## Facts

- Vox Populi Registry Ltd. operated the “.SUCKS” generic top-level domain (gTLD) and applied to register a stylized “.SUCKS” mark for domain registry operator services.
- The application covered a pixelated, retro-style rendering of “.SUCKS,” asserted to create a distinctive look.
- A USPTO examining attorney refused registration on the ground that the proposed mark, as used with the identified services, failed to function as a trademark (i.e., did not identify source).
- The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board affirmed, finding the stylization ordinary and insufficient to create a separate commercial impression from “.SUCKS” itself.
- Vox appealed only the refusal of the stylized mark to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

## Issues

1. Whether the stylized “.SUCKS” designation, used for domain registry operator services, functions as a trademark by identifying and distinguishing a single source.
2. Whether substantial evidence supported the Board’s findings that consumers would perceive “.SUCKS” primarily as the gTLD product rather than as a source indicator, and that the stylization did not change that perception.
3. Whether the record established acquired distinctiveness for the stylized design.

## Decision

- The Federal Circuit affirmed the Board’s refusal to register the stylized “.SUCKS” mark.
- The court agreed that the proposed mark did not function as a source identifier for the identified services.
- The court held that substantial evidence supported the Board’s finding that the stylization was not sufficiently distinctive to create a separate commercial impression.
- The court concluded that the evidence submitted did not show acquired distinctiveness for the stylized form.

## Legal Principles

- A designation is registrable only if it functions as a “mark,” meaning it identifies and distinguishes the applicant’s goods or services and indicates source.
- Where consumers perceive a term primarily as the product or service being offered (rather than as the provider), the term fails to function as a trademark for those services.
- Stylization of wording does not, by itself, make an otherwise non-source-identifying designation registrable; the design must be sufficiently distinctive to create a separate commercial impression.
- On appeal from the TTAB, factual findings on consumer perception and distinctiveness are reviewed for substantial evidence; the court does not reweigh evidence.

## Conclusion

The Federal Circuit upheld the USPTO’s refusal to register Vox’s stylized “.SUCKS” mark because, in context, it would be understood mainly as a gTLD offering and the ordinary stylization did not create a distinct source-identifying commercial impression or show acquired distinctiveness.


In re Vox Populi Registry Ltd., 25 F.4th 1348 (Fed. Cir. 2022)