The Fourth Circuit has held that the word "freebies" is generic and not registrable as a federal trademark.

In Retail Services, Inc. v. Freebies Publishing, the plaintiff operator of www.freebie.com sought declaratory judgement on a number of issues: 1) that its domain use of "freebie" did not violate the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act; 2) that the term "freebies" is generic and therefore not protectible as a trademark; and 3) that the use of the term "freebie" in its domain name did not infringe upon defendants' registered FREEBIES trademark under the Lanham Act.

Relying on the wisdom of J. Thomas McCarthy's McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition, the Court reasoned that the use of "freebies" in a website cannot give rise to a claim of infringement. "Defendants' website . . . are but a few of the 1,600-plus websites (or more) that incorporate the word "freebie" or "freebies" into their domain names. These websites are now so common that the term "freebie site" is often used by these sites to refer to other sites that, like defendants, offer information about free products or services."

In a few years, I imagine the term "blog" or "blawg" will be the focus of similar litigation.

Special mention to the first person who correctly answers this question: How can you tell the difference between a Freebie, a Furbie and a Flowbie?