Refusal guides for the letter in your hand

What this guide answers

• Which of the eight factors the examiner is actually weighing
• Why “my logo looks different” is not the argument
• When narrowing the goods description settles it
• What a consent agreement is, and when the cited owner signs one
• What happens if the examiner maintains the refusal

What this guide answers

• Where your mark sits on the generic-to-fanciful spectrum
• The line between descriptive and suggestive, which decides the case
• What acquired distinctiveness under 2(f) actually requires
• What the Supplemental Register gives you, and what it costs you
• When disclaiming one word ends the whole refusal

What this guide answers

• Which specimens are accepted for goods, and which for services
• Why a mockup is a false claim of use, not just a weak specimen
• What a webpage specimen has to show to be accepted
• How to substitute a specimen without backdating your claim
• When switching to intent-to-use beats defending the filing

What this guide answers

• The five questions an examiner actually asks before refusing a surname
• Why a rare surname is not automatically a registrable one
• When doubt is resolved in your favour, and how to create it
• What a Section 2(f) claim requires when the name is your own
• Why the Supplemental Register is often the right answer for a family name

What this guide answers

• What a disclaimer is, and why it does not change how your mark looks
• The kinds of wording and designs the USPTO asks applicants to disclaim
• The exact statement format the USPTO prefers
• How misspelled, compound, foreign and unitary wording is handled
• Which form to use to answer in a non-final versus a final action