Board Rules In Favor Of WHIPgroup Client DAI: A Single Restaurant Location Is Not Interstate Commerce

January, 7th, 2016

Categories: Blog, News Tags: trademark, whipgroup

WHIPgroup filed an opposition on behalf of its client Doctor’s Associates Inc. (“DAI”) against Janco, LLC, for its application to register the mark FLATIZZA for pizza. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board sustained the Section 2(d) opposition, finding that Applicant Janco, LLC had not used the applied-for mark in commerce prior to the filing of its use-based application to register. Doctor’s Associates Inc. v. Janco, LLC, Opposition No. 91217243 (January 7, 2016). Janco had operated a single restaurant in Bothell, Washington. The Board found insufficient evidence to show that the restaurant operated in interstate commerce, and therefore found the application to be void ab initio because the mark was not used in commerce prior to the Section 1(a) filing date.