Opinion ID: 738246
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Arbitrariness of marks

Text: 25 When assessing its strength, a court will place a trademark into one of four categories: generic, descriptive, suggestive, and fanciful or arbitrary. See Champions Golf Club, 78 F.3d at 1116-17. These categories constitute a spectrum of increasing strength and are not perfectly discrete. See id. Fanciful or arbitrary marks are the strongest and most distinctive. See id. at 1117. An arbitrary mark has  'a significance recognized in everyday life, but the thing it normally signifies is unrelated to the product or service to which the mark is attached,' such as CAMEL cigarettes or APPLE computers. Id. (quoting Little Caesar Enters., Inc. v. Pizza Caesar, Inc., 834 F.2d 568, 571 (6th Cir.1987)). Assigning a category to a mark constitutes only a single step in determining the strength of the mark. See Homeowners Group, 931 F.2d at 1107. 26 The District Court found that the Daddy's Junky Music Store and the Daddy's marks are arbitrary marks. See 913 F.Supp. at 1071. The parties do not contest this particular conclusion, and we similarly agree that it is correct as matter of law: the phases Daddy's and Daddy's Junky, although consisting of words with recognized meaning in everyday speech, do not have any inherent connection with the sale of musical instruments. The District Court therefore properly found that the marks of plaintiff draw strength from their arbitrary nature. Cf. Genny's Diner & Pub, Inc. v. Sweet Daddy's, Inc., 812 F.Supp. 744, 746-47 (W.D.Ky.1993)(Sweet Daddy is an arbitrary mark for fastfood product). 27 Additional rulings by the District Court regarding the strength of plaintiff's marks, however, contain errors which require reversal of the grant of summary judgment to defendant. 28