Mediterranean Baked Goods

Russian tea. German pretzels. Swiss cheese. Descriptive of the thing, right?

Right.

Registrable as a trademark?

Depends on who you ask. And who examined your trademark application.

On September 1, 2026 an application for federal trademark registration was filed for . . . Italian Muffins on behalf of an individual hoping to make a fortune in Mediterranean baked goods. 

Let’s talk about this mark. There’s a world (maybe) where the mark “Italian Muffins” is registrable. Here’s what is unfortunate about this application: Goods and Services specifically denotes the mark as standing for “muffins,” the mark may be geographically descriptive (or misdescriptive), and it’s clear no one thought to search outside of TSDR for uses of the same products.

We could make jokes about what “Italian Muffins” means outside the context of IC 030. Or we could investigate whether other marks of similar nature have been registered or refused.

How about “Italian Rice,” a trademark application that was abandoned? 

Refused initially for being Geographically Deceptive or Primarily Geographically Deceptively Misdescriptive. Is the rice actually from Italy? The trademark examining attorney didn’t think so. Are our aforementioned muffins actually from Italy?

German pizza on the other hand? Now that was registered way back in 1999, and it’s still active today. 

The application isn’t available in TSDR (before the digital age of applications), but the specimens are. The “German Pizza” trademark was registered by a restaurant in West Virginia. It’s still on their menu today, and the specimens describe it as topped with corned beef, sauerkraut, and horseradish sauce. Did the trademark examiner dare to question if the Villa da Vinci “German Pizza” actually came from Germany? We may never know (unless we can get into the archives). German Pizza acquired distinctiveness in part, but is that what saved it?

Now the case for “Swisscuits” might be a bit different. While it ultimately was not registered, there is no office action to suggest it would have been refused. In fact, the mark is dead simply because there was no proof of use in commerce. But “Swisscuits” had priority here simply because it was already a registered mark in Switzerland, leading one to think maybe, just maybe, these “cuits” actually do come from Switzerland. And people (and trademark examining attorneys) tend to like a portmanteau (more on this down the road).

We’ll skip over the obvious rejection reason for Italian Muffins today coughgenericness*cough*.