Last year, we recounted the saga of Professor Rebecca Curtin and her attempt to prevent registration of the trademark RAPUNZEL for “dolls and toy figures.” This past spring, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in Prof. Curtin’s attempt to overturn the Federal Circuit’s ruling that she lacked standing to challenge the USPTO’s decision to grant a trademark registration for the mark RAPUNZEL.
But that was not the end of the story. Earlier this month, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) concluded Prof. Curtin’s opposition, but further, acting on its own, remanded the application to the Examining Attorney for further action.
The authority for the remand was 37 CFR 2.131, which allows for such a remand when “facts are disclosed which appear to render the mark unregistrable, but such matter has not been tried under the pleadings as filed by the parties.” In explaining the remand, the TTAB cited an earlier 2017 precedential decision involving the same applicant, denying registration of LITTLE MERMAID as merely descriptive for dolls. (The LITTLE MERMAID case was discussed at the time in John Welch’s informative blog regarding the goings on at the TTAB, the apply-named The TTABlog.) The remand is a clear signal to the Examining Attorney that registration ought to be denied to RAPUNZEL, in view of the earlier precedential decision on a similar application.
Thus, despite her lack of success in the opposition, it looks like a happy ending for Prof. Curtin, as well as anyone else opposed to a company taking control of the trademark RAPUNZEL in the field of dolls and toy figures. Cue the sunshine and bird song.