Trademark Win! PARK AVENUE WINE & SPIRITS: Turning a Crowded Name into a Clear Win

Mark: PARK AVENUE WINE & SPIRITS (with design)

Goods/Services: Barware, glassware, apparel, cigar accessories, and online retail store services for wine, spirits, and related goods

Refusal Grounds: Likelihood of confusion (Section 2(d)) with multiple existing “PARK AVENUE” registrations across classes 21, 25, 34, and 3

# of pages in our response: 207

The USPTO wasn’t shy about this one — our client’s mark faced a laundry list of citations, from PARK AVENUE LIQUOR SHOP to PARK AVENUE SELECT and even HOTEL BY PARK AVENUE. The examining attorney claimed that sharing “PARK AVENUE” with these marks would likely cause confusion, regardless of our client’s distinctive design and additional wording “WINE & SPIRITS.”

Our strategy focused on two key points. First, we demonstrated that “PARK AVENUE” is a weak term in the marketplace, with over a hundred live registrations and common law uses across industries — including many for alcoholic beverages, cigars, clothing, and retail. When a term is this crowded, even small differences in marks can prevent confusion. Second, we showed that the bold cityscape design and the prominent “WINE & SPIRITS” wording dramatically change the overall commercial impression. Combined with evidence of coexistence among other “PARK AVENUE” marks, we argued that the USPTO had already accepted far closer similarities than ours.

The result? The USPTO withdrew its refusal and approved PARK AVENUE WINE & SPIRITS for registration. This win proves that even when your brand name shares common wording with many others, strategic legal arguments — backed by market reality and design distinctiveness — can clear the way to federal protection.