October 22, 2026

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Hello Reader,

Adding a few words can make a brand name look different on paper. Customers may still recognize the same core name.

A recent PET-AGREE decision illustrates that point, with an important wrinkle: the applicant had already lost an earlier trademark proceeding.

Mars, the owner of PEDIGREE registrations, had successfully opposed PET AGREE for pet-grooming supply store services. The applicant later tried PET-AGREE GROOMING SUPPLIES and narrowed its services to a business-to-business market, excluding pet food and certain related goods.

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board found that the added generic wording did not change the brand’s commercial impression. The narrower description also did not create a sufficiently different set of underlying facts.

The Board sustained the new opposition under “claim preclusion”: the earlier final judgment prevented relitigating essentially the same claim between the same parties.

My practical takeaway is to evaluate what a proposed change actually accomplishes.

Before investing in replacement signs, packaging, or a new application, I would want to understand:

• Does the new name create a meaningfully different impression for customers?
• Is the change mainly a product description added to the same core brand?
• Does an earlier judgment or agreement affect the available options?

A genuinely different mark or a carefully considered limitation can matter. This decision does not mean that narrowing services never helps, or that every USPTO refusal prevents a later application.

For a business choosing a new direction, the useful starting point is the reason for the original problem. A revised name should be assessed against that problem before the business pays to roll it out.

Read the PET-AGREE ruling

Best,

J.J. Lee and the Trademark Lawyer Law Firm Team

Trademarks Registered This Week

Here are the trademarks our firm helped register this week: