Disclaimers

Trademark Act §6(a), 15 U.S.C. §1056(a), provides for the disclaimer of “an unregistrable component” of a mark. The guidelines on disclaimer set forth in TMEP §1213 et. seq. apply to domain name mark applications.

If a composite mark includes a domain name composed of unregistrable matter (e.g., a merely descriptive or generic term and a TLD), disclaimer is required. See examples below and TMEP §§1213.03.

If a disclaimer is required and the domain name includes a misspelled or telescoped word, the correct spelling must be disclaimed. See examples below and TMEP §§1213.04(a) and 1213.09(c).

A compound term composed of arbitrary or suggestive matter combined with a “dot” and a TLD is considered unitary, and therefore no disclaimer of the TLD is required. See examples below and TMEP §1213.04(b).

Mark Disclaimer

XYZ BANK . COM                      BANK . COM
XYZ FEDERALBANK . COM     FEDERAL BANK . COM
XYZ GROCERI STOR . COM     GROCERY STORE . COM
XYZ . COM                                   no disclaimer
XYZ . BANK . COM                       no disclaimer
XYZBANK . COM                        no disclaimer

Last Modified: March 22nd, 2010