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USPTO Proposes Rule Changes for Collective and Certification Marks
Practical Law Legal Update 8-558-2013 (Approx. 3 pages)
USPTO Proposes Rule Changes for Collective and Certification Marks
by Practical Law Intellectual Property & Technology
| Published on 20 Feb 2014 • USA (National/Federal) |
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has proposed rule changes related to requirements for collective marks (trademarks, service marks and membership marks) and certification marks to codify current USPTO practice in the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure and precedential case law.
On February 20, 2014, the USPTO issued a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comment on proposed amendments to:
- Rules related to collective marks and certification marks to clarify requirements for those marks.
- Certain other rules to provide consistency with those rule changes and streamline the rules for easier use.
Specifically, the USPTO proposes to clarify for collective and certification marks:
- Application requirements.
- Allegations of use requirements.
- Multiple-class application requirements.
- Registration maintenance requirements.
The proposed rule changes will:
- Codify current USPTO practice set out in the USPTO's Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) and precedential case law.
- Enable the USPTO to provide more comprehensive and detailed guidance on registering and maintaining registrations for these collective and certification marks by:
- clearly stating and providing sufficient detail regarding the requirements for collective and certification mark applications; and
- harmonizing registration maintenance requirements where appropriate.
Comments are due no later than May 21, 2014.