904.02(b) Permitted Paper-Filed Specimens
If a specimen is filed in connection with a permitted paper filing (see TMEP §301.01), the specimen(s) should be flat and no larger than 8½ inches wide by 11 inches long. The USPTO may create a photocopy or other reproduction for the official record and destroy the original.
Reproductions of specimens submitted by applicants (e.g., photographs or photocopies) must show the entire specimen or enough of the specimen that the nature of the specimen, the mark, and the good or service with which the mark is used are identifiable. 37 C.F.R. §2.56(c). The mark and all other pertinent written matter on the submitted specimen should be clear and legible. For example, product photographs appearing on folders or brochures that show the trademark on the applicant's goods are acceptable reproductions. It is permissible to show the complete product in one photograph and the written matter in another, so that the written matter will be legible, or to show different views of a product either in a single photograph or in separate photographs.
If a web page printout is submitted as a display associated with the goods, it must include the URL for the web page and the date the page was accessed or printed. Id. Trademark owners can submit the URL and date directly on the specimen web page itself or elsewhere in the document with which the specimen is submitted or in a verified statement under 37 C.F.R §2.20 or 28 U.S.C. §1746 in a later-filed response. This information may not be entered via examiner’s amendment. If the web page printout includes a photograph of the applied-for mark appearing on the goods or on packaging for the goods that would otherwise be acceptable as a specimen of use for goods, it need not include the URL and access or print date.
See TMEP §904.02(c)(ii) regarding specimens for marks comprising color.
If paper filing has not been permitted but an actual physical specimen is necessary for examination, the examining attorney may require an actual physical specimen under 37 C.F.R. §2.56(a) and §2.61(b). See TMEP §904.03(m) regarding specimens for scent and flavor marks.