In a surprising decision, the US Supreme Court has ruled 8-1 that adding “.com” to an otherwise generic word can make the combination eligible for trademark protection. In this case, the US Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) had rejected the trademark “booking.com” as being generic. However, reasoning that the term “booking.com” as a whole would not otherwise have meaning to consumers, the US Supreme Court overturned the USPTO’s rejection and opened the door for the registration of other so-called “generic.com” trademarks.

A copy of the decision is available here.