Rejecting Incongruity Claim, TTAB Finds EGGBAR to be Merely Descriptive of Restaurant Services

The Board upheld a refusal to register the proposed mark EGGBAR for "restaurant services featuring breakfast sandwiches, hash browns, coffee, matcha, and fruit drinks," finding the mark to be merely descriptive of the services. Applicant argued that EGGBAR is an incongruous combination of terms because "[w]hen consumers encounter the term 'BAR,' their immediate association is with alcohol service, not with a particular food or menu item." The Board didn't buy it. In re Eggbar Holdings, LLC, 98619785 (July 14, 2026) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Elizabeth K. Brock).

Examining Attorney Harrison Neidish relied on dictionary definitions of "egg" [“[t]he oval, thin-shelled reproductive body of a bird, especially that of a hen, used as a food"]” and BAR [a. A counter at which drinks, especially alcoholic drinks, and sometimes food are served. b. An establishment or room having such a counter]. Another dictionary noted use of "bar" in a “shop sense … a coffee bar.”

A screenshot of applicant's menu pictured seven sandwiches, including a “steam-baked egg,” either in the description or visible in the sandwich depicted. [website here]. "This shows that the 'breakfast sandwiches' listed in the identification of services all include eggs." Other evidence showed that "eggs are part of restaurant meals and that restaurants include bars."

The evidence establishes that the terms EGG and BAR retain their descriptive meaning in the proposed mark EGGBAR. An egg is a food sold in restaurants, and bars can also sell food; EGGBAR restaurant services immediately informs purchasers that the menu will include foods containing eggs. Additionally, consumers are used to phrases like “coffee bar,” confirming that the term "bar" is not limited to alcoholic drinks (as noted in the dictionary definitions).

Applicant argued that the proposed mark does not immediately describe its services because the “reasoning process requires mental steps and inference” since EGGBAR is an incongruous combination of terms. However, Applicant offered no evidence to support its assertion that consumers would associate the mark "with alcohol service and not with a particular food or menu item." Moreover, this argument was belied by the dictionary evidence that a "bar" may serve food, by the dictionary example of a "coffee bar," and by the evidence of food restaurants that include bars and bar service.

Finally, applicant contended that EGGBAR "does not fall within the category of marks whose meanings are immediately apparent." The Board pointed out, however, that "[d]escriptiveness of a mark is not considered in the abstract. Rather, it is considered in relation to the particular goods for which registration is sought, the context in which it is being used, and the possible significance that the term would have to the average purchaser of the goods because of the manner of its use or intended use." In short, "the question is not whether someone presented with only the mark could guess what the goods or services are. Rather, the question is whether someone who knows what the goods or services are will understand the mark to convey information about them."

The record shows that in connection with Applicant’s services, purchasers would recognize EGGBAR as immediately conveying knowledge of a quality of Applicant’s “restaurant services featuring breakfast sandwiches” and other foods, namely, that the menu will include breakfast sandwiches containing eggs served in a “bar” setting or at a counter.

Read comments and post your comment here.

TTABlogger comment: WYHA? 

Text Copyright John L. Welch 2026.