Our offices are located in Mt. Kisco. The next town up is Bedford Hills and then Katonah. Katonah, named after an Indian chief, has a nice art museum. The houses are a little more affordable than in mid-Westchester, but the commute to the city is long (definitely over an hour). Martha Stewart is usually reported as living in Bedford (really big properties) but apparently she lives in Katonah.
Her company has now filed several applications for the mark KATONAH covering various housewares.
If the examiner had uncovered information suggesting that Katonah is known as a source of housewares, which it isn’t, then the application would have been in trouble. In this case, it gets an office action that says:
“Applicant must specify whether the mark has any significance a specific field, trade or industry, or any geographical significance, or any meaning in a foreign language. 37 C.F.R. §2.61(b).
Specifically, Applicant must indicate specifically whether the goods will be manufactured, produced or sold in, or will have any other connection with, the geographic location named in the mark. 37 C.F.R. §2.61(b); TMEP §1210.03. See attached article noting that Martha Stewart lives in Katonah, New York. ”
So then Applicant has to respond:
“Katonah is a town in New York which serves as the inspiration for the design of the goods intended to be sold under the mark. The goods will not be manufactured or produced in Katonah.”
And the application is approved for publication, where Katonah resident Terry McAulliffe (Hi Terry! Remember me? I did about three seconds of work on a matter for you when you were at Nynex, about 17 years ago) notices it and brings it to the world’s attention.
Then the town of Katonah gets a little concerned, afraid that the crazy woman in the haunted house has stolen the name of their town, so, carrying pitchforks and torches, they raze her mansion to the ground.
No, just kidding. The town expresses concern as to the effect that Martha Stewart’s ownership of the KATONAH trademark. However, there will be no effect. The local businesses will continue to be able to truthfully claim that they are located in Katonah, even the furniture stores. They, like us, however, will not be able to use KATONAH as a trademark for the goods covered by Stewart’s registrations. So, in the end, it’s a good thing.
More on the use of geopgraphic terms as trademarks here.