It is easy for some to get all tied up in knots at the USPTO when facing challenging grounds for refusal against federal registration of a claimed non-traditional trademark. Not Bottega Veneta.

Last week the Swiss-owned fashion house and luxury brand was able to persuade the USPTO to approve for publication the three dimensional knot (shown to the right) as a non-verbal trademark for “handbags, shoulder bags, ladies’ handbags, clutch bags and purses”:

The mark is described this way: “[It] consists of a configuration, namely a three-dimensional knot with caps at each end, affixed to a clasp on the goods.” Registration was initially refused registration as a non-distinctive product design under Sections 1, 2, and 45 of the Lanham Act.

But, the recent 586-page submission, touting more than $18 million in sales over the past decade, more than $5 million in advertising since 2003, favorable declarations from a few fashion industry experts, and a good deal of unsolicited media attention and mentions of the iconic knot design, carried the burden of showing acquired distinctiveness under Section 2(f) of the Lanham Act (as the USPTO was not persuaded that the knot design could be considered inherently distinctive). The knot design is a feature of the configuration of the goods, so Supreme Court precedent would appear to make impossible a successful inherently distinctive trademark claim.

I was left wondering about whether look-for advertising played a role in Bottega Veneta’s success, but it appears not. Although none was required for the showing of acquired distinctiveness, there was no specific mention of look-for advertising in the Bottega Veneta submission to the USPTO, despite the existence of a few helpful references on the Bottega Veneta website:

The knot design is not limited to appearing on bags and purses, it appears. Just last month, Bottega Veneta’s same knot design trademark was published for opposition, as an inherently distinctive intent-to-use trademark for various personal care products in Int’l Class 3, but as the image below reveals, the mark already appears to be in use at least with women’s fragrances:

To the extent you’re wondering why the knot design for personal care products could be approved for publication with no showing of acquired distinctiveness — unlike the knot design as applied to bags and purses — the answer is: fragrances and personal care products don’t have configurations. So, unlike the knot design that forms a portion of the bag or purse, when it comes to fragrances and personal care products, the knot design forms a portion of the packaging for those products. As we have noted previously, the Supreme Court has indicated inherently distinctive product configurations are not possible, but inherently distinctive product packaging or containers are possible.

Having said that, the Examining Attorney at the USPTO appears to be reserving the right to refuse registration without a showing of acquired distinctiveness — even for the knot design in connection with fragrances — once Bottega Veneta submits evidence of use in connection with the claimed personal care products. In fact, it advised Bottega Veneta “that, upon consideration of an allegation of use, registration may be refused on the ground that the applied-for mark, as used on the specimen of record, is a nondistinctive configuration of packaging for the goods that is not registrable on the Principal Register without sufficient proof of acquired distinctiveness.”

I’m thinking that if such a refusal is issued after evidence of use is submitted, Bottega Veneta will be able to untie that knot as well, do you agree?

Last, I love the way Bottega Veneta has given the non-traditional knot design a name, not surprisingly it’s KNOT — and the luxury brand owner is seeking federal registration of the word too. What is surprising, however, is the USPTO’s initial registration refusal based on mere descriptiveness for Int’l Class 18 goods, such as purses and bags:

“Registration is refused because the applied-for mark merely describes a feature of applicant’s goods.  Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1), 15 U.S.C. §1052(e)(1); see TMEP §§1209.01(b), 1209.03 et seq.

A mark is merely descriptive if it describes an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose, or use of an applicant’s goods and/or services.  TMEP §1209.01(b); see, e.g., DuoProSS Meditech Corp. v. Inviro Med. Devices, Ltd., 695 F.3d 1247, 1251, 103 USPQ2d 1753, 1755 (Fed. Cir. 2012) (quoting In re Oppedahl & Larson LLP, 373 F.3d 1171, 1173, 71 USPQ2d 1370, 1371 (Fed. Cir. 2004)); In re Steelbuilding.com, 415 F.3d 1293, 1297, 75 USPQ2d 1420, 1421 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (citing Estate of P.D. Beckwith, Inc. v. Comm’r of Patents, 252 U.S. 538, 543 (1920)).

The term KNOT means “an interlacement of the parts of one or more flexible bodies forming a lump or knob (as for fastening or tying together).”  Please see the attached definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

As shown by the attached evidence from AStitchAHalf.com and PatternPile.com, the term merely describes bags and purses that are closed by tying a knot with the straps.  As such, the mark merely describes a feature of the applicant’s goods in Class 18.

Accordingly, because the applicant’s mark is merely descriptive under Section 2(e)(1) of the Trademark Act, registration is refused.”

I’d call that a pretty loose knot, wouldn’t you?