It is generally not necessary to translate wording from dead languages. Cf. In re Spirits Int’l, N.V., 563 F.3d 1347, 1351 (Fed. Cir. 2009) (quoting 1 J. Thomas McCarthy, McCarthy on Trademarks & Unfair Competition §11:34 (5th ed. 2023 & Supp. 2025)). A dead language is "[a] language, such as Latin, that is no longer learned as a native language by a speech community." https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=dead+language (accessed March 9, 2026).

Similarly, it is generally not necessary to translate wording from languages that are obscure. Cf. In re Spirits Int’l, N.V., 563 F.3d at 1351; In re Spirits of New Merced, LLC, Ser. No. 78710805, 2007 TTAB LEXIS 93, at *9-10 (2007) (in considering whether "Yosemite" was primarily geographically descriptive, the Board found no evidence that the general public would be familiar with the derivation of "Yosemite" as meaning "those who kill" or "the killers" in the Native American Miwok tribal language, or "that this meaning would be anything but obscure to them"); In re Fiore, LLC, Ser. No. 76445173, 2005 TTAB LEXIS 296, at *18 (2005) (acknowledging Old English was an obscure language); Gen. Cigar Co. v. G.D.M. Inc., 988 F. Supp. 647, 660-61 (S.D.N.Y. 1997) (finding applicant had no obligation to disclose that the term COHIBA for cigars means "tobacco" in the language of the Taino Indians in the Dominican Republic, because cigar smokers in the United States would not be aware of such a meaning).

However, the determination of whether a language is dead or obscure must be made on a case-by-case basis, based on the meaning that the term would have to the relevant purchasing public.

Example: Latin is generally considered a dead language. However, if there is evidence that a Latin term is still in use by the relevant purchasing public (e.g., if the term appears in news articles), then that Latin term is not considered dead. The same analysis should be applied to obscure languages.

See TMEP §1207.01(b)(vi) regarding the applicability of the doctrine of foreign equivalents to wording from dead or obscure languages.