TTAB Admits Wayback Machine Pages to Show Third Party Use of Mark

Tour Management Services Inc. sought to register CHARLESTON HARBOR TOURS for arranging travel tours and cruises and providing boat transport, among other services. Spiritline Cruise Lines opposed the application asserting that the mark was primarily geographically descriptive.

Spiritline sought to introduce printouts from the Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive (Archive.org) to establish that third party websites displayed “Charleston Harbor Tours” on various dates in the past. Spiritline provided a declaration from the office manager of the Internet Archive that the printouts were authentic. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) admitted the printouts from the Wayback Machine into evidence. The TTAB found that the declaration established that the printouts qualified under the business record exception for hearsay.

The TTAB ultimately refused registration of the mark on the basis that CHARLESTON HARBOR TOURS was primarily geographically descriptive and had not acquired distinctiveness.

Citation: Spiritline Cruises LLC v. Tour Management Services, Inc., Op. No. 91224000 (TTAB Feb. 7, 2020).