OFFICE ACTION RESPONSE

Applicant, Ronnie Gilley Entertainment, LLC (“RGE”), has carefully examined the
Of?ce Action dated May 12, 2009 from Trademark Examining Attorney Barbara Rutland.
This response addresses the 2(e) (2) refusal.

INTRODUCTION

RGE acknowledges that the Trademark Examining Attorney has laid out the proper
test for determining if a mark is primarily geographically descriptive. RGE respectfully
disagrees, however, with the Trademark Examining Attorney’s conclusion after applying this
test to RGE’s BAMAJAM mark.

RGE’s BAMAJAM mark is primarily geographically descriptive only if the Trademark
Examining Attorney clearly demonstrates that:

(l) the p?’magl signi?cance of BAMAJAM is a generally-known geographic place;

(2) RGE’s entertainment in the nature of a live music festival (the “Services”)
originate; in Alabama; and

(3) purchasers are likely to believe that the Services 0723mm in Alabama.

See TMEP § 1210.01(a).
The only analysis offered by the Trademark Examining Attorney is:

(1) BAMA is slang for or a shortened version of Alabama; and

(2) RGE’S services are delivered in Alabama.

Under the relevant case law, the Trademark Examining Attorney cannot properly c0nclude
that BAMAJAM is primal/2’51 geographically descriptive because she has not considered the
full context of RGE’s use of BAMAJAM and the meaning it has for the relevant public. As
explained below, RGE’s BAMAJAM mark is not primarily geographically descriptive under
Lanham Act Section 2(e)(2).

A. The priman signi?cance of BAMAJAM is not geographic.

Under Board precedent, it is not enough for the Trademark Examining Attorney to
show that BAMA or Alabama has a geographic meaning. As noted by the Fifth Circuit in
World Carpets Inc. 1;. Dick: Mitre/[if New World Cmpeft, “the word ‘primarily’ should not be
overlooked, for it is not the intent of the federal statute to refuse registration of a mark
where the geographic meaning is minor, obscure, remote or unconnected with the goods.”
168 USPQ 609 (5th Cir. 1971). Based on this language, the Board stated “[a] mark that has a
popular signi?cance apart from its geographical meaning is not, in most cases, ‘primarily
geographical.” In re International Taste Ina, 53 USPQ2d 1604, 1605 (ITAB 2000) (original
emphasis) quoting 2 Thomas McCarthy, McCarthy on Trademark! and Unfair Competition,
Section 14:28 (4th ed. 1999). As discussed further below, BAMA has a popular signi?cance
apart from its geographical meaning, and is therefore not primaribi geographical.

The Board has explored the popular signi?cance of geographic terms in a number of
cases analyzing Lanham Act Section 2(e)(2). In In re jz’nz Cmaéetz‘ Promotiont Inc, the Board
considered whether the applicant could register THE GREAT AMERICAN BASH for
promoting, producing and presenting professional wrestling matches. 5 USPQ2d 1455, 1455
(TTAB 1987). Although the applicant’s event was a sports centest and was held in the
United States (thus meeting the literal de?nition of an American Bash), the Board found that
THE GREAT AMERICAN BASH was not primarily geographically descriptive:

The mere fact that a mark contains a geographical term, even
one which is well known and which names the geographical
area from which the goods or services originate, does not
automatically render the mark unregistrable under Section
2(e)(2). As always, a mark must be considered in the context of
its use and the meaning it would have for the relevant public
when so used.
>ll1

A Associated Press (2007). Lynyrd Skynyrd Song Turns Alabama Tourist Theme
(http://“nkusatoday.com/travel/news/2007—09-l 8-sweet—hom e-alabama_N.htm?csp=Forbes) [Electronic
version]. USA Today. retrieved October 17, 2007.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_homegalabama 11/11/2009
Sweet Home Alabama – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 7 of 7

External links

I Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young: Friends or Foes?
(htt h/ww wthr ashe rswh eat. org/ jamm in/l ynyr d.ht m) – An Anal ysis of “Swe et Hom e Ala bam a” and
“Southern Man”
I Sweet Home Alabama lyrics on lynyrdskynyrdhistorycom
(http://www.lynyrdskynyrdhistory.com/lyrics/70-77/sechelp/soni.htrnl)
I Sweet Home Alabama guitar chords on guitarchordsmagic.com
(http://www.guitarchordsmagic.com/guitar-song—chords/sweet-home—alabamahtml)
I CLASSIC TRACKS: Lynyrd Skynyrd ‘Sweet Home
Alabama’ (http ://www. soundonsoundcomlso 5/j an08/articles/classictracks_01 0 8 .htm)
I Sweet Hom e Ala bam a (ht tpJ /ww w.s hmo op. com /sw eet -ho me- ala bam aD son g guid e, lyri cal
analysis, historical context and allusions, teaching guide ‘
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipediaorg/wiki/Sweethome_Alabama”
Categories: Music of Ala bam a | 197 4 son gs l Lyn yrd Sky nyr d son gs I Son gs abo ut the Uni ted Stat es 1
Charlie Daniels songs

I This page was last modi?ed on 10 November 2009 at 06:13
I Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms
may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-pro?t organization.

http://en.wikipedia.orgwiki/SweeLhomegalabama 1 1/ 1 1/2009
Exhibit 3
Sponsorship – Rolltide.com – The O?icial Web Site of University of Alabama Athletics Page 1 of 3

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Exhibit 4
SEC Sports News » “SEC ON CBS” Scores Best Ratings Page 1 of 1

OFFICIAL SITE 9F THE SDHTHEASTERN CONFERENCE

woes; 5y atat

“SEC ON CBS” Scores Best Ratings
Posted: October 13, 2009 l Last updated: October 13, 2009 at 03:46 PM

CBS Sports’ season-to-date coverage of the SEC ON CBS has earned a
national household rating/share of 3.8/9, up +36% from a 2.8/6 last year. This
3.8/9 is the highest season-to-date rating for college football atthis point in the
season on CBS Sports in 10 years since a 4.2/10 in 1999.

CBS Sports‘ coverage of the SEC 0N CBS on Saturday, Oct. 10, which saw
No. 1 Florida defeat No. 4 LSU in prime time, earned a preliminary national
rating/share of 6.1/1 1. up 61% from last year‘s 3.8/7 (LSU at Florida 10/11/08).
The FIorida-LSU game on CBS Sports scored the highest rating for a college
football game on any broadcast network in the 2009 season and is CBS Sports’
highest rated college football game since the SEC Championship game
(Alabama-Florida, 9.3/20 on 12/06/08

Back to News

print page email a friend RSS ShareThis

W

© 2009 SEC All rights resewed.

http://www.secsports.com/news/”sec—on-cbs”—scores-best-ratings.aspx?print:y 1 1/12/2009
Exhibit 5
11/10/2009 Jam Definition | Definition of Jam at Di…
– i | Help
Thesaurus ! Encyclopedia E Translator Web i Logln I Register

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Pearl )am
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Turbo jam .l§1U§§.§i_§.l.l3.t§CS_
Pearl jam lyrics Made on the Farm the old-fashioned way. No preservatives, all
natural.
Huckleberry jam rec… www.barryfarm.com
J.am…l2.e?niti9.n
Fin Def ons For Any Word.Get Your Free Dictionary.com Toolbar.
Synonyms Dictionary.com
hole
ram jam‘ {it} [jam] be; h w IPA verb, jammed, jam Iming, noun ‘ SAVE UP “380% 0
hot spot Use jam in a Sentence ram mammary; sums4
stall —verb (used with object)
ST?El-i‘iE?fliGltS.
R1911!
‘ to press, squeeze, or wedge tightly between bodies or LEARN M0 RE
quandary
surfaces, so that motion or extrication is made difficult or
wad impossible: The ship was jammed between two rods.
Justie to bruise or crush by squeezing: She jammed her hand in the
More Synonyms » door. B A C K to
to fill too tightly; cram: He jammed the suitcase with
clothing. DICTIBHARY£DM IS HERE 1’0 BELFL

Nearby Words to press, push, or thrust violently, as into a confined space or “r iii
against some object: She jammed her foot on the brake.
. to fill or biock up by crowding; pack or obstruct: Crowds
jammed the doors.
jalousie
to out or place in position with a violent gesture (often fol. by
Bikram
jalpaiguri
on): He jammed his hat on and stalked out of the room. or
galor- to make (something) unworkable by causing parts to become
jam stuck, blocked, caught, displaced, etc.: to jam a lock. Hatha?
jam nut Radio.
jam on to interfere with (radio signals or the like) by sending out
other signals of approximately the same frequency.
Find a
glam pack
(of radio signals or the like) to interfere with (other yoga studio
signals).
to play (a piece) in a freely improvised, swinging way; jazz
nearyuu
up: to jam both standard tunes and the classics.
Nautical. to head (a sailing ship) as nearly as possible into the
wind without putting it in stays or putting it wholly aback.

“verb (used without object)
to become stuck, wedged, fixed, blocked, etc.: This door
jams easily.
to press or push, often violently, as into a confined space or
against one another: They jammed into the elevator.
(of a machine, part, etc.) to become unworkable, as through
the wedging or displacement of a part.
Jazz. to participate in a jam session.

-noun
the act of jarrming or the state of being jammed.
a mass of objects, vehicles, etc., jammed together or
otherwise unable to move except slowly: a log jam; a traf?c
Jam.
Informal. a difficult or embarrassing situation; fix: He got
himself into a jam with his boss.
JAM SESSION.

Origin:
1700-10; appar. imit.; cf. CHAMP 1 , mm 1

JAM “” 3oint Application
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dictionary.reference.com/browse/jam 1/4
11/10/2009 Jam Definition | Definition of Jam at Di…
www.barryfarm.com

jam2 air; [jam]
—noun
a preserve of whole fruit, slightly crushed, boiled with sugar:
strawberry jam.
–Idlom
put on jam, Australian Slang. to adopt a self-important
manner or use affected speech.

Origin:
1720—30; perh. special use of MN 1

Related forms.-
jamlike, jammy, adjective

Jam.
AMAICA .

jam session
wnaun
a meeting of a group of musicians, esp. jazz musicians, to
play for their own enjoyment.
an impromptu jazz performance or special performance by jazz
musicians who do not regularly play together.

Also called jam,

Origin:
1930—35; perh. 3AM ‘ , or by shortening of mneoauc

;’~; , .. .r t ‘ .’ I?awsumj?9‘.es’fpnus
Jim. Rdatcd V1 or (is 101‘ . Jam
mob, pack, pile, throng, fix m . o
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5am1 (jam)
v. jammed, jam-ming, jams

v. tr.
1. To drive or wedge forcibly into a tight position: jammed the
cork in the bottle.

2. To activate or apply (a brake) suddenly. Often used with on:
jammed the brakes on.

3. To cause (moving parts, for example) to lock into an
unworkable position; jammed the typewriter keys.

4. a. To pack (iterrs, for example) to excess; cram: jammed
my clothes into the suitcase.

b. To fill (a container or space) to overflowing: Ijammed
the suitcase with clothes. Fans jammed the hallway
after the concert.

5. To block, congest, or clog: a drain that was jammed by
debris.

6. To crush or bruise: jam 3 finger.

7. Electronics To interfere with or prevent the clear reception of
(broadcast signals) by electronic means.

8. Baseball To throw an inside pitch to (a batter), especially to
prevent the batter from hitting the ball with the thicker part
of the bat.
v. intr.
1. To become wedged or stuck.

To become inoperable: The computer keyboardjammed.
sneeze

To force one‘s way into or through a limited space.

Music To participate in a jam session.

Basketball To make a dunk shot.

1. The act of iamninu or the condition of beinq iammed.

1 2/4
dictionary.reference.com/browse/jam
11/10/2009 Jam Definition | Definition of Jam at Di…
2. A crush or congestion of people or things in a limited space: a
traffic jam.

3. A trying situation. See Synonyms at W.

[Origin unknown]
jam’ma-ble adj., jam’mer n.

jam 2 (ism)
n. A preserve made from whole fruit boiled to a pulp with sugar.

[Possibly from jam1.]
jam‘my adj.

Slang Dictionary
jam

1. n.
a problem; trouble. : I hear you’re in a bad jam.
2. in.
{for musicians] to play together, improvising. 2 They jammed
until the neighbors complained.
3. tv. & in.
to force a basketball into the basket; to slam gunka basketball.
: He tried to jam it, but blew it.
4. n.
an act of forcing a basketball into the basket; a slam dunk. :
The jam didn’t work, and Fred’s team rebounded the ball.
5. in.
to depart. : It’s time to jam. Let’s go,

No Banner Ads. Faster Page Loading.
WWW. imam” _s __ ‘ @3413er {(3an madam»

’ Get the FREE Dictionamcom Toolbar.

Word Origin 8: History
jam (v.)
“to press tightly,” also “to become wedged,” 1706, of unknown
origin, perhaps a variant ofghamp (v.). Sense of “to cause
interference in radio signals” is from 1914. Jazz noun meaning
“short, free improvised passage performed by the whole band” dates
from 1929, and yielded jam session (1933); perhaps fromjam (n.) in
sense of “something sweet, something excellent.” Noun sense of
“machine blockage” is From 1890, which probably led to the
colloquial meaning “predicament,” first recorded 1914.

jam (n.)
“fruit preserve,” 17305, probably a special use of jam (v.) with a
sense of “crush fruit into a preserve.”

Medical Dictionary
jam (jam)
v. jammed, jam-ming, jams

1. To block, congest, or clog.

2. To crush 0r bruise.

Computing Dictionary
JaM
John and Martin. An interpreted EQRTH- like graphics language by
John Warnock and Martin Newell, Xgmx PARC, 1978. JaM was the
forerunner of both lntemmss and PostScr-ipt. It is mentioned in
PostScript Language reference Manual, Adobe Systems, A—w 1985.

jam
A condition on a network where two nodes transmitting
simultaneously detect the collision and continue to transmit for a
certain time (4 to 6 bytes on Ethernet) to ensure that the collision
a.– L.–” An;-»9-a I… all -nAn— ‘hova’yl-J

dictionary.reference.com/browse/jam 3/4
Exhibit 6
1 1/ 1 1/2009 Camping Information

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Exhibit 7
11/12/2009 2009 Artist Line—Up

introducing Friends& Family.“
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HCME BUY TiCKETS 2010 ARTISTS TICKET INFO VlfiiTOR ENFO ABOUT UN {TE PARTNERS STOR?

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