How can the Booking.com trademark decision affect IP law?

The Supreme Court ruled that marks that were previously considered generic on their own may be eligible for trademark registration when they include “.com” in the proposed mark.  This decision is likely to:

• lead to a surge in trademark applications that will now include “.com” that were previously denied; 

• potentially lead to applications being filed by domain-squatters; 

• raise new questions of trademark infringement as websites that may use these newly-protected terms may already exist; and

• possibly cause problems for new marks that may need to incorporate these protected terms in their own future applications. 

Read about how the Supreme Court landmark decision for Booking.com trademark could affect IP law.