If you are one of the approximately 9.7 million subscribers of The New York Times, you may have encountered, and even enjoyed, one of its various columns, such as This Life and Modern Love. Until recently, printed magazine and newspaper section and column names could not easily be registered as trademarks because they were not considered “goods in trade.” As a result, column names could only be registered upon showing acquired distinctiveness. In re The New York Times Company, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) reversed refusals of The New York Times’ marks, finding that non-syndicated newspaper columns in print format may be considered “goods in trade” and thus may be registered as trademarks without showing acquired distinctiveness.
