Upon completing and reviewing your application for submission to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the application is forwarded to an examining attorney. The examining attorney reviews the application to determine whether it complies with all applicable rules and statutes and includes all required fees. A complete examination includes a search for conflicting marks, and an examination of the written application, the drawing, and any specimen. This may take a number of months.

If the examining attorney decides that a mark should not be registered, the examining attorney will issue a letter (Office action) explaining any substantive reasons for refusal, and any technical or procedural deficiencies in the application. If only minor corrections are required, the examining attorney may contact the applicant by telephone or e-mail. If the examining attorney sends an Office action, the applicant's response to the Office action must be received in the Office within six months of the mailing date of the Office action, or the application will be declared abandoned.

If the applicant's response does not overcome all objections, the examining attorney will issue a final refusal. To attempt to overcome a final refusal, the applicant may, for an additional fee, appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, an administrative tribunal within the USPTO.

Are there other reasons the examining attorney might refuse my mark?
Yes. In addition to likelihood of confusion, an examining attorney will refuse registration if the mark is:

primarily merely descriptive or deceptively misdescriptive of the goods/services;

primarily geographically descriptive or primarily geographically deceptively; misdescriptive of the goods/services;

primarily merely a surname; or

ornamental.

It is recommended to search for conflicting marks prior to registration, If you wish to conduct a trademark search of your trademark or service mark, Trademarks411 can assist you in doing so from the convenience of your home or office or even on the go for busy executives & entrepreneurs. Simply answer a few questions online and let us take care of the rest.