Couture v. Playdom, Inc.

778 F.3d 1379, 113 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 2042, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 3135, 2015 WL 859524
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedMarch 2, 2015
Docket2014-1480
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 778 F.3d 1379 (Couture v. Playdom, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Couture v. Playdom, Inc., 778 F.3d 1379, 113 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 2042, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 3135, 2015 WL 859524 (Fed. Cir. 2015).

Opinion

DYK, Circuit Judge.

David Couture (“appellant”) appeals from a decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) granting a petition by Playdom, Inc. (“appellee”) to cancel appellant’s PLAYDOM service mark. We affirm.

Background

On May 30, 2008, appellant filed an application to register the service mark PLAYDOM pursuant to Lanham Act § 1(a), 15 U.S.C. § 1051(a). As a specimen showing use of the mark, appellant submitted a “[s]creen capture of [a] website offering Entertainment Services in commerce.” App. 39. Also on May 30, 2008, appellant had created the website, which was hosted at www.playdominc.com. As of May 30, 2008, the website included only a single page, which stated: “[w]el-come .to PlaydomInc.com. We are proud to offer writing and production services for motion picture film, television, and new media. Please feel free to contact us if you are interested:playdominc@gmail. com.” App. 45. The webpage included the notice: ‘Website Under Construction.” App. 45. No services under the mark were provided until 2010, well after the application was filed. The PLAYDOM mark was registered by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) on January 13, 2009, as registration no. 3,560,701.

On February 9, 2009, appellee filed an application to register the identical mark— PLAYDOM. Appellant’s registered mark was cited by the examining attorney as a ground for rejecting appellee’s application under Lanham Act § 2(d), 15 U.S.C. § 1052(d). On June 15, 2009, appellee filed a petition to cancel the registration of appellant’s mark, arguing, inter alia, that appellant’s registration was void ab initio because appellant had not used the mark in commerce as of the date of the application. On February 3, 2014, the Board granted the cancellation petition, stating that appellant “had not rendered his services as of the filing date of his application” because he had “merely posted a website advertising his readiness, willingness and ability to render said services,” and the registration was therefore void ab initio. App. 10.

Discussion

“This court reviews the Board’s legal conclusions de novo, and the Board’s factual findings for substantial evidence.” In re Chippendales USA, Inc., 622 F.3d 1346, 1350 (Fed.Cir.2010) (citations omitted).

I

To apply for registration under Lanham Act § 1(a), a mark must be “used in commerce.” 15 U.S.C. § 1051(a)(1). A mark is used in commerce

on services when [1] it is used or displayed in the sale or advertising of services and [2] the services are rendered in commerce, or the services are rendered in more than one State or in the United States and a foreign country and the person rendering the services is en *1381 gaged in commerce in connection with the services.

Id. § 1127; Aycock Eng’g, Inc. v. Airflite, Inc., 560 F.3d 1350, 1357 (Fed.Cir.2009) (quoting 15 U.S.C. § 1127). Use in commerce must be “as of the application filing date.” 37 C.F.R. § 2.34(a)(1)®. “The registration of a mark that does not meet the use [in commerce] requirement is void ab initio.” Aycock, 560 F.3d at 1357 (citations omitted).

“The term ‘use in commerce’ means the bona fide use of a mark in the ordinary course of trade, and not made merely to reserve a right in a mark.” 15 U.S.C. § 1127; see Aycock, 560 F.3d at 1357. “[A]n applicant’s preparations to use a mark in commerce are insufficient to constitute use in commerce. Rather, the mark must be actually used in conjunction with the services described in the application for the mark.” Aycock, 560 F.3d at 1360. “Without question, advertising or publicizing a service that the applicant intends to perform in the future will not support registration”; the advertising must instead “relate to an existing service which has already been offered to the public.” Id. at 1358 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted) (emphasis added).

We have not previously had occasion to directly address whether the offering of a service, without the actual provision of a service, is sufficient to constitute use in commerce under Lanham Act § 45, 15 U.S.C. § 1127. 1 In Aycock, we stated that, “[a]t the very least, in order for an applicant to meet the use requirement, there must be an open and notorious public offering of the services to those for whom the services are intended.” 560 F.3d at 1358 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The applicant in Aycock had not made such an “open and notorious public offering of his ... service to intended customers,” and the registration was therefore void ab initio. Id. at 1361-62 (citation omitted). But we did not suggest in Aycock that an open and notorious public offering alone is sufficient to establish use in commerce. And appellant does not point to any decision by the Board which found mere offering of a service to be sufficient.

On its face, the statute is clear that a mark for services is used in commerce only when both [1] “it is used or displayed in the sale or advertising of services and [2] the services are rendered.... ” 15 U.S.C. § 1127 (emphasis added). This statutory language reflects the nature of trademark rights:

There is no such thing as property in a trademark except as a right appurtenant to an established business or trade in connection with which the mark is employed. ... [T]he right to a particular mark grows out of its use, not its mere adoption....

United Drug Co. v. Theodore Rectanus Co., 248 U.S. 90, 97, 39 S.Ct. 48, 63 L.Ed. 141 (1918).

Other circuits have interpreted Lanham Act § 45 as requiring actual provision of services. For example, in International Bancorp, LLC v. Societe des Bains de Mer et du Cercle des Etrangers a Monaco, 329 *1382

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778 F.3d 1379, 113 U.S.P.Q. 2d (BNA) 2042, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 3135, 2015 WL 859524, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/couture-v-playdom-inc-cafc-2015.