"Phantom" Elements in Trademark Registrations Not Allowed
September 1, 1999
In a recent Federal Circuit Court, decision, the court upheld the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office's (PTO) decision that marks with placeholders, phantom
marks, are not allowed. International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) wanted to
register three trademarks that contained placeholders, "XXXX," where
additional words could be inserted, such as "LIVING XXXX FLAVOR, where the
XXXX was a placeholder for "a specific herb, fruit, plant or
vegetable." The court concluded that registration of "phantom"
marks would not provide proper notice to other trademark users, since such marks
would encompass numerous combinations, thus making a thorough and effective
trademark search impossible. The court also agreed with the PTO that using
phantom marks would result in many marks per registration application and that
this would violate the Lanham Act requirement of one mark per application. In
re International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc., 51 U.S.P.Q.2d 1513 (Fed.
Cir. 1999).
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