T.M.E.P. § 904.11
Requirements for Substitute Specimens and Statutory Refusals

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.

For more information on trademark law, please see the Trademark Section of BitLaw.

Previous Section (§904.10) | Next Section (§905)

904.11 Requirements for Substitute Specimens and Statutory Refusals

If the deficiency in a specimen amounts to failure to use the subject matter as a trademark and/or service mark, the examining attorney should issue a refusal of registration on the ground that the subject matter does not function as a mark, in addition to requiring a substitute specimen. The statutory basis for refusal is 15 U.S.C. §§1051, 1052 and 1127 for trademarks, or 15 U.S.C. §§1051, 1053 and 1127 for service marks. See TMEP §§1202 et seq. regarding matter that does not function as a trademark, and TMEP §§1301.02 et seq. regarding matter that does not function as a service mark.