West Agro,Inc.

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

Jun 14, 2006

No. 76405802 (T.T.A.B. Jun. 14, 2006)

Mailed:
June 14, 2006

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
________

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
________

In re West Agro, Inc.
________

Serial No. 76405802
_______

Thomas H. Van Hoozer and Cheryl L. Burbach of Hovey
Williams, LLP for West Agro, Inc.

Angela Micheli, Trademark Examining Attorney, Law Office
101 (Ronald R. Sussman, Managing Attorney)
_______

Before Seeherman, Zervas and Kuhlke, Administrative
Trademark Judges.

Opinion by Seeherman, Administrative Trademark Judge:

West Agro, Inc. has applied to register, on the
Supplemental Register, MILK QUALITY TEAM as a mark for the
following services:
Repair and maintenance services in the
field of dairy equipment (Class 37);

Delivery of dairy farm hygiene
products, namely, dairy farm equipment
hygiene products and animal hygiene
products, animal health products, dairy
farm supplies, and repair and
THIS DISPOSITION IS NOT
CITABLE AS PRECEDENT OF
THE TTAB
Ser No. 76405802
2
replacement parts for dairy farm
equipment (Class 39);
Training services for dairy producers,
namely, conducting workshops, seminars
and classes, individualized training in
the field of diary farm hygiene,
namely, dairy farm equipment hygiene
and animal hygiene, animal health,
milking system analysis, and milking
management (Class 41); and
Consulting services for dairy producers
in the field of dairy farm hygiene,
namely, dairy farm equipment hygiene
and animal hygiene, animal health,
water quality testing and analysis,
washing system function, milking and
cooling system performance, and total
farm hygiene; distribution of dairy
farm hygiene products, namely, dairy
farm equipment hygiene products and
animal hygiene products, animal health
products, dairy farm supplies, milking
and cooling equipment; repair and
replacement parts for dairy farm
equipment; and providing chemical
analysis for the optimization of
hygiene on dairy farms (Class 42).1
The Examining Attorney issued a final refusal of
registration on the basis that the term QUALITY TEAM must
be disclaimed because it is generic. The sole issue in
this appeal is the propriety of the Examining Attorney’s
requirement for this disclaimer.2

1 Application Serial No. 76405802, filed May 8, 2002, and
asserting first use and first use in commerce in January 2001
with respect to the services in all four classes.
2 Applicant had originally applied to register its mark on the
Principal Register. The Examining Attorney refused such
registration pursuant to Section 2(e)(1) of the Trademark Act
and, when this refusal was made final, applicant amended its
Ser No. 76405802
3
The appeal has been fully briefed.3 Applicant did not
request an oral hearing.
Section 6(a) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1056(a),
provides that the Director may require the applicant to
disclaim an unregistrable component of a mark otherwise
registrable. Section 23 of the Act, 15 U.S.C. §1091,
provides, in pertinent part, that marks that are capable of
distinguishing an applicant’s goods or services and are not
registrable on the Principal Register are registrable on
the Supplemental Register. Thus, the issue before us is
whether the term QUALITY TEAM is capable of distinguishing
applicant’s services from those of others.
It is essentially the Examining Attorney’s view that
the term “quality team” is in widespread use “as the
generic name for a feature of applicant’s services.”
Brief, p. 3. The Examining Attorney asserts that excerpts
of articles taken from the NEXIS database and Internet web
pages which are of record “show common usage of the word
‘quality term’ as the name of a category of services,
quality team services.” Brief, p. 3. Following are

application to the Supplemental Register. Thus, the question of
the descriptiveness of the mark is not before us.
3 With its brief applicant has submitted as exhibits all of the
correspondence--Office actions and responses--that is contained
in the application file. Applicant is advised that it is
unnecessary to submit these duplicative papers.
Ser No. 76405802
4
several of those excerpts which the Examining Attorney has
highlighted in her brief:4
Merrill Lynch & Co. is bullish on
Japan--at least on that country’s
concept of quality teams used to
improve product quality and worker
productivity.

The country’s largest brokerage firm
recently celebrated its first “quality
teams day” at its One Liberty Plaza
headquarters in Manhattan. The
celebration was aimed at recognizing
the contribution of the more than 2,500
operations personnel who have been
active members of quality teams at
Merrill for the past two years, said
Mr. Michael Reddy, vice president-
director of operations.

A typical Merrill quality team consists
of eight to 15 employees carrying out
similar jobs with a Merrill supervisor
as the team leader. One group in the
cashiers department, for example, saved
Merrill $40,000 per year. They
realized that by updating daily certain
securities eligibility data….
“The American Banker,” June 23, 1983

Headline: Facilitator Critical to
Quality Teams
A quality team group facilitator is
important because this person keeps the
team focused on its objectives and
prevents it from getting off track.
The guidelines that I use when training

4 These excerpts all appear to have been made of record with the
Office action mailed March 13, 2004. At this point in the
prosecution in the application, applicant had already amended its
application to the Supplemental Register, and therefore the
Examining Attorney was apprised that she was required to submit
evidence that QUALITY TEAM was incapable of distinguishing
applicant’s services, and not that the term was merely
descriptive of them.
Ser No. 76405802
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people to be effective facilitators
include the following….
“Sun-Sentinel” (Fort Lauderdale),
December 12, 1994

These cost savings are the result of
efforts made by more than 30 cross-
functional quality teams to address
specific problems, improve work
processes or manage major projects,
such as Tariff 12 negotiations.
[Article about telecommunications at
Xerox]
“Network World,” April 16, 1990

Headline: The quality cry of a modern
Paul Revere
But there was extended debate over
whether to start with value analysis or
quality teams. Value analysis asked:
“Are we doing the right things?”, while
quality teams asked: “Are we doing
things right?” We decided both were
vital and immediate.
“Journal of Services Marketing,” 1995

Headline: Chrysler Quality Gurus Focus
on Upstream Changes
Despite some criticisms that its
vehicles suffer from quality problems,
Chrysler Corp. seems satisfied with the
work of its quality team headed by
James Holden and Rex Franson.
…
What does the quality team do?
Holden: The quality organization is
represented within the platform
organization not just as an external,
but also as an internal force. Our job
is to make sure that the quality team
is consistent.
“Automotive News,” January 29, 1996
Headline: Teaming up for quality;
Technician’s Notebook; Column
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a
management philosophy based on meeting
Ser No. 76405802
6
and exceeding customer’s desires by
continuous improvement of processes.
This is accomplished through
elimination of underlying causes of
defects using input from all persons
engaged in the operation. Those
closest to the process are empowered by
management to effect improvements in
the process. In TQM, decision-making
is moved into the hands of quality
teams made up of experienced
individuals with a diversity of
backgrounds, thereby enabling
innovative ideas to be created.
…
Employee quality teams are the essence
of TQM. Corporate, divisional and
factory steering committees are used to
support and provide direction to team
activities, especially to train, assist
and encourage teams, to remove barriers
to team functioning, and to provide
recognition for team successes.
“Ceramic Industry,” February 1994

There are similar excerpts from the various websites.
For example, a module description from TTS Performance
Systems, Inc. for a module called “Quality Teams” lists as
the title of Lesson 1, “Use of Quality Teams,” and as
Lesson 2, “Quality Team Techniques,” and explains that “In
this module, you will learn how quality teams are used….”
www.myplantstraining.com
We are not persuaded by the Examining Attorney’s
arguments. First, it is not clear from the evidence of
record that QUALITY TEAM is a generic term for the services
identified in applicant’s application. As applicant points
Ser No. 76405802
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out, a determination of whether a term is generic involves
a two-step inquiry: First, what is the genus of goods or
services at issue. Second, is the term understood by the
relevant public primarily to refer to that genus of goods
or services. H. Marvin Ginn Corp. v. Int’l Assn. of Fire
Chiefs, 782 F.2d 987, 228 USPQ 528, 530 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
The services at issue are repair and maintenance services
in the field of dairy equipment; delivery of dairy farm
hygiene products; training services for dairy producers;
consulting services for dairy producers in the field of
dairy farm hygiene; distribution of dairy farm hygiene
products; and providing chemical analysis for optimization
of hygiene on dairy farms. While the evidence of record
shows that “quality teams” are used in many businesses and
industries as part of a business model, the evidence falls
far short in establishing that QUALITY TEAM refers to any
genus of services in applicant’s identification.5
It is also not clear to us that consumers would view
QUALITY TEAM, as that term is used within applicant’s mark,
MILK QUALITY TEAM, as referring to a quality team as that

5 The Examining Attorney has also asserted that a potential
customer “when seeing the applicant’s proposed mark on the
applicant’s services, would immediately know that the services
are performed by quality teams.” Brief, p. 6. Although this
assertion would be proper if the question before us were whether
QUALITY TEAM is a merely descriptive term, that is not the issue
here.
Ser No. 76405802
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term has been used in the various articles that are of
record. Instead, consumers are likely to view the word
QUALITY as referring to MILK, and to understand the mark as
indicating a team that helps to improve or maintain the
quality of milk, rather than as the business concept of a
“quality team.” In this connection, the promotional piece
submitted by applicant with its response filed March 13,
2003, refers to “A Team Approach” and claims to help “dairy
producers of all sizes achieve their milk quality….” This
same piece includes a Mission Statement that:
The Chemland Milk Quality Team will
deliver reliable service, technical
expertise and cost-effective products
related to the production of high
quality milk. We passionately assist
our customers and the dairy industry as
an enthusiastic and willing partner,
sharing the same milk quality and udder
health goals of the dairies we serve.
(emphasis added)

The same statement appears on another of applicant’s
promotional pieces, under the heading “Our Goal.”
Because applicant’s mark may be viewed as consisting
of the phrase MILK QUALITY, followed by the word TEAM,
rather than as the word MILK, followed by the phrase
QUALITY TEAM, and because, in any event, the evidence of
record fails to demonstrate that QUALITY TEAM is a generic
term for applicant’s identified services, we find that the
Ser No. 76405802
9
mark MILK QUALITY TEAM is registrable on the Supplemental
Register without a disclaimer of QUALITY TEAM.
Decision: The refusal of registration is reversed.