T.M.E.P. § 807.05
Electronically Submitted Drawings

Executive summary:

This document contains one section of the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (the "TMEP"), Fourth Edition (April 2005). This page was last updated in June 2007. You may return to one either the section index, or to the key word index. If you wish to search the TMEP, simply use the search box that appears on the bottom of every page of BitLaw--be sure to restrict your search to the TMEP in the pop-up list.

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807.05 Electronically Submitted Drawings

37 C.F.R. 2.52(c). TEAS drawings. A drawing filed through TEAS must meet the requirements of §2.53.

37 C.F.R. 2.53. Requirements for drawings filed through the TEAS.

The drawing must meet the requirements of §2.52. In addition, in a TEAS submission, the drawing must meet the following requirements:

(a) Standard character drawings: If an applicant is filing a standard character drawing, the applicant must enter the mark in the appropriate field or attach a digitized image of the mark to the TEAS submission that meets the requirements of paragraph (c) of this section.

(b) Special form drawings: If an applicant is filing a special form drawing, the applicant must attach a digitized image of the mark to the TEAS submission that meets the requirements of paragraph (c) of this section.

(c) Requirements for digitized image: The image must be in .jpg format and scanned at no less than 300 dots per inch and no more than 350 dots per inch with a length and width of no less than 250 pixels and no more than 944 pixels. All lines must be clean, sharp and solid, not fine or crowded, and produce a high quality image when copied.

The drawing in a TEAS application must meet the requirements of 37 C.F.R. §§2.52 and 2.53.

The Office has waived the requirement of 37 C.F.R. 2.53(c) that drawings have a length and width of no less than 250 pixels and no more than 944 pixels. See notice at 69 Fed. Reg. 59809 (Oct. 6, 2004). However, applicants are encouraged to continue to submit drawings with a length and width of no less than 250 pixels and no more than 944 pixels.

807.05(a) Standard Character Drawings Submitted Electronically

If an applicant is filing a standard character drawing, the applicant must either enter the mark in the appropriate data field or attach a digitized image of the mark that meets the requirements of 37 C.F.R. 2.53(c). The applicant must also submit a standard character claim. 37 C.F.R. 2.52(a)(1); TMEP §807.03(a).

If a standard character drawing is filed through TEAS, the characters entered in the appropriate data field in the TEAS application or TEAS response form are automatically checked against the Office's standard character set. See TMEP §807.03(b) regarding the standard character set.

The standard character set includes two lists: supported characters and unsupported characters. An applicant may submit a standard character claim for a mark that includes characters in the "unsupported character" list; however, TEAS currently cannot create the required .jpg image file. Therefore, if any of the characters in the mark are not in the "supported character" list, the applicant must: (1) attach a digitized image that meets the requirements of 37 C.F.R. 2.53(c), (2) check the box on the form to claim that the mark consists of standard characters, and (3) enter the standard character statement by checking the appropriate box. In this situation, the examining attorney will determine whether the claim to standard characters is appropriate.

If all the characters in the mark are in the "supported character" list, the Office will create a digitized image that meets the requirements of 37 C.F.R. 2.53(c), and automatically generate the standard character statement. The application record will indicate that standard characters have been claimed and that the Office has created the image. If the Office created the digitized image, the examining attorney need not check the standard character drawing against the standard character set during examination.

If the Office did not create the digitized image, the examining attorney must check the standard characters in the drawing against the standard character set. If the characters are not in the set, the examining attorney must process the drawing as a special form drawing, require the applicant to delete the standard character claim, and ensure that the mark drawing code is changed. See TMEP §807.18 concerning mark drawing codes.

807.05(a)(i) Long Marks in Standard Character Drawings

As noted in TMEP §807.05(a) , when an applicant is filing a standard character drawing, the applicant must either enter the mark in the appropriate data field or attach a digitized image of the mark that meets the requirements of 37 C.F.R. 2.53(c).

If the applicant enters a mark that exceeds 19 characters into the standard character word mark field, the USPTO's automated system will automatically break the mark, so that it fits into the Official Gazette; however, no break will be made in the middle of a recognized word. If the applicant has a preference as to where the mark will be broken, the applicant must attach a digitized image that meets the requirements of 37 C.F.R. 2.53(c). See TMEP §807.05(c) regarding the requirements for digitized images.

807.05(b) Special Form Drawings Submitted Electronically

If the mark is in special form, the applicant must attach to the electronic submission a digitized image of the mark that meets the requirements of 37 C.F.R. 2.53(c). See TMEP §807.05(c).

807.05(c) Requirements for Digitized Images

The image must be in .jpg format; scanned at no less than 300 dots per inch and no more than 350 dots per inch. All lines must be clean, sharp and solid, must not be fine or crowded, and must produce a high quality image. 37 C.F.R §2.53(c). It is recommended that drawings have a length of no less than 250 pixels and no more than 944 pixels, and a width of no less than 250 pixels and no more than 944 pixels.

Mark images should have little or no white space appearing around the design of the mark. If scanning from a paper image of the mark, it may be necessary to cut out the mark and scan it with little or no surrounding white space. Failure to do this may cause the mark to appear very small in the Office's automated records, such that it may be difficult to recognize all words or design features of the mark. To ensure that there is a clear image of the mark in the automated records of the Office, examining attorneys and legal instruments examiners should view the mark on the Publication Review program available on the Office's internal computer network.

Where the mark is depicted in black and white, the image must include only the colors black and white. When scanning an image, the applicant should confirm that the settings on the scanner are set to create a black and white image file, not a color image file.

Mark images should not include extraneous matter such as the symbols TM or SM, or the registration notice (r). The image should be limited to the mark. See TMEP §807.02.