tess srchg prt2-pp_tslides

© 2013 Staas & Halsey LLP

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVELY SEARCHING THE USPTO DATABASE USING TESS: Part 2 - Design Mark Searching

December 10, 2013

Alexander ButtermanSTAAS & HALSEY LLP

http://www.staasandhalsey.comabutterman@s"n"h.com

1201 New York Ave., N.W., 7th FloorWashington, D.C. 20005 U.S.A.

Main Tel: 202.434.1500Direct Tel: 202.434.1537

Fax: 202.434.1501

Design Searching Concepts

RULES

• Doctrine of Legal Equivalents

• Literal > Design (unless literal = common)

• Comparing designs – highly similar

• Design Descriptiveness

Dec. 10, 2013 2Design Mark Searching


Doctrine of Legal Equivalents

TMEP §1207.01(c)(i)

= THE BEE BAR

Since a pictorial depiction and equivalent wording are likely to impress the same mental image on purchasers, a design mark may be found to be confusingly similar to a word mark consisting of the design's literal equivalent.



Literal > Design (unless literal common)

“…when a mark consists of a word portion and a design portion, the word portion is more likely to be impressed upon a purchaser’s memory and to be used in calling for the goods and/or services. Therefore, the word portion is normally accorded greater weight in determining likelihood of confusion. In re Dakin’s Miniatures, Inc., 59 USPQ2d 1593, 1596 (TTAB 1999); In re Appetito Provisions Co., 3 USPQ2d 1553, 1554 (TTAB 1987); Amoco Oil Co. v. Amerco, Inc., 192 USPQ 729, 735 (TTAB 1976); TMEP §1207.01(c)(ii).”



Comparing designs (TMEP §1207.01(c))

• Highly similar

• No side by side comparison

CONFUSINGLY SIMILAR NOT Confusingly similar



NOT Confusingly similar for eyewear:

v.

• Coach Services, Inc. v. E&D Trading, Inc.,

Opp. No. 91203818 (August 7, 2013)

• Distinguished based upon literal elements?



NOT Confusingly similar:

v.

for retail grocery store services; and for sausage, barbecued pork and related food products

• Odom's Tennessee Pride Sausage, Inc. v. FF Acquisition, L.L.C., 93 USPQ2d 2030 (Fed. Cir. 2010)



Design DescriptivenessTMEP §1209.03(f) Picture or Illustration

“A visual representation that consists merely of an illustration of the goods, or of an article that is an important feature or characteristic of the goods or services, is merely descriptive under §2(e)(1) of the Act.”

• Ex. • Merely descriptive for clothing

• “International Not” symbol is frequently disclaimed


USPTO Design Codes

• USPTO Design Search Code Manual = http://tess2.uspto.gov/tmdb/dscm/index.htm#intro

• Each design search code is a six-digit numerical classification index that codifies design figurative elements into categories, divisions and sections.

• Design code searching is only as good as the codes inputted into the database.


CATEGORY DIVISION SECTION

ZZYYXX

Notice of Design Search Code


USPTO Design Codes

TABLE OF CATEGORIES01 Celestial bodies, natural phenomena, geographical maps

02 Human beings

03 Animals

04 Supernatural beings, mythological or legendary beings, fantastical beings or unidentifiable beings

05 Plants

06 Scenery

07 Dwellings, buildings, monuments, stadiums, fountains, structural works and building materials

08 Foodstuff

09 Textiles, clothing, headwear, footwear and sewing accessories

10 Tobacco, smokers' materials; fans; toilet articles; medical devices and apparatus including tablets, capsules or powders

11 Household utensils

12 Furniture and plumbing fixtures

13 Lighting, cooking, heating, cooling or refrigeration equipment

14 Hardware, tools and ladders; non-motorized agricultural implements; keys and locks

15 Machines and parts thereof, including industrial agricultural, home and office machines; electrical equipment


USPTO Design Codes

TABLE OF CATEGORIES (continued)

16 Telecommunications, sound recording or reproduction equipment; photography, cinematography and optics

17 Horological instruments and parts; jewelry; weights and measures

18 Transport; equipment for animals; traffic signs

19 Baggage, containers and bottles

20 Writing, drawing or painting materials, office materials, stationery and books

21 Games, toys and sporting articles

22 Musical instruments and their accessories; bells; sculptures

23 Arms, ammunition and armor

24 Heraldry, flags, crowns, crosses, arrows and symbols

25 Ornamental framework, surfaces or backgrounds with ornaments

26 Geometric figures and solids

27 Forms of writing

28 Inscriptions in various characters

29 Miscellaneous


TABLE OF CATEGORIES

USPTO Design Codes

TABLE OF DIVISIONS


SECTIONS

02.01 Men

USPTO Design Codes

02.01.01 Heads, portraits, busts of men not in profile. 02.01.02 Shadows or silhouettes of men 02.01.03 Men wearing crowns or other symbols of royalty, including kings, princes and jacks02.01.04 Religious figures, men wearing robes, shepherds, monks and priests 02.01.05 Famous men 02.01.06 Men in colonial dress, Pilgrims, Quakers and colonial militiamen02.01.07 Cowboys, and westerners•••02.01.14 Pirates •••02.01.17 Clowns, actors, mimes, carnival characters, harlequins, jesters, men wearing tights 02.01.25 Hunters, archers and other men with a significantly prominent weapon. 02.01.26 Mechanical men, robots 02.01.27 Policemen, firemen 02.01.28 Prospectors, miners 02.01.29 Doctors, dentists, nurses and laboratory personnel 02.01.30 Men wearing two or three piece business suits


USPTO Design Codes

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CATEGORIES

INTRODUCTION

GENERAL GUIDELINES

DESIGN SEARCH CODE

KEYWORD SEARCH

APPENDIX - 2007 DESIGN CODE UPDATES

ALPHABETICAL INDEX


TESS Interface

Free-Form Searching


TESS Interface


Field Code

• Design Search Code [DC]


Design Search – Example 1

Search the following design:

For Journals, pamphlets, newsletters, brochures, printed educational materials, and bulletins

in the field of real property law

• 060701 = Cities from a distant perspective, skylines

• 060702 = Villages from a distant perspective

• 070301 = Skyscrapers

• 070325 = Other buildings, including schools, hospitals and libraries

• 261102 = Plain single line rectangles

CARRIER - Geometric shapes that merely serve to carry themark are coded as carriers or borders in Category 26. Ageometric shape forming a border or carrier does not createa significant commercial impression, it holds or borders thedesign or textual matter.



Search Queries:No. Search Terms Documents

S1 (070301 or 070325)[dc] 6057

S2 (060701 or 060702)[dc] 4762

S3 261102[dc] and (070301 or 070325)[dc] 239

S4 261102[dc] and (060701 or 060702)[dc] 193

S5 (261102[dc] and (070301 or 070325)[dc]) and 016[ic] 16

S6 (261102[dc] and (060701 or 060702)[dc]) and 016[ic] 12

Bold = viewed


TESS was last updated on Thu Dec 5 03:20:30 EST 2013

Please logout when you are done to release system resources allocated for you.

List At: OR to record:

16 Records(s) found (This page: 1 ~ 16)

Refine Search (261102 [d c] and (07030 1 or 0703 25)[dc]) and

Current Search:

(261102[dc] and (070301 or 070325)[dc]) and 016[ic]

docs: 16 occ:

48

Serial

Number

Reg.

Number Word Mark

Check

Status Live/Dead

1 85747179

CEB WHAT THE BEST COMPANIES DO TSDR LIVE

2 79032049 3554252 UFFIZI GALLERY AMICI DEGLI UFFIZI TSDR LIVE

3 78780990

CONSTRUCTION & SCIENCE TSDR DEAD

4 78195053

THE RESPIRATORY INSTITUTE ESTABLISHED BY GLAXOSMITHKLINE

TSDR DEAD

5 78084062 2843817 NEW YORK FOCUS TSDR DEAD

6 77608196 3971000 UTICA COLLEGE TSDR LIVE

7 77024952

EXPO CLASSROOM MAKEOVER

CONTEST TSDR DEAD

8 76222193 2620325

TSDR DEAD

9 76160098 2546666

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL

ENGINEERS 1852-2002 BUILDING A BETTER WORLD

TSDR LIVE

10 76238456 2597601

TSDR DEAD





Refine Search (261102 [d c] and (07030 1 or 0703 25)[dc ]) and

Current Search:

(261102[dc] and (070301 or 070325)[dc]) and 016[ic]

docs: 16 occ:

48

Serial

Number

Reg.

Number Word Mark

Check

Status Live/Dead

1 85747179

CEB W HAT THE BEST COMPANIES DO TSDR LIVE


3 78780990


4 78195053


TSDR DEAD



7 77024952

EXPO CLASSR OOM MAKEOVER

CONTEST TSDR DEAD

8 76222193 2620325

TSDR DEAD

9 76160098 2546666


ENGINEERS 1852-2002 BUILDING A BETTER W ORLD

TSDR LIVE

10 76238456 2597601

TSDR DEAD

Search Results






Refine Search (261102 [d c] and (07030 1 or 0703 25)[dc]) and

Current Search:

(261102[dc] and (070301 or 070325)[dc]) and 016[ic]

docs: 16 occ:

48

Serial

Number

Reg.

Number Word Mark

Check

Status Live/Dead

1 85747179

CEB WHAT THE BEST COMPANIES DO TSDR LIVE


3 78780990


4 78195053


TSDR DEAD



7 77024952

EXPO CLASSROOM MAKEOVER

CONTEST TSDR DEAD

8 76222193 2620325

TSDR DEAD

9 76160098 2546666


ENGINEERS 1852-2002 BUILDING A BETTER WORLD

TSDR LIVE

10 76238456 2597601

TSDR DEAD

Search Results

Press

“IMAGE LIST”or toggle back to

“HIT LIST”



Total documents in the Image Library are: 16. (This page: 1 ~ 16)

85747179

79032049

78780990

78195053

78084062

77608196


U.S. Registration No. 2,597,601

Goods and

Services

(CANCELLED) IC 016. US 002 005 022 023 029 037 038 050. G & S:

JOURNALS, PAMPHLETS, NEWSLETTERS, BROCHURES, PRINTED

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS, AND BULLETINS IN THE FIELD OF

REAL PROPERTY LAW. FIRST USE: 19820000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19820000

(CANCELLED) IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: ARRANGING AND

CONDUCTING EDUCATIONAL SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS, PROGRAMS,

AND CONFERENCES IN THE FIELD OF REAL PROPERTY LAW, AND

DISTRIBUTING COURSE MATERIALS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH; DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION OF EDUCATIONAL

MATERIALS IN THE FIELD OF REAL PROPERTY LAW; AND

PROVIDING INFORMATION IN THE FIELD OF REAL PROPERTY LAW

BY MEANS OF A GLOBAL COMPUTER NETWORK. FIRST USE:

19820000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19820000

Mark

Drawing Code (2) DESIGN ONLY

Design Search

Code

07.03.25 - Aquariums (buildings); Convention hall; Hospitals; Libraries, public

libraries; Schools; Wash, car (commercial)

26.11.02 - Plain single line rectangles; Rectangles (single line)

Serial Number 76238456

Filing Date April 10, 2001

Current Basis 1A

Original

Filing Basis 1A

Published for

Opposition April 30, 2002

Registration Number

2597601

Registration

Date July 23, 2002

Owner (REGISTRANT) State Bar of California, The CORPORATION CALIFORNIA 180 Howard Street San Francisco CALIFORNIA 941051639


Field Code

• Description of Mark [DE]

• Mark Drawing Code [MD]



MARK DRAWING CODE

• Search query at end of last session:

X[fm](= Full mark - will return only single X marks)

• Want to limit to only stylized X marks

• Instead of using “not standard[st],” use:

X[fm] and "5"[MD]



X[fm] and "5"[MD] = 248 hits

• This is an example of

DESIGN > LITERAL

Total documents in the Image Library are: 248. (This page: 1 ~ 100)

86101656

86065369

86063715

85980050

85226603

85255504

85728467

85947745

85662502



Search a common symbol like: “&”

• for legal services (Class 45):S1 241714[dc] and 045[ic] 165

S2 (241714[dc] and 045[ic]) and live[ld] 107

S2 (241714[dc] and 045[ic]) and (law or legal)[gs] 26

86099038 77955339 77647518 77140184


General Considerations in Design Searching

The same general rules apply for constructing design searches as for word searches:

• Boolean searching: AND; OR; NOT (not SAME, WITH, ADJ, NEAR)

• Truncation:0315$[dc] = Any type of bird OR 2601??[dc] = Circles

• Class, Live/Dead, etc. limitations


General Considerations in Design Searching

Design searches from vendors

(Thomson, CSC, Corsearch)

• Usually charge per International Class

• Still covers only USPTO database using the same design codes

Common law design searches• Would have to search the internet

• Cost? CSC offers such a search for approximately $4,000 with 8 days turnaround.


DESIGN CODE TRIVIA

Most common design code Categories used:

• CATEGORY 26 = Geometric figures and solids

• CATEGORY 01 = Celestial bodies, natural phenomena, geographical maps (e.g. sun; stars; globe)

• CATEGORY 02 = Human beings

• CATEGORY 24 = Heraldry, flags, crowns, crosses, arrows and symbols

• CATEGORY 05 = Plants


DESIGN CODE TRIVIA

Registration with the most design codes:

• Application Serial No. 85-866033

Class 35 - Charitable services, namely, promoting

public awareness of Parkinson's disease;

Class 36 - Charitable fund raising for the benefit of

the study, cure and general awareness of

Parkinson's disease

Owner Name: National Parkinson Foundation, Inc.

• 81 design codes


SEARCHING ACCURACY

Word Searching . . . . . . . Design Searching . . . . . . Non-traditional Mark Searching


THANK YOU Alex Butterman is an attorney specializing in trademark and copyright law with the Washington, D.C. intellectual property boutique firm of Staas & Halsey LLP. Alex has been representing a diverse group of businesses in a variety of industries and commercial sectors since 1995 while working in several IP boutique law firms and as an Attorney Advisor (“Trademark Examining Attorney”) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Alex’s IP practice covers foreign and domestic trademark clearance, registration, disputes and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceedings; internet domain name IP issues; anti-counterfeiting matters; copyright prosecution; intellectual property licensing and transactional matters; and intellectual property research and due diligence investigations. In addition, Alex is entering his fifth term as a committee member for INTA and is a Trademark Law Committee member for the AIPLA.


Trademark Searching in TESS:

Nontraditional Marks

Ed Timberlake

Board Certified Specialist in Trademark Law

[email protected]

(these materials are on Pinterest, on the Timberlake Law board titled:

Nontraditional Trademarks)

where I’m coming from

Timberlake LawTrademarks & Copyrights

NontraditionalMarks

NontraditionalRegistrations

The Trade Dress Emperor’s New Clothes: Why Trade Dress Does Not Belong on the

Principal Registerby

Glynn Lunney

August, 2000 51 Hastings Law Journal 1131

(hat tip to Sarah Burstein @design_law)

free form

search fields

description of mark

note: mark description field depends on

description

attorneys write the descriptions

“The mark consists of words and shapes.”

ambiguity

an image, or the thing itself?

mark drawing code

2[md] - designs only

6[md] - nothing to draw (e.g. sounds, scents)

color marks

color[de] and "is/are claimed"[de] and 2[md]

color[de] and "as applied"[de] and 2[md]

scents

(scent or fragrance)[de] and 6[md]

sounds

(sound or tone or music* or note)[de] and 6[md]

tastes

(taste or flavor)[de] and 6[md]

(touch or texture)[de] and 6[md]

motion marks

“motion mark”[de]

image list

browse dictionary

- one word

- all fields

- alphabetical results

know your limitations

registered marks

`rn > “0”

(`rd < “19500000”)

and (`rd > “19000000”)

Principal Register

live marks

filing date

20131206[fd]

published marks

20131210[po]

however,

a few favorite searches

201?????[fd]

(configur* or packag* or dimension* or trade* or *shape or shaped)[de]

20131206[fd] and (configuration or packag* or dimension* or trade or

shape)[de]

201?????[fd] and “mark consists”[de]

and 2[md] and live[ld] and `rn > "0"

XSearchsummaries -

let examiners do (some of) the work for you

Stop hanging out at the reference desk; spend

some time in the stacks

website: timberlakelaw.comblog: Trademarks Are Magic

pinterest: timberlakelawtwitter: @TimberlakeLaw

(#NTM)flickr: Timberlake Law

instagram: timberlakelaw

[email protected](919) 960 -1950

tess srchg prt2-pp_tslides

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