TTAB Rules in Favor of DONQ Bakery in Trademark Opposition

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has ruled that a Japanese bakery chain could register “Donq” as a trademark, ruling the name was not confusingly similar to a rum brand called Don Q.

Kabushiki Kaisha Donq, which runs a chain of Donq bakeries in Japan, applied in 2011 to register the mark in the U.S. for a wide range of food, beverages and retail services, but Destileria Serralles Inc. said the name would be confused with its Don Q line of Puerto Rican rum.