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TRADEMARK WARNING:
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BASIS TO FILE
Section 806.1(a) of the Trademark
Examination Manual of Procedures
makes “clear” that actual use of the
mark in commerce is required at the
date of filing for the goods or
services subject of the
application. Falsely claiming to
have used the mark may subject the
applicant to a claim of fraud.
But almost all
applications claim coverage for the
mark for multiple goods and
services. This could be a group of
tools or collection of differing
types of clothing. Must the
applicant be required to document
use of the mark in conjunction of
each category, e.g., hats, belts,
shirts, skirts, pants, jackets,
sweaters and vests? Or should the
applicant forgo a detailed listing
of products for a general category
of “clothing”? The law does
require a specimen demonstrating use
of the mark for each classification
of goods or services.
Note the above
problem is not faced by an applicant
filing for a mark under an intent to
use category, 15 U.S.C. §1051(b).
From my experience, the examiner
will require a demonstration of use
of the mark with a minimal example
of goods within a classification.
September 24, 2008
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