Alex What makes a specimen an acceptable service mark?
A single specimen as currently being used in commerce is required in an application to register a service mark on the Principal Register of the United States Trademark Office. invoices may be acceptable service mark specimens provided they show the mark and refer to the relevant services.
What makes a service mark acceptable for trademark?
To be acceptable for registration in the U.S. Trademark Office, a service mark specimen must show use of the mark in association with the claimed services in their sale or advertising in commerce that is regulated by Congress, namely interstate, territorial and commerce between the United States and a foreign country.
What happens if your trademark specimen is refused?
For website printouts the specimen doesn’t show the URL and date. If your specimen is refused by the USPTO examining trademark attorney, you still have an opportunity to submit a substitute sample provided that it was in use at the time of the filing of the application or statement of use.
What are the requirements for a trademark specimen?
Sales have occurred that directly affect interstate commerce. The trademark specimen must be properly placed (e.g. on promotional displays, the product or a website). Sufficient use has occurred. Token use to meet USPTO requirements is unacceptable. Commercial use must continue. Three years without use is considered trademark abandonment.
For website printouts the specimen doesn’t show the URL and date. If your specimen is refused by the USPTO examining trademark attorney, you still have an opportunity to submit a substitute sample provided that it was in use at the time of the filing of the application or statement of use.
How many trademark specimens are filed each year?
There are over 430,000 applications filed with the USPTO yearly to protect brand identifiers. Not all these submissions, however, will include trademark specimens. This is because trademark owners are permitted to file trademark applications on an intent to use basis.
Is it possible to get a trademark rejection?
The take away here is that a likelihood of confusion rejection asserted against your application for trademark registration while potentially difficult to overcome, is not necessarily the end of the road.
When do you get a confusingly similar rejection?
A confusingly similar rejection is made in an office action on your trademark application when the trademark examiner believes that there is a likelihood of confusion between your trademark and the mark of another.