A trademark applicant must submit a drawing page with the trademark application, unless the mark is for sound, a scent, or other non-visual mark. A drawing shows the trademark you want to register. There are two forms of drawings, standard character and special form. If your trademark is a word mark, meaning that you are seeking to register words, letters, numbers or any combination thereof and you are not claiming to protect any particular font style, size, or color, the United States Patent & Trademark Office ("USPTO") will generate a "standard character drawing" for the applicant. The USPTO has created a list that includes all standard characters. See this page, for an inclusive list of all the characters that can appear in a standard character drawing. If your drawing contains any element not included in this list, then you must file and indicate that your drawing is in a special format. The Examining Attorney will consider the specimen submitted in conjunction with the application and will confirm if all the elements of the mark can be produced by the use of standard characters.
A standard character drawing will consist of the trademark in black on a white background. Keep in mind that the objective of a drawing page is to provide notice of the nature of the trademark to the public. The drawing will be entered into the Trademark Electronic Search System ("TESS") of the USPTO and the application will be uploaded to the Trademark Applications and Registration Retrieval ("TARR") database on the USPTO website www.uspto.gov. The drawing page provides the prospective trademark applicant with notice of established trademarks and allows applicants to see the exact visual image so that they can conduct a preliminary clearance search prior to filing a trademark application. See our webpage entitled, Why It Is Critical To Conduct A Clearance Search Prior To Registering A Trademark.
The second type of drawing is a "special form drawing". This means the applicant is claiming protection to special characteristics of the mark, such as design, stylized lettering (a particular font) or color. This type of drawing can either claim color as a feature of the mark or maintain the option to use the design mark in any color. The drawing should show the trademark in black on a white background unless color is claimed as a feature of the mark. The drawing will permit the USPTO to categorize the trademark for search purposes. Further, it is critical you submit a drawing that is the exact representation of the mark because the USPTO will use the drawing and reproduce the mark in the Official Gazette for publication purposes and reproduce the trademark from the drawing page onto the official Certificate of Registration.
The drawing must be in .jpg format and scanned at no less than 300 dots per inch and no more than 350 dots per inch. It is recommended that a mark image have a length and width of no less than 250 pixels and no more than 944 pixels. The image should have very little white space around the design of the trademark. When color is not a feature of the trademark, the mark must appear in black and white. When you scan the image, ensure the settings are set for an image file that is black and white. Be sure to remove the ™ symbol. The image must be limited to the mark alone.
When a color claim is made, each color must be stated and the applicant must state where the colors appear in the mark. Also, if white, black or grey appear in the mark image, the applicant must explain if those colors are claimed as features of the mark. It is also possible that those colors are used to illustrate certain aspects of the mark that are not part of the mark. For example, sometimes applicants use dotted or broken lines to demonstrate placement of the mark on a product. However, if the background of the mark is white and it is obvious that the background is not a feature of the mark, no explanation of the white background is required. Preparing trademark applications containing special form drawings can be quite technical and require guidance of trademark counsel. If you would like to discuss your trademark application, please feel free to contact our office for a courtesy consultation.