[U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V.] Oral Argument

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Supreme Court for the first time in history heard oral argument via teleconference. The case, [U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V.], involved a travel reservation company's fight to trademark its booking.com website. The online company in 2011 and 2012 filed trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO). Those applications were denied, with the agency saying that booking.com is too generic for legal protections. Under the law, only distinguishable terms that can be separated from other products and services can be trademarked. The company won a federal court suit, with the ruling citing that adding ".com" to the end makes it not generic. The USPTO filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, noting instances in which adding the .com does not work. Justice Thomas asked a question for the first time since March 2019.