medallions (dogwalkforlife.pmboard.net) and urns
(specialtypetproducts.com). While ALUMABRONZE appears to have
certain protective qualities when applied to industrial goods
(see, e.g., mcfarlaneaviation.com), the evidence shows that the
metal also has certain decorative properties that would make it
appealing to purchasers of engraved memorials. It creates a
bronze-like finish on the products while being less expensive
than solid bronze. See plaquesandletters.com, under "pricing
factors" for plaques made with aluminum and alumabronze "which
appears bronze." See also specialtypetproducts.com, describing
urns that are "hand-crafted from cast aluminum then powder coated
with a bronze finish."
Applicant does not dispute that ALUMABRONZE is a metal or
that its goods are intended to be made from or with this metal.
Instead, applicant argues that the evidence serves to show that
Serial No. 78566061
6
the mark is suggestive of applicant's goods. In particular,
applicant states,
Each [website] references a different type of goods. These
include clamping assemblies, door casing alloys,3 alloy
wearstrips employed in rotary hydraulic tube bending
machines, and bearings for aircraft mounting plates.

In this regard, applicant also points to a TESS printout of
an abandoned application, Serial No. 73211508, for the mark
ALUMABRONZE for "surface treatment of aluminum and other metals
to provide decorative and protective coating thereon."4
Applicant argues, based on the evidence, that because the mark is
"capable of being applied to many types of goods and services,
additional to those in the present application" the mark is
suggestive, reasoning that,
Applicant's unique use and scripting of the term...for its
various memorial items is, by definition, a suggestive use
in that it requires that additional ingredient of thought,

3 The printout from theforce.org provides a definition of "alumabronze"
("an alloy used in making door casings...") but it appears from the
excerpt of record that this is a website with fantasy content (relating
to "Star Wars" movies) and the listed definition must be viewed in that
context. Therefore, while we do not give this evidence much weight as
an official or a recognized definition of "alumabronze," since
applicant has relied on this definition to show that the metal has this
additional use, we will consider it for this purpose as well.

4 Applicant also argues, based on this abandoned application, that the
Office "previously approved the same mark for publication" meaning,
according to applicant, that applicant's mark should not be considered
descriptive and should be entitled to register. First, an application
is not evidence of anything except that it was filed on a certain date.
It is certainly not evidence that the mark is not descriptive of the
applied-for goods. In any event, we are not bound by a previous
examining attorney's determination regarding descriptiveness. We must
decide this case based on the record we have before us. See In re Nett
Designs Inc., 236 F.3d 1339, 57 USPQ2d 1564 (Fed. Cir. 2001).
Serial No. 78566061
7
imagination or perception which is required before a
conclusion is reached as to the nature of the goods. This
is in contrast to a situation in which all supposed
descriptive uses of a name are applied to goods of a similar
nature (not the case here).

The fact that "alumabronze" may not be used exclusively on
the goods in applicant's field may be true, but it is not
relevant. Merely because the metal is used in or on other goods,
including various industrial goods, in addition to applicant's
types of goods, in no way diminishes the descriptive meaning of
ALUMABRONZE as applied to applicant's goods. If anything, the
evidence may serve to show that ALUMABRONZE is descriptive of
those other products as well.
Contrary to applicant's apparent contention, applicant's use
of ALUMABRONZE on engraved memorials is not a "unique use."5 As
noted earlier, others are using "alumabronze" in or on the very
same types of products. However, even if applicant were the only
source of engraved memorials made with ALUMABRONZE, the term
would still be descriptive as applied to those goods.
There is no question that purchasers of applicant’s
personalized engraved memorials would, without any guesswork or
the exercise of any imagination, immediately understand that
applicant's goods are made of or finished with the metal

5 If by "unique use" applicant is referring to its asserted "scripting
of the term," this assertion is not understood. This is an intent-to-
use application and there is no evidence of use of the mark in the
Serial No. 78566061
8
"alumabronze." Thus, purchasers would perceive ALUMABRONZE as
describing the composition or finish of the memorials, not as
indicating a particular source of the goods. This is a
descriptive term that competitors of applicant should be free to
use in connection with their own sale of engraved memorials to
inform purchasers about this feature or characteristic of the
goods.
Decision: The refusal to register under Section 2(e)(1) of
the Trademark Act is affirmed.

record. Besides, applicant is seeking registration of the mark in
standard character format without any particular type of script.