Thought Leadership
By Gabrielle Frieser, a rising third year law student at Harvard Law school and a summer associate at Gerard Fox Law.

Booking.com’s Battle for Trademark Protection

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The Supreme Court is expected to issue an opinion in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V., in which the Court will determine whether the generic terms “booking” and “.com” can be combined to create a trademark. During oral arguments, which were the first to occur over telephone, Justice Alito accused booking.com of “seeking a degree of monopoly power that nobody could have had prior to the Internet age.” The company argued “booking.com” has a primary significance to the public beyond the generic terms. Regardless of which way SCOTUS rules, the decision will have profound implications for online businesses and internet users.