User:Cool Hand Luke/Sandbox

		Precedent-setting Barnstar
		I, Cool Hand Luke, award EJSawyer this barnstar for serendipitously contributing text cited by an administrative judge in a real-world legal dispute. In the case, In re Trek 2000 International Ltd., No. 77099785 (T.T.A.B. Nov. 30, 2010), Singapore-based Trek 2000 successfully won registration of the trademark "ThumbDrive." In 2008, a trademark examiner approved registration of the ThumbDrive trademark to Trek 2000. In an unusual move, the examiner requested reinstatement of jurisdiction. After being granted jurisdiction, the examiner rejected the trademark as generic (that is, by finding that "ThumbDrive" could not be a proprietary trademark because it referred generically to USB flash drives). In an effort to overcome the rejection, Trek 2000 cited several references, including the Wikipedia article on USB flash drive. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board blockquoted the article. Id. at 15. The passage suggested that although the word "ThumbDrive" was commonly used, it was understood to derive from a trademark. "The myriad different brand names and terminology used, in the past and currently, make UFDs more difficult for manufacturers to market and for consumers to research. Some commonly used names are actually trademarks of particular companies, such as Cruzer, TravelDrive, ThumbDrive, and Disgo." Id. Your 2008 edit inserted the persuasive prose into the article. You "ThumbDrive" to the list of commonly-used names, which were actually trademarks. Your edit may have false in 2008 in the United States—after the trademark examiner requested reinstatement of jurisdiction, she refused registration. Ironically, the 2010 TTAB decision, quoting your contribution, made your contribution indisputably true. This contribution is so unusual that I award you this first-ever precedent-setting Barnstar. Cool Hand Luke 16:27, 28 December 2010 (UTC)