Opinion ID: 738246
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Incontestability of marks

Text: 32 A trademark becomes incontestable if it is not successfully challenged within five years of its registration. See 15 U.S.C. § 1065. As the Supreme Court ... concluded in Park 'N Fly, Inc. v. Dollar Park and Fly, Inc., 469 U.S. 189, 105 S.Ct. 658, 83 L.Ed.2d 582 (1985), an infringement action may not be defended on the grounds that a mark is merely descriptive, if that mark has met the requirements of incontestability. Wynn Oil Co. v. Thomas, 839 F.2d 1183, 1187 (6th Cir.1988)(Wynn Oil I ). Therefore, an incontestable mark is presumed to be at least descriptive with secondary meaning, and therefore a relatively strong mark. Wynn Oil Co. v. American Way Serv. Corp., 943 F.2d 595, 600 (6th Cir.1991)(Wynn Oil II )(quoting Dieter v. B & H Indus., 880 F.2d 322, 329 (11th Cir.1989)). Although incontestable status constitutes conclusive evidence that a mark is valid, see 15 U.S.C. § 1115(b), an incontestable mark still can be an infringing mark. See id. 33 The District Court found that because defendant had used it continuously for a period of five years, the Daddy's Junky Music Store mark is incontestable and therefore carries a presumption of strength. See 913 F.Supp. at 1071. Conversely, the District Court found that the Daddy's marks were not incontestable and therefore not entitled to any presumption of strength. See id. 2 34 We believe the District Court erred in reducing the strength of the Daddy's marks on the basis that they had not achieved incontestable status. As noted, for the purposes of assessing the strength of a mark during an infringement action, incontestable status serves to confer upon a mark the strength accorded to a descriptive mark with secondary meaning. Accordingly, incontestable status benefits those marks which otherwise would lack inherent strength, i.e., generic marks or descriptive marks without secondary meaning. In the instant case, as arbitrary marks the marks of plaintiff already have as much or more strength than descriptive marks. If the Daddy's Junky Music Store mark is incontestable, it is unlikely that it thereby improves upon its inherent strength as an arbitrary mark; likewise, if the Daddy's marks are contestable, they nonetheless do not lose the strength which flows from their arbitrary nature.