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What happens if my trademark is dismissed due to geographical descriptiveness?

Written by Jan Buza

Co-founder of Trama

If your application is dismissed due to geographical descriptiveness, your application will be paused until you successfully respond to it. This means the examiner raised an issue with your mark, merely identifying a geographic origin rather than pointing to a singular commercial source. In such cases, the registration cannot proceed until the issue is resolved or the response deadline passes.

The available responses are the same as for any Section 2(e)(2) refusal: argue the geographic term is not the primary element of the mark, demonstrate acquired distinctiveness, or amend to the Supplemental Register. If no response is filed within the deadline, the application is abandoned.

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