## Facts

- Sun Oil used the term “CUSTOM-BLENDED” beginning in 1956 on pump signage at service stations offering gasoline blended at the pump from multiple grades to match customer needs.
- Sun Oil sought Principal Register registration of “CUSTOM-BLENDED” for gasoline, as a continuation of an earlier application that had been refused.
- The examining attorney refused registration under Lanham Act § 2(e)(1) because the term was merely descriptive and found the showing of acquired distinctiveness under § 2(f) insufficient.
- The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board affirmed, reasoning that “CUSTOM-BLENDED” would immediately inform patrons that the gasoline dispensed was custom blended to their needs.
- Sun Oil appealed from the Board’s decision to the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.

## Issues

1. Whether “CUSTOM-BLENDED,” as applied to gasoline blended at the pump, is merely descriptive under Lanham Act § 2(e)(1).
2. If merely descriptive, whether Sun Oil proved acquired distinctiveness sufficient for registration on the Principal Register under Lanham Act § 2(f).

## Decision

- The court affirmed the refusal to register “CUSTOM-BLENDED” on the Principal Register.
- The court agreed that the term directly describes a significant characteristic of the goods—gasoline blended to order—and is therefore merely descriptive.
- The court held that Sun Oil’s evidence did not establish that consumers primarily perceived “CUSTOM-BLENDED” as a source identifier rather than as descriptive language.
- A concurring judge emphasized that “CUSTOM-BLENDED” is so highly descriptive that it should not receive trademark rights even if it had some de facto consumer association.

## Legal Principles

- A mark that immediately conveys information about an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, or feature of the goods is “merely descriptive” and is barred from Principal Register registration under Lanham Act § 2(e)(1) absent a sufficient showing under § 2(f).
- To qualify under § 2(f), an applicant must show that relevant consumers primarily understand the term as identifying a single commercial source, not merely describing the goods.
- Where a term is highly descriptive and competitors have a legitimate need to use it to describe similar goods, registration may be refused to prevent exclusive appropriation of common descriptive language.

## Conclusion

The court upheld refusal of “CUSTOM-BLENDED” for gasoline because the term immediately describes gasoline blended to order at the pump and Sun Oil did not show that the public primarily perceived the term as a trademark identifying source rather than as descriptive wording.


Application of Sun Oil Co., 426 F.2d 401 (C.C.P.A. 1970)