Coca-Cola Trademark Application

Let's delve a little more deeply on trademark applications and competitive intelligence. From my previous post on Trademark Applications of the Top Ten Global Bands you'll find this trademark application from Coca-Cola for the mark FIND MORE HEALTH IN EVERY MINUTE. The application is for International Class 032 for "Non-alcoholic beverages, namely, juices and juice drinks." You'll see that the basis for filing the application is "1(b)." This means that the application is an Intent-to-Use application and that Coca-Cola has not yet used the mark in commerce. Intent-to-Use applications are permitted by Section 1(b) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1051(b). (Note: a Google search on the mark finds no results, perhaps this post will be the first).



Coca-Cola owns Minute Maid, whose website displays the trademark THERE'S GOODNESS IN EVERY MINUTE. The application for this mark was filed on June 6, 2006. Again, the basis was 1(b). For this application, Coke did not file an Amendment to Allege Use prior to approval of the mark for publication. Coke must now wait until after the PTO issues a notice of allowance to then file a Statement of Use. Coke is clearly now using the THERE'S GOODNESS mark, so once the PTO issues the notice of allowance, one would expect Coke to file the Statement of Use.

Now, we'll just have to speculate that Coca-Cola's next campaign for Minute Made will center around the FIND MORE HEALTH IN EVERY MINUTE mark. While the THERE'S GOODNESS campaign suggests that Minute Maid is both good and good for you, the FIND MORE campaign suggests that Minute Maid is a healthier drink than other drinks.

What's interesting is that both marks share the words "EVERY MINUTE" leading us to wonder what other marks Coca-Cola has applied for with those words. This search, ("every minute")[bi] and ("coca-cola")[on], shows only four. (Again, only the TARR links work).

	Serial Number	Reg. Number	Word Mark	Check Status	Live/Dead
1	78901640		THERE'S GOODNESS IN EVERY MINUTE	TARR	LIVE
2	78901623		THERE'S GOODNESS IN EVERY MINUTE	TARR	LIVE
3	77046358		FIND MORE HEALTH IN EVERY MINUTE	TARR	LIVE
4	75669335		SQUEEZE EVERY MINUTE	TARR	DEAD

So there you have a mini example of how you can use the PTO's trademark database to see what your competitor's next campaigns or brands will be.

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