TTAB Grants Petition to Cancel ZIGONG LANTERN GROUP Registration due to Geographical Descriptiveness

In a rare inter partes proceeding involving geographical descriptiveness, the Board wasted little time in granting a petition for cancellation of a registration for the mark ZIGONG LANTERN GROUP for, inter alia, "Entertainment services in the nature of production of lantern shows" [LANTERN GROUP disclaimed] under Section 2(e)(2). Respondent China Lantern International is a company located in Kissimmee Florida, with a branch office in Zigong, China, where it designs, fabricates, and ships materials for its lantern festivals. Zigong Lantern Culture Industry Group Co., Ltd v. China Lantern International, LLC DBA Zigong Lantern Group, Cancellation No. 92078432 [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Lawrence T. Stanley, Jr.).

A mark is primarily geographically descriptive if: (1) the primary significance of the mark is the name of a place that is generally known; (2) the goods or services originate in the place identified in the mark; and (3) the relevant purchasers would associate the identified services with the place named, i.e., the purchasing public would believe that the services come from the place named. See Spiritline Cruises LLC v. Tour Mgmt. Servs., Inc., 2020 U.S.P.Q.2d 48324 (TTAB 2020).

As to the first prong of the Section 2(e)(2) test, the Board took judicial notice that multiple English language dictionaries list Zigong as a city in the Sichuan province of China. The evidence of record further showed that Zigong is well known for lanterns and lantern festivals. According to Wikipedia, "As one of the Historical and Cultural Cities of China, Zigong is called 'Lantern Town in the South Kingdom.'"

The addition of the disclaimed term 'LANTERN GROUP,' which is "highly descriptive if not generic for Respondent and its services," did not change the overall geographic significance of the challenged mark. The Board therefore found that "the primary significance of Respondent’s use of ZIGONG is the name of a place that is generally known and the addition of LANTERN GROUP does not detract from that geographical significance."

As to the second prong, as stated above, the evidence established that Respondent has a branch office in Zigong and that respondent (like petitioner) designs, fabricates, and ships materials for its lantern festivals from Zigong. "That materials for the lantern festivals originate from Zigong is sufficient to support that Respondent’s services (i.e., lantern festivals that display lanterns from Zigong) originate in Zigong."

As to the third prong, a services-place association may be presumed where (1) the location in the mark is generally known to the purchasing public, (2) the term’s geographical significance is its primary significance, and (3) the services originate from the named location in the mark. See, e.g., Cal. Pizza Kitchen, 1988 TTAB LEXIS 64, at *7-8.

Here, as previously explained, the primary significance of “Zigong” is a geographic location generally known to purchasers of Respondent’s services and the services originate from that location. As such, a services-place association is presumed.

The three prongs having been satisfied, the Board granted the cancellation petition, declining to consider the other grounds raised by the petitioner.

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TTABlogger comment: Bang the Zigong, the three prongs are satisfied!

Text Copyright John L. Welch 2025.