Booking.com’s long fight to protect its brand name has finally been successful.
The OTA first tried to trademark the name nine years ago but was repeatedly denied by the US Patent and Trademark Office, which claimed it was too generic.
The US Supreme Court overruled that, contending it is sufficiently unique with the dot com suffix and merits trademark protection.
The judges found for Netherlands-based Booking.com by 8-1.
They said consumers understand that Booking.com refers to a particular company and not just a generic booking service.
A US Patent and Trademark Office tribunal rejected Booking.com’s applications in 2016, saying ‘booking’ is too generic and adding a dot com does not make it unique enough for a trademark.
The ruling ‘demonstrates that the US legal system has the capacity to evolve in order to reflect the digital world we are all living in’, said Booking.com spokesperson Kimberly Soward.
The case is also notable as it was the court’s first-ever oral argument by teleconference due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
