What is an arbitrary mark?

According to the Growth Trend Analysis and Forecast Report by MarketDecipher, the sports memorabilia market size will be US$26 billion in 2021, with NFT sports collectables currently estimated at US$1.4 billion, which is estimated to double its market size at a 100% growth rate and reach 2.6 billion in 2022. As a result, many professional NBA athletes such as Kevin Durant and King James LeBron are not missing an opportunity to further develop their personal brands by offering fans new ways to connect with them through ownership of unique digital assets.

In 2021, the IPO received a record 196,639 trade mark applications, a 43.5% increase from 2020 which was the previous record year for trade mark applications [1]. Both the number of applications and trade marks registered have been consistently rising since 2011. As the numbers continue to grow in 2022 we can observe a number of trends that continue to influence the world of IP rights.

By definition, a trademark needs to display sufficient distinctiveness to identify the origin and ownership of the products and services. That means generic and descriptive words should be avoided at all costs. The landmark case in United States PTO v. Booking.com B.V, however, proves that a generic term combined with “.com” or another top-level domain can be registered as a trademark if there is sufficient evidence of consumer recognition.