99276833•Evan Jordan Maisano
Texto completo
THIS OPINION IS NOT A PRECEDENT OF THE TTAB Mailed: October 13, 2026 UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE _____ Trademark Trial and Appeal Board _____ In re Evan Jordan Maisano _____ Serial No. 99276833 _____ Evan Jordan Maisano, pro se. David Collier, Trademark Examining Attorney, Law Office 109, Michael Kazazian, Managing Attorney. _____ Before Cohen, Lavache, and Brock, Administrative Trademark Judges. Opinion by Lavache, Administrative Trademark Judge: On Request for Reconsideration On August 12, 2026, the Board issued a final decision affirming the Examining Attorney’s refusal to register Applicant’s proposed mark, MAGNETBALL, under Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1), 15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(1), on the ground that it is merely descriptive of Applicant’s identified “action skill games,” in International Class 28.1 1 Final Decision, 10 TTABVUE. The TTABVUE citations in this opinion refer to entries in the Board’s electronic docket. The number preceding the TTABVUE designation is the docket
Serial No. 99276833 2 On August 13, 2026, Applicant filed a request for reconsideration of the Board’s final decision under Trademark Rule 2.144, 37 C.F.R. § 2.144.2 “‘Generally, the premise underlying a request for reconsideration . . . is that, based on the evidence of record and the prevailing authorities, the Board erred in reaching the decision it issued . . . .’” In re Berkeley Lights, Inc., No. 88895703, 2022 TTAB LEXIS 382, at *2- 3 (quoting TRADEMARK TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD MANUAL OF PROCEDURE (TBMP) § 543 (2022)). Thus, “a request for reconsideration ‘normally should be limited to a demonstration that based on the evidence properly of record and the applicable law, the Board’s ruling is in error and requires appropriate change.’” Id. Here, Applicant argues that the Board erred in its decision by (1) relying on an unsupported factual proposition3 and (2) improperly concluding that, because magnet balls could be utilized in goods encompassed by the identification, the average purchasers of action skill games will immediately perceive MAGNETBALL as describing a feature of those goods.4 As to the first purported error, Applicant asserts that, while the final decision correctly quotes Applicant as stating that the identified goods “can include a ball- based game object” and “magnetically influenced components,” these statements do entry number and any numbers following indicate the relevant page numbers within the docket entry. The subject application, Serial No. 99276833, was filed July 10, 2025, based on an allegation of a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce, under Trademark Act Section 1(b), 15 U.S.C. § 1051(b). 2 Request for Reconsideration of Final Decision, 11 TTABVUE. 3 Id. at 3. 4 Id. at 4-6.
Serial No. 99276833 3 “not say that the ball-based game object is itself a magnet, nor does it identify that object as a ‘magnetic sphere.’”5 Thus, according to Applicant, the final decision erred in relying on a different, more specific, and unsupported proposition—that Applicant’s goods “feature or include a magnetic sphere”—to find that MAGNETBALL is merely descriptive of the goods.6 Applicant mischaracterizes the reasoning of the final decision, as well as the degree to which the decision relied on Applicant’s statements regarding the identified goods. A review of the decision shows the Board found the evidence of record establishes “that the phrase ‘magnet ball,’ or the plural form ‘magnet balls,’ may be used to describe magnetic spheres generally”; “that consumers of toys, games, and puzzles have been exposed to use of that phrase in connection with magnetic spheres that are elements of toys, games, and puzzles”; and “that the properties of ‘magnet balls’ could be utilized in action skill games requiring physical dexterity and coordination.”7 The decision subsequently refers to Applicant’s own statements about the nature of the identified goods, but does so to address Applicant’s argument that “the Examining Attorney improperly ‘reduced Applicant’s identified goods to a game said to comprise “a magnet, a ball, and/or a magnet ball,”’ and that this ‘framing is narrower than the actual identification.’”8 Specifically, the decision states that it is “entirely appropriate to consider all types of goods encompassed by the wording in 5 Id. at 3. 6 Id. 7 Final Decision, 10 TTABVUE 7. 8 Id. at 8 (quoting Applicant’s Reply Brief, 7 TTABVUE 4).
Serial No. 99276833 4 the identification of goods”; that Applicant’s identification of goods “is broad enough to encompass action skill games involving magnetic spheres”; and that Applicant’s own statements indicate that Applicant’s goods consist of a “game system,” “which can include a ball-based game object” and “magnetically influenced components.”9 Thus, contrary to Applicant’s assertions, the Board did not determine that Applicant’s goods must feature or include a magnetic sphere based on Applicant’s statements about the nature of the goods, but merely pointed out that “Applicant’s statements, when considered with the other evidence of record, provide further support for the conclusion that the identified goods may have characteristics or features for which the term MAGNETBALL has descriptive significance.”10 In other words, Applicant’s statements, while corroborative, were not the basis for, or even essential to, the ultimate determination that MAGNETBALL is merely descriptive. As to the second purported error, Applicant asserts that the record does not adequately support the Board’s finding that “the average consumer of action skill games will immediately understand the wording MAGNETBALL as conveying information about the goods, namely that they feature or include a magnetic sphere.”11 Applicant acknowledges the decision’s statement that, “[w]hile the evidence does not show extensive use of the phrase ‘magnet ball’ in the specific context of action skill games, it does indicate that the properties of ‘magnet balls’ 9 Id. 10 Id. 11 Request for Reconsideration of Final Decision, 11 TTABVUE 6-7 (quoting Final Decision, 10 TTABVUE 9-10).
Serial No. 99276833 5 could be utilized in action skill games requiring physical dexterity and coordination.”12 Applicant contends, however, that “the fact that a hypothetical action skill game falling within the broad identification could employ a magnetic sphere does not by itself establish that MAGNETBALL will immediately communicate that feature to the relevant consumer.”13 According to Applicant, “a further analytical step is required before concluding that the average purchaser encountering MAGNETBALL in connection with the identified ‘action skill games’ will immediately perceive the proposed mark as describing a feature of those goods,” and “[t]he Board’s acknowledgment that magnetic spheres merely ‘could be utilized’ in action skill games illustrates that additional step.”14 This argument’s apparent premise is that the mere possibility that action skill games could utilize a magnetic sphere does not necessarily translate into a likelihood that the relevant consumers would perceive MAGNETBALL as descriptive of such goods.15 But, as the final decision states, the test is not whether the consumers could guess what the goods are based on the mark alone.16 That is, our determination is not based on, as Applicant says, “a hypothetical action skill game [that] could employ a magnetic sphere.” We must instead consider whether “someone who knows what 12 Id. at 4 (quoting Final Decision, 10 TTABVUE 7). 13 Id. at 5. 14 Id. at 4-5. 15 See id. at 5. 16 Final Decision, 10 TTABVUE 10 (citing Hangzhou Mengku Tech. Co. v. Shanghai Zhenglang Tech. Co., No. 91272143, 2024 TTAB LEXIS 575, at *24).
Serial No. 99276833 6 the goods . . . are will understand the mark to convey information about them.”17 In this case, the decision uses the phrase “could be utilized” to explain that, based on the evidence of record, consumers of games would be aware that magnetic spheres could be used in action skill games and thus would perceive MAGNETBALL as descriptive in connection with action games that include or feature a magnetic sphere. Therefore, contrary to Applicant’s arguments, the final decision’s use of this phrase does not suggest doubt as to whether consumers would perceive MAGNETBALL as descriptive, nor does it otherwise implicate a required “further analytical step” in determining descriptiveness. We have carefully reviewed Applicant’s arguments and do not find any error in the Board’s final decision affirming the refusal to register Applicant’s proposed mark, MAGNETBALL, under Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1), on the ground that it is merely descriptive of Applicant’s identified goods in International Class 28. Accordingly, Applicant’s Request for Reconsideration of the Board’s final decision is denied and the Board’s August 12, 2026, final decision stands as issued.18 17 Id. at 11 (quoting In re Fallon, No. 86882668, 2020 TTAB LEXIS 464, at *21-22) (emphasis added). 18 Accordingly, we deny Applicant’s request to modify “the decision to correct or clarify any finding that Applicant represented in the record that the ball-based game object itself is a magnetic sphere.” Request for Reconsideration of Final Decision, 11 TTABVUE 8.
Continue sua pesquisa no ChatGPT ou Claude
Conecte o Omnilex para pesquisar o corpus jurídico pelo seu assistente de IA.