The word "Ideal" is held to be a valid trade-mark for a fountain pen, its use in this connection being fanciful and not descriptive.
The word "Naphtha", used as a name for a soap with naphtha as an ingredient, was held to be descriptive, and therefore not registrable as a trade-mark, to the exclusion of the goods of other manufacturers, although the owners, Fels & Company, of Philadelphia, had advertised it extensively throughout a considerable period of time.
"Fitmeeasy", as applied to corsets, was considered descriptive.
"Maltha" was refused registration for a brand of paving asphalt. It appears that "Maltha" means liquid asphalt and is in general use in the trade with that meaning.
"Elastic Seam", a name used to designate drawers having an elastic seam at the side, is purely descriptive, and was so considered by the court in the case of Scriven v North.
On the other hand, the word "Elastic", when applied to bookcases, is held to be a fanciful word, not descriptive, and is a valid trade-mark.
Application was made by a brewer for the registration of the word "Star", accompanied by a picture of a six-pointed star, as a trade-mark for beer. Opposition by another brewer was filed, and it was shown that both the word "Star" and the symbol had been used for ages in Germany, the home of beer, as a general sign of the brewing business, in the same sense that a striped pole denotes a barber. It was claimed, and the claim was judicially sustained, that both the word "Star" and its symbol are indicative of the brewing business in general and, as such, are common to the trade, and cannot therefore be considered valid trade-marks for beer.
Some Portland Cement Trade-Marks.
A flour manufacturer conceived the idea of selling his product in barrels made by staves of alternately light and dark wood—striped barrels, in fact. He then desired registration for a trade-mark which consisted of a pictorial representation of this form of barrel. It was held that this mark was not registrable, as it was descriptive of the barrel.