[E-trademarks] The ZWSP mistake at the Trademark Office
Carl Oppedahl
carl at oppedahl.com
Sun Oct 12 22:39:14 UTC 2025
Keep in mind that I characterized this as a special case of a general
problem. The general problem is "the mark as listed in the database
contains at least one character that is not a standard character" while
at the same time the applicant is presenting a standard character claim.
Here I could imagine some observers would say "no harm no foul" on the
view that the ink on the page of the registration certificate will be
the same with or without the ZWSP in the search database.
But other Unicode mistakes that have been identified are much more
likely to make trouble for EA searches or user clearance searches. For
example the recent example of 99414215 where the first character is
U+0412 : CYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER VE. It looks like a "B" in terms of
ink on the page. But the EA who searches for mark that starts with a
"B" won't catch this application. The user doing a clearance search
looking for marks that start with "B" won't catch it.
A few characters down the line is U+0421 : CYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER ES.
It looks like "C" but you won't get a hit on that character if you look
for a "C".
And after that is U+0415 : CYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER IE. It looks like an
"E" but you won't get a match if you search for a "E".
Yes the ink on the page of the registration certificate will look like
"В CCETTA ВОССЕ RE INVENTED". But if you do a text search for "В CCETTA
ВОССЕ RE INVENTED" the search will fail. Five of the characters will
fail to match because they are Cyrillic characters that happen to look
like standard (Latin) characters.
I don't do searching for a living so I don't know how often the ZWSP
mistake would throw off the results of a search. I don't disagree with
you that the ink-on-the-page mark for this ZWSP fail is "OMMISIMQIST".
But suppose somebody does a search for "marks where the last four
characters are "QIST"? That search will fail because the last character
as listed in the USPTO database is the ZWSP character and the three
characters before that are "IST". So the search for "marks where the
last four characters are "QIST" will fail to catch this case.
On 10/12/2025 4:17 PM, Pamela Chestek wrote:
> But how does the ZWSP mistake matter? What EA search or user clearance
> search will be unreliable because there is a missing invisible
> character at the end? If your searches are so literal that it makes a
> difference (assuming it even does, which I'm not convinced of), then
> there are many other potentially similar marks you would have missed.
> I would rather have the Trademark Office concentrate its efforts on
> problems that have legal significance, or make either EAs or users
> burn unnecessary time, than this kind of error, which doesn't appear
> to me to cause either problem.
>
> Pam
>
> On Sun, Oct 12, 2025, 10:32 AM Carl Oppedahl via E-trademarks
> <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com> wrote:
>
> Thank you Ken for posting.
>
> So if anybody wonders "why is it that some nameless person at the
> Trademark Office pulled this case from pub on October 10?" the
> answer seems likely to be "Ken told them about it for the second
> or third or fourth time on October 7 and they finally sort of paid
> attention to it". Except whoever was doing the "paying attention"
> did not really pay attention. Because that person then released
> the case back into pub without actually correcting the Trademark
> Office mistake.
>
> This particular problem falls into a very easy-to-spell-out
> general category, namely "applications that have a standard
> character claim but where the mark contains at least one character
> that is not a standard character".
>
> It is decades ago that I did my first computer programming (in
> Fortran). Since then I have done lots more computer programming
> in several programming languages.
>
> For a couple of years now I only sort of vaguely knew of the
> existence of Unicode, but Ken's postings within the past year or
> so prompted me to gain some familiarity with Unicode.
>
> I'd guess there are at least a dozen members of this listserv
> (including myself) who, given developer-level access within the
> Trademark Office, could write a simple report generator computer
> program in any of half a dozen programming languages that would
> instantly generate a report listing every case in this general
> category. What I know with absolute certainty is that there is no
> way the Trademark Office would ever accept such help, even if
> provided free of charge, for the simple reason that it would be
> too close to admitting error and too close to admitting that
> anyone outside the Trademark Office could do something better than
> those within the Trademark Office.
>
> The report generator, if only it were to be allowed to come into
> existence (probably free of charge), could then be run once a week
> or even once a month, and the nameless-pull-from-pub-person could
> be handed the list and told to keep trying until they would make
> it so that the cases on the list did not show up on the next report.
>
> This is the sort of thing that computers are supposed to be good
> at, given the opportunity.
>
> Carl
>
>
> On 10/12/2025 5:15 AM, Ken Boone wrote:
>> As it happens, I also have been keeping an eye on 99181596
>> OMMISIMQIST. Following is an October 7th */alert /*that I
>> provided to the USPTO, where 99181596 OMMISIMQIST is the 3rd
>> trademark on the list. (I see some evidence of activity to
>> correct 3 of the 20 trademarks listed. For example, the 1st
>> trademark 99264792 LA FRANCÉ LF is no longer a standard character
>> mark. BTW, the search *WD:( ** )***with that ZWSP between the
>> asterisks now retrieves 3 trademarks: 99283545 *RAPIDREST*,
>> 99181596 *OMMISIMQIST*, and 98111449 *KYŪR*.
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From:* Ken Boone <boondogles at hotmail.com>
>> <mailto:boondogles at hotmail.com>
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 7, 2025 9:38 AM
>> *To:* TMFeedback <tmfeedback at uspto.gov> <mailto:tmfeedback at uspto.gov>
>> *Subject:* Challenging Trademarks In The Publication Queue
>> By my checks, 5 of the 16 challenging trademarks that I reported
>> on September 26th have been addressed.
>>
>> Today's list includes the 11 challenging trademarks that were not
>> addressed plus 9 new challenging trademarks (20 total
>> trademarks), though one trademark has registered since initially
>> reported.
>>
>> #
>>
>> SN
>>
>> Wordmark
>>
>> Drawing
>>
>> Comment
>> 1
>>
>> 99264792
>>
>> LA FRANCÉ LF
>>
>> Image for 99264792
>>
>> The drawing and description of mark [The mark consists of The
>> mark consists of the mark "LAFRANCE" in a stylized font, with an
>> accent above the letter "E". The stylized abbreviation “LF” is
>> superimposed above the word “LAFRANCE.”.] contradict the
>> standard character mark claim. Also, correct the repetition of
>> "The mark consists of" in the description of mark.
>> 2
>>
>> 99194118
>>
>> OК
>>
>> Image for 99194118
>>
>> The letter К is the Unicode character with decimal value 1050
>> (Cyrillic Capital Letter Ka), not the standard character K. I
>> doubt the applicant was aware of the presence of the unusual
>> Cyrillic letter К. Substitute the ordinary K for the Cyrillic
>> letter К; else, add the appropriate design code for Cyrillic letters.
>> 3
>>
>> 99181596
>>
>> OMMISIMQIST
>>
>> Image for 99181596
>>
>> How many characters do you see in the wordmark? Just 11?
>> Actually, there are 12. There is an unusual Unicode character
>> with decimal value 8203 ( the ZERO WIDTH SPACE, a non-printing
>> character that can be used to indicate a potential line break
>> opportunity within a word or phrase, without introducing a
>> visible space or hyphen) appended to the wordmark. Since the
>> ZERO WIDTH SPACE is not included in the standard character set,
>> delete this ZERO WIDTH SPACE from the wordmark.
>> 4
>>
>> 99154626
>>
>> S&DENT
>>
>> Image for 99154626
>>
>> The drawing is poorly cropped, plus the description of mark [The
>> mark consists of the stylized wording "S&DENT".] indicates this
>> is stylized text, not a standard character mark.
>> 5
>>
>> 99145834
>>
>> DAPHOO FORCE
>>
>> Image for 99145834
>>
>> Tthe drawing and description of mark [The mark consists of the
>> words "DAPHOO FORCE" in stylized letters below a lotus flower.
>> Going across the lotus flower is an EKG heartbeat line which
>> turns into a running stick figure.] contradict the standard
>> character mark claim.
>> 6
>>
>> 99108096
>>
>> GOCAN
>>
>> Image for 99108096
>>
>> The contradictory and obsolete description of mark [The mark
>> consists of the stylized wording "GOCAN" with a design of a
>> circular pattern featuring stylized depictions of a mountain
>> landscape, full moon, and roadway in front of the wording.] for
>> this standard character mark should be deleted.
>> 7
>>
>> 99097553
>>
>> SPµ
>>
>> Image for 99097553
>>
>> The wordmark (SPµ) is inconsistent with the description of mark
>> (The mark consists of the stylized wording "SPπ".).
>> 8
>>
>> 99027509
>>
>> MS MARSHEIK
>>
>> Image for 99027509
>>
>> The drawing and description of mark [The mark consists of the
>> stylized letters "MS" in a handwritten, cursive font, where the
>> letters are interconnected. Below the letters, there is a
>> horizontal line, beneath which appears the stylized wording
>> "MARSHEIK".] contradict the standard character mark claim.
>> 9
>>
>> 98931863
>>
>> PALE TRADING CO.
>>
>> Image for 98931863
>>
>> The description of mark [The mark consists of standard characters
>> without claim to any particular font style, size, or color.]
>> indicates this text & design application is really a standard
>> character mark. Change the mark drawing code to standard
>> character mark and delete the obsolete 26.09.21 design code.
>> 10
>>
>> 98912015
>>
>> HAVEN
>>
>>
>> Trademark image
>>
>> Published 9/16/2025 as a typed drawing mark, except the era for
>> typed drawings ended 1 November 2003, so this should have been a
>> standard character mark when published, except there is a design
>> element in the drawing. Also, the drawing has excess blank space
>> above and below the mark that could be cropped out.
>> 11
>>
>> 98875872
>>
>> W.E.L.L. NEWS ― WELLNESS, EATING, LIVING, & LEARNING.
>>
>> Image for 98875872
>>
>> The ― character is the Unicode character with the decimal value
>> 8213, a Horizontal Bar character, but since it is not a standard
>> character, shouldn't the USPTO substitute a similar valid
>> standard character?
>> 12
>>
>> 98790010
>>
>> SINCE 1968 BUGANGOK A PREMIUM SUNDAEGUK PASSED DOWN THROUGH
>> GENERATIONS
>>
>> Image for 98790010
>>
>> The drawing and description of mark [The mark consists of the
>> stylized Chinese character meaning wealth in a circle all in
>> black with slightly extended horizontal lines on both the left
>> and right sides with the words SINCE 1968 in black underneath;
>> the word BUGANGOK in black and the stylized Korean characters
>> meaning a nation located in the east, each Korean character in
>> white and being arranged in a column direction on a red square
>> background next to the word BUGANGOK, both of which are placed
>> underneath the words SINCE 1968; the phrase "A premium sundaeguk
>> passed down through generations" in black is underneath BUGANGOK
>> and the Korean characters.] contradict the standard character
>> mark claim.
>> 13
>>
>> 98015467
>>
>> CARWELL
>>
>> Image for 98015467
>>
>> The obsolete design code [07.11.07 - Highways with lines or
>> dividers; intersections (roads) with lines or dividers; Roads
>> with lines or dividers; Streets with lines or dividers] should be
>> deleted for this standard character mark.
>> 14
>>
>> 88463388
>>
>> NUTREETION
>>
>> Image for 88463388
>>
>> The obsolete description of mark [The mark consists of
>> "NUTREETION" in white font encased in Circle filled with Green
>> color.] should be deleted for this standard character mark.
>> 15
>>
>> 79418788
>>
>> ΑΜΟΙ
>>
>> Image for 79418788
>>
>> The search CM:amoi does NOT retrieve this trademark. Why? There
>> are Unicode Greek characters (that look like A-Z standard
>> characters) in the wordmark. Without the Greek characters design
>> code, the current wordmark is deceptive and could impact
>> searching for this STYLIZED TEXT mark.
>> 16
>>
>> 79416509
>>
>> GX･SONIC STREAM
>>
>> Image for 79416509
>>
>> Substitute the standard character · for • ( the Unicode
>> character with decimal value 65381 [Halfwidth Katakana Middle
>> Dot?] that is NOT in the Standard Character Set) in the wordmark
>> for this Standard Character Mark?
>> 17
>>
>> 79408569
>>
>> RILASTIL
>>
>> Image for 79408569
>>
>> The drawing and description of mark [The mark consists of
>> standard characters without claim to any particular font style,
>> size, or color.] contradict the current STYLIZED TEXT mark
>> drawing code.
>> 18
>>
>> 79408087
>>
>> FREEZETECH Α
>>
>> Image for 79408087
>>
>> Scheduled for publication, considering the in the drawing and the
>> description of mark [The mark consists of the stylized wording
>> FREEZETECH A with the lower case letter "A" taking the form of
>> the Greek letter alpha.], isn't the design code 28.01.05 - Alpha
>> (Greek letter) appropriate for this STYLIZED TEXT application?
>> 19
>>
>> 79404822
>>
>> KOOKAЇ
>>
>> Image for 79404822
>>
>> The final letter Ї is the Unicode character with the decimal
>> value 1031 , the CYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER YI. The search WD:*Ї*
>> AND MD:4 using this CYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER YI retrieves only
>> this KOOKAЇ trademark, while the WD:*Ï* AND MD:4 search using
>> the standard character Ï retrieves over 3.7 million trademarks.
>> Revise the wordmark for this pending trademark to use the
>> standard character Ï; else, add the Cyrillic characters design code.
>> 20
>>
>> 79337527
>>
>> ZIGZAG
>>
>> Image for 79337527
>>
>> The drawing and description of mark [The mark consists of the
>> stylized wording "ZIGZAG."] contradict the standard character
>> mark claim.
>>
>>
>> The search SN:( 99264792 99194118 99181596 99154626 99145834
>> 99108096 99097553 99027509 98931863 98912015 98875872 98790010
>> 98015467 88463388 79418788 79416509 79408569 79408087 79404822
>> 79337527 ) retrieves these 20 challenging trademarks.
>>
>>
>> Hope this helps,
>> Ken Boone, USPTO IT Specialist (Retired)
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From:* Carl Oppedahl <carl at oppedahl.com> <mailto:carl at oppedahl.com>
>> *Sent:* Sunday, October 12, 2025 4:57 AM
>> *To:* For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to
>> seek legal advice. <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
>> <mailto:e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
>> *Subject:* The ZWSP mistake at the Trademark Office
>> On 5/24/2025 11:15 AM, Ken Boone via E-trademarks wrote:
>>
>> PS - Do you notice anything unusual about 99181596, the
>> trademark _OMMISIMQIST_ in standard characters. The search
>> WD:( ** ) with that
>> _Image for 99181596, select for more details_
>>
>> It's another case of counting the letters in the wordmark.
>> It looks like there are only 11 characters in the wordmark,
>> but there are actually 12. The final letter is the Unicode
>> character with decimal value 8203, the /zero-width
>> space (rendered: ; HTML entity: ​ or ​
>> ), abbreviated ZWSP, is a non-printing character used in
>> computerized typesetting to indicate where the word
>> boundaries are, without actually displaying a visible space
>> in the rendered text/. The search *WD:( ** ) *with that
>> /zero-width space/ character between the two * wildcard
>> operators retrieves only this OMMISIMQIST trademark. The
>> similar search *CM:( ** )* retrieves 6 live trademarks,
>> including 2 registrations. Go figure.
>>
>> Hello fellow listserv members.
>>
>> It will be recalled that on May 24, Ken found this application
>> number 99181596 which is supposedly a standard-character mark,
>> except that from the day it was filed it contained Unicode 8203
>> at the end. This is a zero-width space or ZWSP character.
>>
>> I plugged it into my IP Badger.
>>
>> I figured that one or another of the many Trademark Office
>> lurkers would have quietly flagged the case to correct this
>> Trademark Office mistake.
>>
>> On September 25, the case reached the desk of the Examining
>> Attorney. The EA approved it for publication the next day.
>>
>> On October 10, this happened:
>>
>> 692 - WITHDRAWN BEFORE PUBLICATION
>>
>> 10/10/2025 ON HOLD - ELECTRONIC RECORD REVIEW REQUI…
>>
>> I assumed this must surely mean that somebody at the Trademark
>> Office was paying attention to the failure on the part of the
>> Trademark Office to have noticed until now the non-standard
>> character contained in this supposedly standard-character mark.
>>
>> But now on October 12, whoever the nameless person was who pulled
>> the case before publication has quietly let go of it. Now it is
>> back in the publication workflow. The Trademark Office has
>> selected October 28 as the day it plans to publish this
>> application. And (I am not making this up) the ZWSP is still in
>> the mark.
>>
>> Carl
>>
>>
>>
> --
> E-trademarks mailing list
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> http://oppedahl-lists.com/mailman/listinfo/e-trademarks_oppedahl-lists.com
>
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