TTAB · Precedential · §2(d)
Third-party marks using a translation do not show a foreign-word mark is weak
Applicants who argue that a cited mark is weak must show third parties using the shared term itself, not its English meaning. And a handful of web captures will not prove a crowded field in a large national market, because the Board ties the number of uses needed to the number of sellers in that market.
Applicant · Serial No. · 97425137O EL CIELO VALLE DE GUADALUPE (standard characters; VALLE DE GUADALUPE disclaimed)Wine, International Class 33
Opposer · Reg. No. · 2384406CIELO (typed)Wines, International Class 33
Commentary
All commentaryWhat the USPTO's AI does in trademark examination, and what it doesn't
In 2026 the Office automated classification, design coding and parts of search. It did not automate the decision to register. Here is what the record shows, what the data on examiner consistency say, and what figures would settle the open questions.
7 min readWhat the empirical research says about trademark examination and registration outcomes
Who examines an application, how crowded the register is, and how courts weigh a mark's strength all affect outcomes in ways the doctrine does not describe. A reading of the main studies and the USPTO's own data, with their limits, as the Supreme Court takes up mark strength.
6 min readThe vanishing TTAB precedent: what fewer precedential decisions mean for practice
For a decade the Board designated 40 to 55 precedents a year. In 2025 it designated 12. We counted the decisions ourselves, and we set out what the drop changes for examination, appeals and inter partes work.
5 min read