TM Newsflash 08: Specimen

This video focuses on what is meant by the term "specimen." It provides examples of acceptable specimens and highlights the differences between a "drawing" and a "specimen." As the "specimen" issue is commonly misunderstood, watching this video should help you avoid mistakes some applicants make.

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• Category

  Howto & Style

[Melissa Thrailkill]

I'm working with a record company that provides goods and services. It sells t-shirts, bumper stickers and buttons with it's logo on it. Is that ornamental or is that a specimen for ID class 25 and/or other classes? Also, if it's entertainment services, namely live performances of music acts, would you show a flyer with a specimen on it? Finally, for retail stores, brick and mortar and online, is the specimen a pic of the store and screenshot of online store?

[USPTOvideo]

All those sound acceptable. Use on t-shirts, buttons, and bumper stickers usually is considered ornamental, but because the company also appears to use the mark in a non-ornamental way (i.e., for entertainment and retail store services), the swag use is an indicator of “secondary source” and those specimens would be acceptable. For more information, check the TMEP (accessible on USPTO.GOV): Section 1202.03(c). For the specimen for “live performances,” a band flyer with the logo would be OK.

[USPTOvideo]

@BiAlienSapien Use the Trademark Electronic Application System (“TEAS”) to file your application. You can access it from the Popular Links on the USPTO's Home Page. And be sure to watch the other videos in the series for more tips about the application process.

[BiAlienSapien]

Alright! now i know i have to take a picture of my BIAlien tee shirts, to show the trademark things. All i have to do now is figure out where the form is on the "uspto.gov" website.

[Brandi David]

this answered one of my previous quesitons

[Jerry Gonzales]

Good info!