보통명칭의 결합표장에 대한 상표등록 여부 - 미국 연방대법원 2020. 6. 30. 선고 USPTO v.Booking.com 판결을 중심으로 -

This article intends to contribute to the examination of the recent ruling (United States Patent and Trademark Office, et al. v. Booking.com B. V., 591 U.S. ___ (2020)) by the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the eligibility of federal trademark registration on the composite mark consisting of a generic name and a TLD (top-level domain). Specifically, concerning the presented question whether the addition of a TLD (“.com”) to an otherwise generic name (“booking”) can create a protectable trademark, the U.S. Supreme Court held that “booking.com” brand meets the requirement for the trademark registration because the consuming public perceives the mark not as the product or service, but as the producer. This article concludes that the trademark manual of examining procedure (TMEP) of Korea should be newly incorporated the basis of determination whether consumers understand a given “generic.com” term to describe the corresponding website or to identify the website’s proprietor. It also urges the entity which owns composite mark consisting of a generic name and a TLD, and wishes to getting trademark registration on the mark to obtain the relevant domain name first, and, subsequently, to accumulate the specific evidence of consumer perception.