Booking.com is an online travel booking website run by Priceline.com. This case revolves around them filing for a trademarking request for their website name “Booking.com”. However, the Appeal Board did not approve of the request, since their name was too generic.
Foley & Lardner LLP represented the branch of Priceline, stating “consumers would no read any dual meaning in the term”. Moreover, the judge found that Booking.com only pertains to the act of booking travel services, contrasting the “wide array of other services” that are otherwise provided by a travel agency.
The court also mentioned that "very strong evidence of acquired distinctiveness would be required to render the term registerable" and could not find "actual market recognition of Booking.com as a source indicator" of gaining users to the platform.
I agree with the court in that the name is too generic to be awarded copyright, however, I am also at crossroad because I believe if they own the domain they should be able to copyright it. This case really exemplifies the ongoing cases of what can be considered intellectual property and what cannot.
Hi Shauray,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I enjoyed how you chose a controversial case with the question of what can or cannot be considered intellectual property. To make this post better, I recommend talking about what and how Priceline responded to this ruling.
Once again, great post!