Opinion ID: 2051720
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Analytical framework: whether a common-law trademark exists.

Text: As noted above, a trademark is a sign or symbol used to identify goods. See Pundzak, 500 N.W.2d at 430. Thus, to meet the first requirement in a common-law trademark infringement claimthe existence of a valid common-law trademarkthe plaintiff must prove that there has been use of a name or designation that is sufficiently distinctive such that consumers (i.e., customers and potential customers) identify the mark with the goods or services provided by the claimant. See First Bank v. First Bank Sys., Inc., 84 F.3d 1040, 1044-45 (8th Cir. 1996). Use of a name or designation is not usually difficult to show. The more complicated question concerns whether the name or designation is sufficiently distinctive of the plaintiff's goods or services such that it deserves protection against use or infringement by another. In terms of analysis, courts determine whether an alleged trademark is sufficiently distinctive by classifying it into one of four categories: (1) generic; [2] (2) descriptive; (3) suggestive; [3] or (4) arbitrary or fanciful. [4] See id. at 1045; accord Duluth News-Tribune v. Mesabi Publ'g Co., 84 F.3d 1093, 1096 (8th Cir.1996). Here, the parties seem to agree that the name COMMERCIAL is descriptive. A descriptive designation is one that is merely descriptive of the nature, qualities, or other characteristics of the goods, services, or business with which it is used. Restatement § 14. Thus, words describing the purpose or function of a product, the effect of its use, or the class of intended purchasers is considered to be descriptive in nature. See Restatement § 14 cmt. a. In prior cases, we have stated that words which are generic or which are merely descriptive of the goods or business to which they apply are not inherently distinctive and will not be protected as a trademark or trade name. See Iowa Auto Market, 197 Iowa at 422, 197 N.W. at 322-23. We have likewise noted, however, that terms which may be considered descriptive in nature may, by long use in connection with the goods or business of a particular dealer, come to be understood in a secondary sense as designating the goods or business of such dealer, and in such cases their deceptive use by another will be restrained as unfair competition. Id. at 423, 197 N.W. at 323 (concluding that the words Auto Market in business name were too generic to constitute a trademark or trade name so as to justify enjoining defendant from using those words in its business name); Restatement § 13(b). We have explained: To have this protection, the party complaining must show that, by continued use, the secondary meaning has become established in the public mind, and that his goods have become known and recognized by the public under the name, device, or symbol, with its secondary meaning. The secondary meaning only comes from use. Before the courts will afford protection in its use, it must be shown, that, as to the party complaining, it has a secondary meaning in the public mind; that it designates and is understood to represent the goods of the party complaining, so that one appropriating it and using it, after such meaning had attached, would be in a position to practice a fraud upon the complainant and upon the public. Motor Accessories Mfg. Co. v. Marshalltown Motor Material Mfg. Co., 167 Iowa 202, 208-09, 149 N.W. 184, 187 (1914). [5] The Restatement has adopted principles similar to our statements in Iowa Auto Market and Motor Accessories concerning a trademark's secondary meaning. See Restatement § 13(b). Specifically, the Restatement rule provides that descriptive terms are not inherently distinctive and are only protectable where secondary meaning is shown. See id. § 13 cmt. a. The person claiming rights in a mark or name bears the burden of proving that the designation is inherently distinctive or that it has become distinctive by acquiring secondary meaning. Id. Acquired distinctiveness, or secondary meaning, exists when the relevant consuming public has come to recognize the designation as one that identifies the business. See id. § 13(b). Said another way, secondary meaning simply refers to the connection in the consumer's mind between the mark and the provider of the service. See Investacorp, Inc. v. Arabian Inv. Banking Corp., 931 F.2d 1519, 1525 (11th Cir.1991). Secondary meaning can be established through direct evidence, such as consumer surveys and customer testimony, or through circumstantial evidence, such as evidence of exclusivity of use, length and manner of the designation's use, amount and manner of advertising, amount of sales, market share, and number of customers. See Madison Reprographics v. Cook's Reprographics, 203 Wis.2d 226, 552 N.W.2d 440, 445 (Ct.App.1996); Restatement § 13 cmt. e.