Trademark Owner Wins at CAFC with Reversal of TTAB Refusal to Register KAHWA for Cafes

"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a precedential decision today authored by Chief Judge Moore reversing the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's (TTAB's) affirmance of a refusal to register the mark KAHWA for cafes and coffee shops. A trademark examiner issued a non-final office action to Bayou Grande Coffee Roasting Company in February 2021, refusing registration for KAHWA, which means coffee in Arabic, based on genericness or descriptiveness of the mark."

"On appeal to the CAFC, Bayou argued that the refusals based on KAHWA meaning Kashmiri green tea constituted new grounds of refusal and were unsupported by substantial evidence, as well as that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) "should be precluded from relying on the doctrine of foreign equivalents." The CAFC rejected Bayou's argument that the Kashmiri green tea rejections constituted new grounds of refusal because the examiner essentially withdrew them and the TTAB reinstated them."

Bayou Grande Coffee Roasting Company sought registration of KAHWA for cafes and coffee shops. An examiner refused registration in February 2021, citing genericness or descriptiveness and relying on the doctrine of foreign equivalents and the absence of an English translation. Bayou argued KAHWA denotes a specific Kashmiri green tea rather than Arabic coffee. The examiner upheld the denial on both meanings and the TTAB affirmed. On appeal, Bayou contended the Kashmiri-tea grounds were new and unsupported and urged preclusion of the foreign equivalents doctrine. The CAFC rejected the new-grounds argument, held the foreign equivalents doctrine did not apply because KAHWA has a well-established English meaning, and reversed the TTAB.

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