The Secure Content Storage Association landed registration of its Vidity trademark March 15 after 20 months of processing delays, Patent and Trademark Office records show. SCSA applied to register the trademark in July 2014, PTO records show. But the application became bogged down mainly because PTO declared it abandoned Nov. 30 after SCSA had failed to file the required “statement of use” or ask for a deadline extension, agency records show. SCSA filed to revive the application a few days later, those records show. SCSA coined the name Vidity in May as its “consumer-facing brand” for the delivery and “locally stored playback” of Ultra HD, HD and standard-def movies across multiple devices (see 1505200049).

Samsung’s Korean parent has applied to register the word “joiiii” -- all lower-case letters, including four i's -- as a trademark for a class of smart TV features and functions, Patent and Trademark Office documents show. The “joiiii” mark “consists of standard characters, without claim to any particular font, style, size, or color,” said the application (serial number 86925630) filed at the PTO Wednesday, two days after an identical application (number 015166259) was filed in Europe. Samsung wants to use the trademark for a class of “software applications for providing access to television and video programming via the Internet,” said its PTO application. The trademark also will be used for “software that allows display of information regarding television program, including program cast and crew, photos, event participants, sporting event statistics and analysis and live social commentary about television program or event,” the application said.

Samsung’s Korean parent applied Feb. 15 to register the “VR” trademark for five international classes of goods and services, Patent and Trademark Office documents show. Samsung foresees using the trademark for a wide variety of purposes, from “computer application software” for smartphones and tablets that enable users to stream music, to set-top boxes, DVD players and even 3D glasses, said its application (serial number 86908035). The colors black, white and "sea blue" are “claimed as a feature” of the mark, which consists of a sea blue square with rounded edges enclosing the "VR" in black block letters on a white background, Samsung’s application said. Though "VR" is the common abbreviation for virtual reality, there is no mention of virtual reality goods or services in the application.

Samsung’s Korean parent, a week after CES, applied to register "Boundless Design" as a U.S. trademark for use on TVs, display panels, computer monitors and smartphones, Patent and Trademark Office documents show. The proposed trademark “consists of standard characters, without claim to any particular font, style, size, or color,” says the Jan. 15 application (serial number 86877258), submitted on Samsung’s behalf by attorney Jeannine Rittenhouse of the IpHorgan law firm in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. The proposed Boundless Design trademark refers “to the ‘Bezel less’ design we displayed on certain SUHD models at CES this year,” Samsung Electronics America spokesman Lou Masses emailed us Monday. “It’s part of the overall 360 design on those models,” Masses said. Samsung coined the term 360 design to describe the effort to make the rear sides of its SUHD TVs more attractive, the company said in a 2015 backgrounder. At Samsung’s CES news conference (see 1601050063), SEA Executive Vice President Joe Stinziano debuted the company’s 2016 line of SUHD TVs by saying the models bear “the world’s first bezel-less curved design,” which Samsung created “so you can focus on what matters most, the picture.” But any mention of "Boundless Design" was missing from Samsung's CES press events or publicity materials.

Samsung faces a Dec. 29 deadline for responding to pushback at the Patent and Trademark Office on the company’s application (serial number 79166470) to trademark the term “Super UHD” for use on a wide range of audio, video and mobile devices, including TVs and smartphones, PTO records show. PTO provisionally refused the application June 29, but gave Samsung six months to appeal. PTO refused the application “because the applied-for mark merely describes a characteristic or feature of applicant’s goods,” the agency said. “A mark is merely descriptive if it describes an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose, or use of an applicant’s goods and/or services.” The agency also had problems with the application to combine “super” and “UHD” in the same term, it told Samsung. “The combination of SUPER UHD would describe very good or excellent products that display at least 8 million active pixels, with a lower resolution boundary of at least 3,840 by 2,160,” PTO said. “In relations to the applied-for goods, this wording would merely laud the quality or nature of applicant’s electronics in that they are very good or excellent and would feature an ultra high definition quality or characteristic or are used in relations to goods exhibiting ultra high definition.” Case law determined that when the word “super” is used to describe a company’s goods and services, “then the composite term is considered merely descriptive of the goods or services,” and therefore ruled out as qualifying as a registered trademark, the agency said. Samsung representatives didn’t comment. According to other PTO records, Samsung previously applied for registration of the SUHD trademark Nov. 21, 2014, about six weeks before the opening of the January CES, where for the first time Samsung pushed technology bearing the SUHD name (see 1501050054). PTO granted Samsung registration of the SUHD trademark Aug. 18, agency records show.