"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).