Richard Rivera wrote the article, "Quixotic Applicant Cannot Register Tilted Windmill Design," published in the latest International Trademark Association Bulletin. Below is an excerpt:
"The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the Board) affirmed the refusal to register a product configuration on the alternative bases that it is functional and, even if it were not, that there is no evidence that the configuration has acquired secondary meaning. In re Change Wind Corp., No. 86046590 (TTAB July 20, 2017).
The applicant, Change Wind Corp., appealed the registration refusal for its product configuration for a wind-powered turbine that uses obliquely curved vertical wings extending from a cylindrical, conical tipped tower. The Board examined the two cited bases for denying registration: functionality, under Section 2(e)(5) of the Lanham Act, and a failure of the product design to acquire distinctiveness as required by Section 2(f)."
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