On March 14, the USPTO published a final rule amending its regulations for trademark registration. Under the new rule, each application to register a mark that includes anything other than standard characters must include a description of the mark.
The USPTO already requires this for “TEAS Plus” applications, which are applications that are entitled to reduced fees due to, among other things, the applicant’s acceptance of standard descriptions of goods and services. Under the new rule, all applications containing non-standard character marks must comply with the written description requirement.
According to the notice, the USPTO plans to issue an examination guide with guidelines relating to written descriptions in the near future.
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