On May 4, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) heard oral arguments for the United States Patent and Trademark Office et al., Petitioners v. Booking.com B.V. trademark dispute via a livestream teleconference for the first time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The dispute involves a question of whether “the addition by an online business of a generic top-level domain (‘.com’) to an otherwise generic term can create a protectable trademark.”