Marathon Gets Frozen Out

The common law trademark rights of an Antarctic marathon organizer got a chilly reception from the TTAB. Beginning in 1995, Marathon Tours, Inc. (“MTI”) organized sporadic cold weather marathons using the name “Antarctic Marathon”. Richard Donovan started his Antarctic marathon tours in 2006. Unlike MTI, Donovan’s tours were an annual event and have been well publicized and attended. When Donovan sought to register “Antarctic Ice Marathon and 100 k” and it’s graphic design, MTI opposed registration before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) claiming prior common law rights. Everyone agreed that “Antarctic” and “Marathon” were descriptive words. So, for MTI to prevail, it would have to show that its use of “Antarctic Marathon” had acquired distinctiveness through continued use. All MTI could show was its sales and advertising, without context for the numbers, and four unsolicited articles from the media right before some events. The TTAB concluded that MTI failed to meet the burden of showing acquired distinctiveness and dismissed the opposition.

WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS. A trademark owner can establish common law rights in a trademark by continued use in the market place. But when it comes to enforcing those common law rights against a registered trademark, the common law owner can experience an uphill battle. For any business that is not local in nature, federal trademark registration helps establish priority of use and protect the trademark owner from latecomers.