Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/19-46_8n59.pdf
Page Number: 23.0

Cite as:  591 U. S. ____ (2020) 

5 

BREYER, J., dissenting 

More fundamentally, the Goodyear principle is sound as 
a matter of law and logic.  Goodyear recognized that desig-
nations such as “Company,” “Corp.,” and “Inc.” merely indi-
cate corporate form and therefore do nothing to distinguish 
one firm’s goods or services from all others’.  128 U. S., at 
602.  It follows that the addition of such a corporate desig-
nation does not “magically transform a generic name for a 
product or service into a trademark, thereby giving a right
to  exclude  others.”  2  McCarthy  §12:39.    In  other  words, 
where a compound term consists simply of a generic term
plus  a  corporate  designation,  the  whole  is  necessarily  no 
greater than the sum of its parts. 

B 
This  case  requires  us  to  apply  these  principles  in  the 
novel context of internet domain names.  Respondent seeks
to register a term, “Booking.com,” that consists of a generic 
term,  “booking”  (known  as  the  second-level  domain)  plus 
“.com”  (known  as  the  top-level  domain).    The  question  at 
issue  here  is  whether  a  term  that  takes  the  form 
“generic.com” is generic in the ordinary course.  In my view,
appending  “.com”  to  a  generic  term  ordinarily  yields  no
meaning beyond that of its constituent parts.  Because the 
term “Booking.com” is just such an ordinary “generic.com”
term, in my view, it is not eligible for trademark registra-
tion. 

Like  the  corporate  designations  at  issue  in Goodyear,  a 
top-level domain such as “.com” has no capacity to identify
and distinguish the source of goods or services.  It is merely
a necessary component of any web address.  See 1 McCar-
thy §7:17.50.  When combined with the generic name of a 
class  of  goods  or  services,  “.com”  conveys  only  that  the 
owner  operates  a  website  related  to  such  items.  Just  as 
“Wine  Company”  expresses  the  generic  concept  of  a  com-
pany that deals in wine, “wine.com” connotes only a website
that does the same.  The same is true of “Booking.com.”  The