Fusion Lighting, Inc.

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

Jun 3, 1997

EX (T.T.A.B. Jun. 3, 1997)

THIS DISPOSITION IS NOT
CITABLE AS PRECEDENT OF THE
TTAB June 3, 1997
Paper No. 10
EJS
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
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In re Fusion Lighting, Inc.
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Serial No. 74/589,336
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Martin Abramson of Pollock, Vande Sande & Priddy for Fusion
Lighting, Inc.
Vivian Micznik First, Trademark Examining Attorney, Law
Office 104 (Sidney I. Moskowitz, Managing Attorney)
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Before Seeherman, Hohein and Hairston, Administrative
Trademark Judges.
Opinion by Seeherman, Administrative Trademark Judge:
Fusion Lighting, Inc. has appealed the final refusal of
the Trademark Examining Attorney to register S LAMP for
"electric light bulbs and lamps.1 Registration has been
refused pursuant to Section 2(e)(1) of the Trademark Act, 15
U.S.C. 1052(e)(1), on the ground that this mark is merely
descriptive of applicant's goods. The case has been fully
briefed, but an oral hearing was not requested.

1 Application Serial No. 74/589,336, filed October 24, 1994,
based on a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce.
Ser No. 74/589,336
2
A mark is merely descriptive if it immediately conveys
information concerning a quality, characteristic, function,
ingredient, attribute or feature of a product or service.
Moreover, the question is decided not in a vacuum but in
relation to the goods on which, or the services in
connection with which, the mark is used. In re Venture
Lending Associates, 226 USPQ 285, 286 (TTAB 1985).
The Examining Attorney asserts that applicant's mark is
merely descriptive because the electric light bulbs and
lamps with which it is used contain sulfur, and "S" is a
recognized symbol for "sulfur." In support of her position
she has made of record an excerpt from an article discussing
applicant's lighting system, which states that "the system
consists of a unique, golf-ball-size bulb containing sulfur,
which emits an intense light when exposed to microwaves."
"Federal News Service," March 14, 1995. The particular
installation mentioned in the article indicates that two of
these bulbs replaced 240 mercury bulbs, providing four times
the light at one-third the cost. The Examining Attorney has
also submitted a definition from a chemical dictionary,2
showing that "S" is the symbol for sulfur, and has asked us
to take judicial notice, which we do, of the Random House
Unabridged Dictionary,3 which also defines "S" as a symbol
for "sulfur."

2 Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 12th ed., © 1993.
3 2d ed., © 1993.
Ser No. 74/589,336
3
Applicant does not dispute that its lamp bulbs contain
sulfur, and that "Lamp" is a generic term for lamps.
However, applicant argues that its mark is not merely
descriptive because consumers are not likely to know that
"S" is the chemical symbol for sulfur, and that "S" has a
non-descriptive meaning as "the first letter of the word
'sulfur' and in a language sense is therefore a shorthand
abbreviation for the word sulfur." Brief, p. 2.
We find that S LAMP is merely descriptive, within the
meaning of the Act, for electric light bulbs and lamps.
Sulfur is clearly a major attribute of these bulbs and
lamps. Moreover, "S" is the symbol for sulfur, as both the
general and the chemical dictionary definitions show. Even
if we accept applicant's claim that consumers would not be
aware of the chemical symbol and would see "S" as an
ordinary language abbreviation for "sulfur," the fact is
that consumers purchasing light bulbs and lamps containing
sulfur would immediately recognize S LAMP as indicating that
these goods contain sulfur. Accordingly, S LAMP is merely
descriptive of these goods.
Ser No. 74/589,336
4
Decision: The refusal of registration is affirmed.
E. J. Seeherman
G. D. Hohein
P. T. Hairston
Administrative Trademark Judges
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board