This afternoon the Supreme Court added one new case to its merits docket for the term, granting the federal government’s petition for review in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com. The case arose when Booking.com, which operates a website that allows customers to book travel and hotel accommodations, applied for a trademark. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office refused to register the trademark, citing the Lanham Act’s ban on registration for generic terms. After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled that Booking.com is a protectable trademark, the federal government went to the Supreme Court. Today the justices agreed to weigh in on whether an online business’s addition of “.com” to an otherwise generic term can create a protectable trademark. The case will likely be argued in the spring, with a decision by late June.

More orders from today’s conference are expected on Tuesday, November 12, at 9:30 a.m.

This post is also published on SCOTUSblog.