USPTO BLOCKS MIRAMAR MARK IN SWEEPING SECTION 2(d) REFUSAL
USPTO BLOCKS MIRAMAR MARK IN SWEEPING SECTION 2(d) REFUSAL
CORONA DEL MAR, Calif., Nov. 26, 2025 – Privately held Miramar Brands Group, Inc. (“MIRAMAR”), a leading global brand management company based in Corona del Mar, today announced a decisive validation of its core intellectual property following a United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) action blocking Rag & Bone’s attempt to claim the MIRAMAR name for "Retail store services and online retail store services in the field of clothing, accessories, and footwear.".
On October 30, 2025, the USPTO issued a Nonfinal Office Action delivering a sweeping Section 2(d) Refusal against RB TopCo Sagl’s application (Serial No. 99224195) for RAG & BONE / MIRAMAR for retail store services.
“Trademark Act Section 2(d) bars registration of an applied-for mark that is so similar to a registered mark that it is likely consumers would be confused, mistaken, or deceived as to the commercial source of the goods and/or services of the parties,” the USPTO noted in its refusal.
The Office Action cites multiple MIRAMAR registrations and finds that the goods and services at issue – all in the apparel and retail space – are “highly related,” and that "incorporating the full MIRAMAR mark into RAG & BONE / MIRAMAR does not mitigate confusion."
The USPTO concluded that “the marks are identical in part.” The USPTO went further to state in its Section 2(d) Refusal finding that ..."the marks are highly similar because the marks share the wording/phrasing, MIRAMAR. The only difference between the marks is applicant's addition of the wording RAG & BONE in its mark. The incorporation of an entire mark within another has often been found to increase the similarity between the compared marks where, as in the present case, the dominant portion of the marks is the same."
“This is a rejection of Rag & Bone’s claim to the MIRAMAR mark,” said Stephen Ascher Jr., CEO of Miramar Brands Group, Inc. “The USPTO ruling is clear on its face. We have consumers who are actually confused, and this new use infringes our famous brand. MIRAMAR has defended its trademarks for decades, and we will not permit our hard-earned heritage to be diluted."
Olympian and volleyball legend Christopher St. John “Sinjin” Smith added: “I’ve been aligned with Stephen Ascher and MIRAMAR since the early 1980s. When I saw Rag & Bone’s ‘Miramar’ marketing, my wife and I both assumed the MIRAMAR brand had partnered with them. It was shocking to learn no such agreement existed. In all my years in the sport and in global campaigns, I’ve never seen such a direct attempt to hijack another brand’s identity. The USPTO made the right call.”
Miramar never challenged the publicly available "Rag & Bone Miramar" stores application for "Retail store services and online retail store services in the field of clothing, accessories, and footwear" for International Class 35 at the USPTO. The US Federal Trademark Office made its own independent likelihood of confusion finding and Section 2(d) Refusal upon their normal course of business and their own internal examination of the Rag & Bone Miramar application.
About Miramar Brands Group, Inc.
Miramar Brands Group, Inc. (Miramar) owns the registered MIRAMAR® trademark and its Crown Marks: Queen & King of the Beach®, Queen & King of the Court®, and Queen & King of the Snow®, spanning events, fashion, sports, apparel, and retail. Miramar’s Crown Brand properties reach over 100 million households in more than 120 countries through partnerships with Sportworx BV, the FIVB, and the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). Over the last 25 years, Miramar has been the lead brand management firm for California beach lifestyle brands like Sideout, Quiksilver, Mossimo, Tony Hawk, Hang Ten®, Lightning Bolt® and global powerhouse Fortune 500 companies like Berkshire Hathaway's Fruit of the Loom, Spalding, Russell Brands, Union Underwear, as well as Lagardère, Hearst and Vivendi's ELLE International, ELLE, ELLE Decor, ELLE Collections and ELLE Sport brands creating over 60 billion in retail sales across multiple global sectors.
Contact:
Wendy Allen, EVP, Communications
Miramar Brands Group, Inc.
wendy@miramarbrands.com | press@miramarbrands.com
(626) 993-8000
Contact:
Wendy Allen, EVP, Communications
Miramar Brands Group, Inc.
wendy@miramarbrands.com | press@miramarbrands.com
(626) 993-8000
