On March 16, 2016, the TTAB affirmed the refusals of an applicant’s mark, JAWS DEVOUR YOUR HUNGER, for online streaming cooking shows, holding that it is confusingly similar to the registered mark from the movie JAWS. Though the Board will rarely consider the fame of a mark in its du Pont analysis, the fame of the JAWS mark played a predominant role in the decision here. In re Mr. Recipe, LLC, Serial Nos. 86040643 and 86040656 [precedential]. Fame is typically not evaluated as a likelihood of confusion factor in ex parte appeals, because the TTAB record does not, by default, include evidence of a mark’s fame. Here, however, the examining attorney submitted extensive evidence demonstrating the fame of the mark JAWS as it is associated to the movie franchise, including movie reviews, ratings, and articles. The Board found that this abundance of evidence was probative of the mark’s fame such that it should be afforded higher protection. The applicant argued…
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