Final answer:
No company has been able to gain trademark protection for "87 Octane" because it is a generic term that describes the quality of gasoline, which prevents it from being distinctive and therefore not eligible for trademark protection.
Step-by-step explanation:
The reason why no company has been able to gain trademark protection for "87 Octane" as a brand of gasoline is due to the generic and descriptive nature of the term. Octane ratings are industry-standard designations that inform consumers about the quality of a fuel and its ability to burn in a combustion engine without causing knocking or pinging. Since "87 Octane" directly describes a characteristic of the gasoline, specifically its octane rating, it falls into the category of generic or descriptive terms that are not eligible for trademark protection. Trademarks are intended to identify and distinguish the source of goods and services, not the goods themselves.
A trademark cannot be granted if it merely describes a characteristic or quality of the product, as that would unfairly prevent others from using the term to describe their own products of the same kind. In this case, the octane rating is a critical piece of information that all producers need to convey to consumers. Moreover, as a widely understood indicator of fuel performance, "87 Octane" does not meet the distinctiveness requirement necessary for trademark protection.