Opinion ID: 162544
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Strength of the Generic Value Products Mark

Text: 27 The stronger the mark, the greater the likelihood that encroachment on the mark will cause confusion. See King of the Mountain Sports, 185 F.3d at 1093. The categories of trademarks in ascending order of relative strength are: (1) generic; (2) descriptive; (3) suggestive; (4) arbitrary; or (5) fanciful. Heartsprings, 143 F.3d at 555 (citing Two Pesos, Inc. v. Taco Cabana, Inc., 505 U.S. 763, 768, 112 S.Ct. 2753, 120 L.Ed.2d 615 (1992)). A generic mark refers to a general class of goods, such as cola, of which an individual article is but a member. Beer Nuts I, 711 F.2d at 939. Such marks do not indicate the particular source of an item and are not entitled to any trademark protection. Id. A descriptive mark identifies a characteristic or quality of an article or service, such as its color, odor, function, dimensions, or ingredients. Id. A descriptive mark may receive protection only when it has acquired a secondary meaning by becoming distinctive of the applicant's goods in commerce. Id. at 940 (quotation omitted). Suggestive marks suggest[] rather than describe[] a characteristic of the product and require[] the consumer to use imagination and perception to determine the product's nature. First Sav. Bank, 101 F.3d at 655. Arbitrary marks use common words, symbols, and pictures that do not suggest or describe any quality or characteristic of the goods or services. King of the Mountain Sports, 185 F.3d at 1093. Finally, fanciful marks are words invented or selected for the sole purpose of functioning as a trademark. Id. Suggestive, fanciful, and arbitrary marks are considered inherently distinctive and entitled to trademark protection. See Two Pesos, 505 U.S. at 768, 112 S.Ct. 2753. 28 In this case, the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) granted Marianna's application to register the Generic Value Products mark without requiring proof of secondary meaning. Beautyco does not challenge Marianna's argument that the PTO action creates a rebuttable presumption that the mark is inherently distinctive. See generally GTE Corp. v. Williams, 904 F.2d 536, 538 (10th Cir. 1990) (citing cases). Beautyco has also failed to cite any evidence that Marianna's mark is generic or descriptive. Rather, Beautyco's only argument is that the Generic Value Products line's prominent use of the word generic in its packaging and advertising signals that the mark itself is generic. Merely because a producer manufactures goods which feature the word generic, however, does not render the trademark itself generic. Beautyco mistakenly asserts that Marianna's mark identifies only a general class of goods, but the Generic Value Products mark does not, by its terms, describe hair care products. Marianna is entitled to a presumption that the Generic Value Products mark is inherently distinctive, one that Beautyco does not rebut. This factor therefore weighs in favor of Marianna.