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What does it mean when my trademark is refused due to "mere descriptiveness"?

Written by Jan Buza

Co-founder of Trama

A mere descriptiveness refusal means the USPTO examiner considers the mark to merely describe the goods or services rather than functioning as a badge of origin. A descriptive mark tells consumers what the product is or what it does; a registrable mark tells them where it comes from.

"SuperSoft" for blankets describes the product directly. It does not identify who makes the blanket or distinguish one source from another. That is the core problem the refusal identifies: the mark lacks the capacity to serve as a source identifier in its current form.

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