Apple denied registration of IPAD Mini as a trademark

If one owns the rights to the “iPod Nano” and “iPod Mini” trademarks, one would think registering for IPAD Mini would be routine.

One would be wrong.  The USPTO examiner felt:

1. “The term ‘IPAD’ is descriptive when applied to applicant’s goods because the prefix ‘I’ denotes ‘internet;’”
2. There is “evidence that the term ‘pad’ would be perceived by consumers as descriptive of ‘pad computers’ with internet and interactive capability;”
3. “The term ‘MINI’ in the applied for mark is also descriptive of a feature of applicant’s product. Specifically, the … evidence shows this wording means ‘something that is distinctively smaller than other members of its type or class.’”

“…applicant’s mark comprises a combination of descriptive terms. Generally, if the individual components of a mark retain their descriptive meaning in relation to the goods and/or services, the combination results in a composite mark that is itself descriptive and not registrable.”