## Facts

- Eastern National filed a trademark application on June 16, 1998, seeking registration of the mark **INDEPENDENCE PARK INSTITUTE** on the Principal Register.
- The application identified a number of goods and services described in secondary summaries as involving **products and marketing** activities.
- A USPTO Examining Attorney refused registration under **Lanham Act § 2(e)(1)** on the ground that the proposed mark was **merely descriptive** of Eastern National’s identified goods and services.
- Eastern National appealed the final refusal to the **Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB)** in an **ex parte** proceeding.

## Issues

1. Whether **INDEPENDENCE PARK INSTITUTE** is merely descriptive of Eastern National’s identified goods and services under **Lanham Act § 2(e)(1)**.
2. Whether the Examining Attorney’s refusal to register the mark on the Principal Register should be affirmed on the record before the TTAB.

## Decision

- The TTAB held that **INDEPENDENCE PARK INSTITUTE** is **merely descriptive** of the identified goods and services within the meaning of **§ 2(e)(1)**.
- The TTAB **affirmed** the Examining Attorney’s refusal to register the mark on the Principal Register.

## Legal Principles

- A mark is **merely descriptive** under **Lanham Act § 2(e)(1)** if it **immediately** conveys information about a quality, feature, function, purpose, subject matter, or use of the applicant’s identified goods or services.
- Descriptiveness is evaluated **in relation to the goods and services as identified in the application**, and from the standpoint of the **relevant purchasing public**.
- A multi-word phrase may be refused as merely descriptive when, considered as a whole, it **retains** the descriptive meaning of its components and tells purchasers what the goods or services are (or what they relate to) without the need for guesswork.
- Combining a term that points to a **place or site** (such as “Independence Park”) with a common term for an **organization or program** (such as “Institute”) can yield a composite that describes an organization or program associated with that place or site, rather than identifying a single commercial source.
- On an **ex parte** appeal, the TTAB reviews the refusal based on the **application record**, including the identification of goods/services and any evidence submitted during examination and appeal.

## Conclusion

In *In re Eastern National*, Eastern National appealed a final USPTO refusal to register **INDEPENDENCE PARK INSTITUTE** for goods and services involving products and marketing. The TTAB affirmed the refusal, concluding that the wording would be understood by purchasers as describing an institute associated with Independence Park and therefore was **merely descriptive** under **Lanham Act § 2(e)(1)**.


In re Eastern National, 2001 WL 1547936 (2001)