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Bottom line: The Board reversed refusal of NATURALWIDESTRONG in katakana for floor boards.

The applicant filed an application for a standard character mark in katakana shown below designating floor boards.  The mark is a transliteration of NATURALWIDESTRONG.  (Unlike English, Japanese language does not use interword spacing.  The applied-for mark can be a transliteration of NATURAL WIDE STRONG as well.)

[Applied-for mark]

(transliteration of NATURALWIDESTRONG in katakana)

The examiner found that consumers will easily recognize the meaning of each component of the applied-for mark, NATURAL, WIDE and STRONG, and the mark is not inherently distinctive with respect to the designated goods.

The Board, on the other hand, saw the applied-for mark as a whole in view of its uniform font and size and integrated style.  Even though each component, NATURAL, WIDE and STRONG has commonly known meaning, the applied-for mark is quite integrated into a whole that it will not be separated into three words and understood separately.

Further, the Board mentioned that there is no evidence to support that the applied-for mark as a whole is used in the relevant industry to refer to natural wide and strong floor boards.

And so the Board reversed the refusal and granted the registration of NATURALWIDESTRONG in katakana.

 

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