An air taxi.
A service mark associates services with a specific provider in the same way that a trademark identifies the furnisher of goods. Someone who misuses a service mark or trademark may suffer the consequences in an infringement action under the Lanham Act.
[Blawgletter briefly explained the different "strengths" of marks in Annals of Trademark Law: "It's bus! It's a boat! It's a Super Duck!".]
Today the Federal Circuit explored the "use in commerce" requirement for registration of a service mark.
The applicant for registration of "AIRFLITE", Aycock Engineering, told the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the early 1970s that it planned to offer a service that would link people who wanted "air taxi" service to operators capable of flying them hither and yon. But, as the court put it, Aycock's "operation never got off the ground." Aycock Eng'g, Inc. v. Airflite, Inc., No. 08-1154, slip op. at 3 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 30, 2009).
The failure to connect even a single passenger with just one air taxi vendor proved fatal to the supplemental registration in 1974 of "AIRFLITE". In 2001, AirFlite, Inc., challenged the registration before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The TTAB concluded that Aycock had never "used" the mark "in commerce" before 1974 and ordered cancellation.
The Federal Circuit affirmed on the same ground.
