Rich Marks, LLC

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

Feb 25, 2015

No. 85784407re (T.T.A.B. Feb. 25, 2015)

This Opinion is Not a
Precedent of the TTAB

Mailed: February 25, 2015

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
_____

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
_____

In re Rich Marks, LLC
_____

Serial Nos. 85784407, 85789870 and 85789873
_____

on Request for Reconsideration
_____

Joel R. Feldman, Kristen L. Fancher and Jess L. Rosen of Greenberg Traurig, LLP,
for Rich Marks, LLC.
April K. Roach, Trademark Examining Attorney, Law Office 115,
John Lincoski, Managing Attorney.
_____

Before Bucher, Kuhlke and Wolfson,
Administrative Trademark Judges.

Opinion by Bucher, Administrative Trademark Judge:
Applicant, Rich Marks, LLC, has filed a timely request for reconsideration of the
Board’s decision dated January 6, 2015, affirming the refusals to register
Applicant’s marks REDNECK RIVIERA and REDNECK RIVIERA FEST
under Section 2(e)(2) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(2).
Serial Nos. 85784407, 85789870 and 85789873
- 2 -
The premise underlying a request for reconsideration of a Board decision, under
37 C.F.R. § 2.144, is that based on the evidence of record and the prevailing
authorities, the Board erred in reaching the decision it issued. The request may not
be used to introduce additional evidence, nor should it be devoted simply to a re-
argument of the points presented in the requesting party’s brief. Rather, the
request normally should be limited to a demonstration that based upon the evidence
properly of record and the applicable law, the Board’s ruling is in error and requires
appropriate change. See TBMP §§ 1219.01 and 543 (2014) and the authorities cited
therein. See also Amoco Oil Co. v. Amerco, Inc., 201 USPQ 126 (TTAB 1978).
Applicant advances three arguments, which we consider in turn.
 Applicant argues that the Board should
… reconsider its analysis of evidence from THE COLUMBIA
ENCYCLOPEDIA and “The Rise and Decline of the Redneck
Riviera: An Insider’s History of the Florida-Alabama
Coast” and conclude that this evidence supports Rich
Marks’ evidence from UrbanDictionary.com that “redneck
Riviera” is “[a] general term indicating a waterfront
region that is distinguished by a wealth of natural and
scenic beauty, where the residents are primarily products
of the working class (working poor).”
Applicant in its earlier briefing had alleged that the Trademark Examining
Attorney failed to enter into the record reliable sources of information. Applicant’s
reply brief at 1-7. Accordingly, in our decision of January 6, we did not rely solely on
collaborative website sources like UrbanDictionary.com or personal, “amateurish”
sites. In re Trans Continental Records, Inc., 62 USPQ2d 1541, 1544 (TTAB 2002)
(“ … the evidence from [www.angelfire.com] is not persuasive that O-TOWN is
Serial Nos. 85784407, 85789870 and 85789873
- 3 -
generally known as a geographic location. There is no evidence as to whether this
website has been accessed by a significant number of people. And, in view of the
amateurish nature of the text …, we cannot regard the author’s view of ‘O-TOWN’
as a nickname for Orlando to be indicative of the perception of the public at large”).
Instead, we used these merely to corroborate the dozen references upon which we
relied that included national, regional and specialty periodicals, and major
broadcast networks, including ABC News, CBS News, The New York Times, The
Miami Herald, The Seattle Times, the Augusta Chronicle, and Food & Wine
magazine, as well as articles of record referring to a scholarly work of historic
research about the Florida-Alabama Gulf Coast prominently titled “Redneck
Riviera” (which book itself is not part of the record), and finally, taking notice of an
entry in THE COLUMBIA ENCYCLOPEDIA.
Without reciting to all of the individual pieces of evidence in the record, we
reaffirm our earlier finding that the term “Redneck Riviera,” for American
consumers, is a real, significant geographical place along the northwest coastline of
the Gulf of Mexico stretching from southeastern Mississippi to the Florida
panhandle beaches east of Panama City. Certainly this named place of sufficiently
defined boundaries is neither remote nor obscure, and the term “Redneck Riviera”
has been an important part of the Southern vernacular for decades.
We hold to this position in spite of, for example, Jed Bob’s 2007 submission to
UrbanDictionary.com suggesting that the term “Redneck Riviera” is a general
reference to the ambiance of any waterfront region of scenic beauty having poor
Serial Nos. 85784407, 85789870 and 85789873
- 4 -
residents. Applicant latches onto this broader connotation, describing this as a
pop-culture, slang term – having already acquired a separate, readily-understood,
non-geographical meaning – reflecting any beautiful beach having inhabitants
displaying the “redneck” habits of poor, lower-class persons, thus evocative of a
lifestyle beyond any particular zip code. To the extent that some persons may well
derive from the ordinary meaning of these individual words a more generalized,
non-geographical connotation related to ambiance or life-style, that possibility does
not overcome the historical, primary geographical significance of the term “Redneck
Riviera.” For a long time, the “Redneck Riviera” has named a real place, which
name combines two characteristics of this region – a unique cultural stereotype of
the laid-back, rural south juxtaposed against the stunning beauty of the Gulf
seascapes. As seen in the articles of record, the history and characteristics of the
northwest Gulf Coast reflect incredibly beautiful beaches, tacky trinkets, new
high-rise condominiums, southern folkways and honky-tonks.
We accept that the Florida panhandle and Alabama Gulf Coast region is not
totally homogeneous, and has locations like Seaside and Navarre Beach. The latter
is protected from development by federal law. As to the former, the fact that the
urban planners and architects who founded Seaside wanted to contrast their
planned community with the stereotypical sprawl of many surrounding
developments does not contradict the conclusion that many residents of, and visitors
to, these Gulf beaches readily recognize “Redneck Riviera” as the name of that
region of the country. The pieces of evidence in the record point to a variety of
Serial Nos. 85784407, 85789870 and 85789873
- 5 -
different municipalities and beaches, but together they form one large region known
as the “Redneck Riviera,” not many separate “redneck Rivieras.”
 Applicant also argues that our conclusion that members of the relevant
public would principally view the term “Redneck Riviera,” when used in connection
with Applicant’s recited services, as designating a specific geographic region widely
known by that name, is not supported by substantial evidence, citing to recent
criticisms contained in the decision of In re The Newbridge Cutlery Company (t/a
Newbridge Silverware), ____ F.3d ____, 113 USPQ2d 1445 (Fed. Cir. 2015). We
disagree with this contention. Looking at the evidence in this record in toto, as
approved by our primary reviewing court, we find that the Trademark Examining
Attorney has set out a prima facie case that the term “Redneck Riviera,” is known
generally to the relevant public as a geographical region:
• ABC News: “ … a play on the long-held nickname for the region”
• The Seattle Times: “ … long been called “the Redneck Riviera”
• Augusta Chronicle: “ … Flora-Bama[,] Ground Zero on the Redneck
Riviera, the place where songster Jimmy “Margaritaville” Buffett spent a
lot of time wasting away … ”
• New York Times: “ … the region – sometimes referred to as the ‘Redneck
Riviera’ … ”
• CBS News: “ … why generations of Southerners have flocked to the stretch
of northern Gulf Coast affectionately called the ‘redneck Riviera’ … ”
• The Miami Herald: “Living it up on the ‘Redneck Riviera’: History
professor affectionately recounts creation and changes along the Gulf
Coast.”
Serial Nos. 85784407, 85789870 and 85789873
- 6 -
• Food and Wine magazine: “On a drive along the Gulf Coast’s Redneck
Riviera, ambitious new restaurants are turning up next to classic seafood
joints and fried-chicken spots.”
Applicant particularly relies on the following comment in Newbridge Cutlery,
113 USPQ2d at 1450 that “ … it is simply untenable that any information available
on the internet should be considered known to the relevant public.” This statement
simply recognizes the fact that an Internet search may elicit many disparate
results, some of which are not particularly probative or capable of supporting a
prima facie case. Unlike in Newbridge Cutlery, which involved a foreign place name
and a mixed record of evidence that included atlases that did not list the
geographical place, here the overall evidence placed into the record by the
Trademark Examining Attorney and by Applicant cannot be said to be evenly
“mixed.” Further, unlike in Trans Continental Records, which included a local
newspaper and a website entry of an amateurish nature, here there is a consistent
showing of “Redneck Riviera” as naming a specific geographical region by serious
news outlets like ABC News, CBS News, The New York Times, The Miami Herald,
The Seattle Times, the Augusta Chronicle, and Food & Wine magazine. Viewed with
a most critical eye, the evidence in national publications and broadcast television
stories shows that this is a long-held, name for this specific geographical region of
which residents and visitors alike would clearly be aware.
Applicant tries to diminish the probative value of this evidence by arguing that
these newspaper and magazine articles “are simply Internet printouts, not
contextualized press clippings.” However, like persons the world over, potential
Serial Nos. 85784407, 85789870 and 85789873
- 7 -
visitors to this part of the country are consuming an ever-increasing volume of
newspaper and magazine content in the very online context Applicant is criticizing
as inherently lacking in probative value. As the Trademark Examining Attorney
who prosecuted the DURANGO case at the TTAB (In re Loew’s Theatres, Inc., 769
F.2d 764, 226 USPQ 865 (Fed. Cir. 1985)), I recognize that in the Internet age, more
may be required of the Trademark Examining Attorneys in a refusal under Section
2(e)(2) than simply a single gazetteer entry. However, nowhere does Applicant
provide support for the proposition that the Newbridge Cutlery decision places on
the Trademark Examining Attorney the additional burden of providing evidence as
to the number of eyeballs that perused “the ‘Journeys’ portion of the ‘Travel’ section
of a Wednesday edition of the New York Times … ” (Applicant’s request for
reconsideration at 10), either in the context of a hard copy publication or in the
newer online format. U.S.-based publications that simultaneously print in hard
copy and online typically use very similar content for both. Thus, one may presume
that the websites of large urban newspapers are reaching many thousands of
domestic consumers every day. This most probative of evidence provides a contrast
with a number of travel-oriented websites that may occasionally be referenced by a
much smaller group of individuals planning a trip abroad that were relied upon by
the Trademark Examining Attorney in making a prima facie case before the Board
in its Newbridge Cutlery decision.1 Additionally, some of the Nexis articles in the

1 http://www.newbridge.ie/, http://kildare.ie/, http://www.discoverireland.com/gb/ireland-
places-to-go/, http://www.discoverireland.ie/, http://www.whitewatersc.ie/Newbridge-and-
Serial Nos. 85784407, 85789870 and 85789873
- 8 -
Newbridge Cutlery case did include off-handed references to births, deaths or the
homes of foreign exchange students. By contrast, all of the articles in the case at bar
were focused squarely on restaurants, attractions and other things in the Redneck
Riviera, which articles discussed the named place in a broader and deeper sense.
 Finally, Applicant relies upon a non-precedential decision involving the term
TINSELTOWN used in connection with items of clothing. See In re Topson Downs of
California, Inc., Ser. No. 85067696 (TTAB December 4, 2012).2
On the facts of that case, the Board reversed the refusal, finding that the
TINSELTOWN nickname referred much more strongly to the motion picture
industry than it did to a specific geographic location. On the facts of the case at bar,
we find that the term REDNECK RIVIERA refers much more strongly to a real,
significant geographical place along the northwest coastline of the Gulf of Mexico
than it does to an ambience.
Furthermore, Applicant has reserved its right to offer all of its listed services in
the specific area of the Florida Panhandle, Alabama Gulf Coast and Mississippi’s
southeastern coast – a region widely known as the “Redneck Riviera.” Presumably
over the years, the hypothetical visitor to Gulf Shores, Alabama, for example –
located in the heart of the Redneck Riviera – would readily know that this entire
area is known by that name. Hence, when confronted in the future with the term
REDNECK RIVIERA for an array of entertainment services such as musical

Co-Kildare/, http://www.greganchauffeurireland.ie/chauffeur-ireland-kildare-tour.htm,
http://www.irishtourist.com/kildare/towns/newbridge/, and http://www.newbridgetown.com/.
2 e-foia.uspto.gov/85067696-12-04-2012
Serial Nos. 85784407, 85789870 and 85789873
- 9 -
concerts, amusement parks and theme parks, or themed restaurants, bars and
hotels positioned along the Gulf coast, the immediate perception of this designation
as a mere place name would be reinforced. Under these circumstances, it is likely
that consumers would reasonably expect that services bearing the designation
“Redneck Riviera” originate in that region.
By contrast, as in Topson Downs of California, wares such as outerwear/clothing
sold around the country at retail outlets are not inherently tied to the geographic
location named in the associated mark. Purchasers of clothing, as with many other
goods, are not restricted to buying the branded products at a specific location,
whereas the services recited in Applicant’s application have this inherent
geographical connection as a prompt. See In re Hollywood Lawyers Online, 110
USPQ2d 1852, 1857-58 (TTAB 2014) (HOLLYWOOD LAWYERS ONLINE is
geographically descriptive when used in connection with attorney referrals,
providing a website featuring business information in form of audio and video
interviews, transcripts and other educational materials, and providing an online
video business directory).
In conclusion, we note that as with any geographical designation, the term
“Redneck Riviera” will likely be used to signify this geographical area if not forever,
at least for the foreseeable future, and should Applicant secure ownership of this
term in the form of federal registrations for the requested service marks, Rich
Marks, LLC could appropriate exclusive rights to usage of this long preexisting
Serial Nos. 85784407, 85789870 and 85789873
- 10 -
designation in connection with entertainment and hotel services operating in this
very region for years without end.
The purpose of reconsideration is to point out errors made by the Board in
reaching its decision. The bases for the Board’s decision have been carefully
reviewed in light of Applicant’s Request for Reconsideration and we do not find any
error in the Board’s determination affirming the refusal to register the subject
marks REDNECK RIVIERA and REDNECK RIVIERA FEST based upon the
ban of Section 2(e)(2) of the Lanham Act. In view of the foregoing, Applicant’s
Request for Reconsideration of the Board’s Decision is DENIED, and the decision of
January 6, 2015, stands.