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<div class="elementToProof"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Closing out my list of special TESS searches today, I stumbled over Æ, capital AE ligature, the standard character with decimal value
198 (not to be confused with æ, small ae ligature, the standard character with decimal value 230, except the USPTO tends to convert word mark entries to UPPER CASE CHARACTERS only, so any occurrences of
</span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">æ in word marks likely were converted to Æ at the USPTO, except if someone
at the USPTO decided to convert Æ to the pair of letters AE, how would we ever know?).</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br>
</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The
</span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><a href="https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/webaka/html/help.htm#SpecSear" id="OWAbc159fe4-1945-1147-83c4-e0c765078529" class="OWAAutoLink" style="text-decoration: none; text-align: left; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Special
Search Features</a></b></span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> link of the current TESS online help takes you to
</span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/webaka/html/help.htm#SpecSear" id="LPlnk342792">https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/webaka/html/help.htm#SpecSear</a> where
you'll see that </span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Æ</span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> is
equivalent to any of the characters </span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><b>A a À Á Â Ã Ä Å Æ à á â ã ä å æ</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> for
searching, which I'm pretty sure was just a compromise back in the early 2000's because I could not get any specific directions from the attorneys at the USPTO on how
</span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Æ became a standard character and what was I supposed to do with it on TESS.
The simple (and I expected temporary) compromise: if Æ ever was to occur on TESS, just treat it like an ordinary A.</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br>
</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On current TESS, the search
</span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><b>*Æ*[MI] not dead[ld]</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> returns
2,432,373 hits, just like the </span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><b>*A*[MI] not dead[ld]</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> search.
Pretty boring, huh?</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br>
</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But on TESS Beta, the search
</span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><b>LD:true AND WD:*Æ*</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> only
returns 19,584 hits. Clearly, TESS Beta has a different commercial impression of
</span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Æ than current TESS, but the quick guess that Æ was treated as the two consecutive
characters </span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>AE</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> is
quickly confirmed by the Beta search </span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><b>LD:true AND WD:*AE*</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> that
also retrieves 19,584 hits, or are those matching hit counts just coincidence?</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br>
</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But the current TESS still has the old Decimal Mark index
(for another 17 days?), and the current TESS search </span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><b>198[DM] not dead[ld]</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> returns
... </span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br>
</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">wait for it ...</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br>
</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">153 hits like ...</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br>
</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><u></u></span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(12, 100, 192); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><u>
SN </u> <u> RN </u> <u>Word Mark</u></b></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(12, 100, 192); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>85839883 4430226 ADVISORTHOPÆDICS</b></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(12, 100, 192); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>79301678 6741553 CYKLÆR</b></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(12, 100, 192); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>79350730 7109912 ÆQUITELA</b></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(12, 100, 192); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>77374702 3880292 KJÆR WEIS</b></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(12, 100, 192); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>79224925 5635018 DÆHLIE</b></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(12, 100, 192);"><b>88693238 6076921 TRÆFIK</b></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(12, 100, 192);"><b>88725750 6406331 FÆRWORLD DAUGHTERS OF TIME</b></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(12, 100, 192);"><b>88444081 6943718 SKÆRE</b></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(12, 100, 192);"><b>88976074 5921137 ENCYCLOPÆDIA IRANICA FOUNDATION</b></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(12, 100, 192);"><b>90767565 6842799 TRÆFIK PROXY </b></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(12, 100, 192);"><b>90429340 6822065 PRÆY DIFFERENT </b></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", monospace; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(12, 100, 192);"><b>90513043 6783450 THE CÆP</b></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">(yes, I purposely selected only standard character marks from the 153 hits) where clearly occurrences of
</span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Æ</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> have
a different commercial impression to the single letter A or the letter pair AE, at læst to me. ;-}</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><br>
</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I'm thinking that's enough of a distraction for today.
Back to work!!! And get all your decimal mark searches done before the current TESS retires in 17 days.</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
<div id="Signature">
<div style="text-align: center; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
______________________</div>
<div style="text-align: center; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Ken Boone</div>
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