[E-trademarks] Mark description in registration describes colors, but no claim to color made--what happens if renewal specimen uses different colors?

[Kevin Grierson]

Hi folks, this is a weird one.  Inherited a fairly old registration (filed 2001, registered 2004) with lots of scanned paper filings, so I’m having a hard time figuring out what happened, but my client has a registration for a mark with a design component.  The application and registration do NOT reference a claim to color, but the mark description DOES, so for example, if the mark was ACME next to a flag, the description reads “The mark consists of the word ACME in red next to a flag consisting of red and white stripes.”    The application was based on a foreign registration in color; my guess is that the original counsel omitted (forgot?) the color claim but described the original foreign mark in the application.

20+ years later, client has decided to change the color scheme, so now ACME is in green and the flag has green and white stripes.  Would a specimen in the new color scheme filed with a Section 8 declaration be accepted?  As noted, the registration doesn’t claim color (and for what it’s worth, the office’s official drawing is in black and white) but the specimen would not match the description of the mark. Thankfully, we recently filed the second renewal with a specimen that matches the colors in the description, but I’m thinking down the road about the next renewal and whether it makes sense to file a new application now.

I have looked through the TMEP at the sections dealing with mark descriptions, but all the sections I’ve found deal with pre-registration review issues, not what effect (if any) an inaccurate description has on post-registration filings.

Thanks,

Kevin

Kevin Grierson<https://www.culhanemeadows.com/attorney/kevin-grierson/> (he/him)
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