[E-trademarks] [EXT] Re: USPTO Fees Federal Register Notice - Unpublished PDF Version

Sat Nov 16 07:18:11 UTC 2024

This was discussed at the last session of the INTA Leadership Meeting on Friday, an ethics CLE on using AI in trademark practice. I recall the panel said that a description of the mark was the best use of AI in the application prosecution process.

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From: E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com> On Behalf Of Hargis, Michael via E-trademarks
Sent: Friday, November 15, 2024 1:20 PM
To: For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek legal advice. <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
Cc: Hargis, Michael <mhargis at stites.com>
Subject: [EXT] Re: [E-trademarks] USPTO Fees Federal Register Notice - Unpublished PDF Version

Best tip of the day … thanks Stephen.

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From: E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com<mailto:e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com>> On Behalf Of Stephen McArthur via E-trademarks
Sent: Friday, November 15, 2024 1:59 PM
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Cc: Stephen McArthur <stephen at smcarthurlaw.com<mailto:stephen at smcarthurlaw.com>>
Subject: Re: [E-trademarks] USPTO Fees Federal Register Notice - Unpublished PDF Version

One of the few places I've found AI to actually be useful for trademark applications is in creating descriptions of a design mark and naming the colors that appear in it. I'm probably going to start relying on AI to do a first draft of both.  You can plug a mark into AI and it will immediately tell you the colors, a written description, and any translations.

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On Fri, Nov 15, 2024 at 10:11 AM Tim Ackermann via E-trademarks <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com<mailto:e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>> wrote:
Oh boy. These three are going to be 'fun' w/r/t the *per class* $100 insufficient information fee.
• If the mark includes color, a statement naming the color(s) and describing where the color(s) appears on the mark, and a claim that the color(s) is a feature of the mark;
• If the mark is not in standard characters, a description of the mark;
• If the mark includes non-English wording, an English translation of that wording;
 The Office appears to be taking the position that getting the color statement or description of the mark "wrong" -- per the Examining Attorney's subjective opinion -- subjects Applicant to the $100 per-class fee. The asserted 'remedy' is that Applicant can complain that the Office is not being consistent. Which, of course, is not actually the problem at hand. The non-standard text marks are, in general, different, and will have different descriptions. So consistency is not the issue -- it's imposing unpredictable fees based on a difference of opinion. [Comment 36 below.]
 And the Office does take the position that Applicant must search for, and provide, any possible (if remote / random / irrelevant) non-English meaning. This applies even if it's a language that no one in the process has ever heard of. Failing that -- the $100/class fee applies. [Comment 40 below]
 How many translations might there be? Who knows! Take the word 'casette' -- it translates from Italian as "little houses" -- which is the one you get if you tell Google Translate "detect language. Same for Catalan. But if you happen to know it's also a word in Spanish, it's "cassette" (same for many languages). Or maybe if you search Romanian, it's "tapes." Or in Breton & Dari, it's "box."

  Comment 36: Commenters, including the SBA, expressed concern regarding the difficulty of anticipating whether the insufficient information fee [e.g. $100/class] will apply for an applicant, given that many of the requirements are subjective to the examining attorney’s opinions and discretion, rather than objective factual standards. Commenters included color claim, description of a mark, identification of form of applicant, and translation of a mark as examples of subjective determinations where a fee could be imposed later in examination. Commenters suggested these questions will lead to accounting disputes, thus inhibiting the quality and timeliness of prosecution progress.
  Response: The USPTO acknowledges the commenters’ concerns and offers assurance that the agency strives to ensure consistent examination. An applicant may request that the USPTO review situations where, in their opinion, the agency has acted inconsistently in its treatment of their pending application(s) or recent registration(s). Applicants also may submit a request for review when a substantive or procedural issue has been addressed in a significantly different manner in different cases, subject to requirements on the Consistency Initiative page on the USPTO website at https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/trademark-updates-and-announcements/consistencyinitiative. If the applicant believes that the agency incorrectly imposed an insufficient information fee and has discussed the issue with the examining attorney, they may also contact the managing or senior attorney in the examining attorney’s law office

  Comment 40: One commenter suggested that the USPTO consider whether the insufficient information fee is appropriate in instances where an applicant makes a good faith effort to supply required information, such as when they have no knowledge of a term’s non-English meaning.
  Response: Requiring the fee is appropriate in the situation described in the comment because § 2.32(a)(9) requires an applicant to research a mark that is comprised of or includes non-English wording to determine whether there is a transliteration or translation of the wording. If there is, and the applicant omits the translation or transliteration, the examining attorney will issue an Office action requiring the insufficient information surcharge and submission of the translation and/or transliteration, as appropriate. If the initial application includes a translation or transliteration, the surcharge will not apply for later amendment of the translation or transliteration. The surcharge will apply if the translation or transliteration comprises or contains inappropriate material.

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On Fri, Nov 15, 2024 at 11:12 AM Thilo C. Agthe via E-trademarks <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com<mailto:e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>> wrote:
Available here: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2024-26644.pdf

Enjoy!  ;-)

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