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6  PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE v. BOOKING.COM B. V. 

BREYER, J., dissenting 

combination of “booking” and “.com” does not serve to “iden-
tify a particular characteristic or quality of some thing; it 
connotes the basic nature of that thing”—the hallmark of a 
generic term.  Blinded Veterans Assn. v. Blinded Am. Vet-
erans Foundation, 872 F. 2d 1035, 1039 (CADC 1989) (Gins-
burg, J. for the court) (emphasis added; internal quotation 
marks omitted). 

When  a  website  uses  an  inherently  distinctive  second-
level  domain,  it  is  obvious  that  adding  “.com”  merely  de-
notes a website associated with that term.  Any reasonably
well-informed  consumer  would  understand  that  “post-
it.com” is the website associated with Post-its.  See Minne-
sota Min. & Mfg. Co. v. Taylor, 21 F. Supp. 2d 1003, 1005 
(Minn. 1998).  Likewise, “plannedparenthood.com” is obvi-
ously just the website of Planned Parenthood.  See Planned 
Parenthood  Federation  of  Am.,  Inc.  v.  Bucci,  1997  WL 
133313, *8 (SDNY, Mar. 24, 1997).  Recognizing this feature 
of domain names, courts generally ignore the top-level do-
main  when  analyzing  likelihood  of  confusion. 
See 
Brookfield  Communications, Inc.  v. West Coast Entertain-
ment Corp., 174 F. 3d 1036, 1055 (CA9 1999).

Generic  second-level  domains  are  no  different.  The 
meaning conveyed by “Booking.com” is no more and no less 
than a website associated with its generic second-level do-
main, “booking.”  This will ordinarily be true of any generic 
term plus “.com” combination.  The term as a whole is just 
as  generic  as  its  constituent  parts.    See  1  McCarthy
§7:17.50; 2 id., §12:39.50. 

There may be exceptions to this rule in rare cases where 
the top-level domain interacts with the generic second-level 
domain in such a way as to produce meaning distinct from
that of the terms taken individually.  See ante, at 8, n. 4. 
Likewise, the principles discussed above may apply differ-
ently to the newly expanded universe of top-level domains, 
such as “.guru,” “.club,” or “.vip,” which may “conve[y] infor-
mation  concerning  a  feature,  quality,  or  characteristic”  of