1202.08(a) What Constitutes a Single Creative Work
Single creative works include works in which the content does not change, whether that work is in printed, recorded, or electronic form. Materials such as books, sound recordings, downloadable songs, downloadable ring tones, videocassettes, DVDs, audio CDs, and films are usually single creative works.
A single creative work provided in different formats is still considered a single creative work. See, e.g., In re MCDM Prods., LLC, 2022 USPQ2d 227, at *8-9 (TTAB 2022) (holding STRONGHOLDS & FOLLOWERS the title of a single creative work for role-playing game book manuals offered in print and electronic formats); Mattel, Inc. v. Brainy Baby, Co., 101 USPQ2d 1140, 1141, 1144 (TTAB 2011) (holding LAUGH & LEARN with design the title of a single creative work for educational materials provided in VHS and DVD formats).
A creative work that is merely translated into a different language is still considered a single creative work and is akin to selling a book or record album in different media formats. In re Douglas Wood, 2023 USPQ2d 975, *5-6 (TTAB 2023) (holding CHURCH BOY TO MILLIONAIRE the title of a single work for a book provided in English- and Spanish-language versions where no evidence was submitted showing the two books differed significantly in content); In re Appleby, 159 USPQ 126, 126, 127 n.1 (TTAB 1968) (holding HYPNO-SMOKE the title of a single creative work for phonograph records and albums provided in English and Spanish).
Creative works that are serialized, i.e., the mark identifies the entire work but the work is issued in sections or chapters, are still considered single creative works.
A theatrical performance is also a single creative work, because the content of the play, musical, opera, or similar production does not significantly change from one performance to another. In re Posthuma, 45 USPQ2d 2011, 2014 (TTAB 1998) .
A cornerstone was considered a single creative work in an application for registration of FREEDOM STONE for "building stones used as landmarks or cornerstones," where the record showed that the proposed mark would identify only one building stone used as a landmark or cornerstone, to serve as the cornerstone for the Freedom Tower that is to be erected at the World Trade Center site in New York City. In re Innovative Cos., 88 USPQ2d 1095, 1102 (TTAB 2008) .