Unduly long 9th Circuit opinion on boundary between descriptive and suggestive marks

In what struck me as an unusually long opinion, the 9th Circuit took on the difference between descriptive and suggestive marks. Lahoti v. VeriCheck, Inc., No. 08-35001 (9th Cir. Nov. 16, 2009) concerned a DJ brought by a previously-adjudicated cybersquatter concerning his registration of the domain name "vericheck.com." The district court found for the defendant, ruling on summary judgment that the mark VERICHECK was inherently distinctive and that the plaintiff acted in bad faith.

The 9th Circuit affirmed the finding of bad faith, but vacated the finding of inherent distinctiveness because the district court, in its view, relied in part on erroneous legal reasoning. In its long discussion, the 9th Circuit noted that it is proper for a court to weigh in favor of a finding of inherent distinctiveness that the PTO has allowed others to register the mark at issue for similar products without requiring a showing of secondary meaning.