1213.08(a)(i)    Standardized Printing Format for Disclaimer

Since November 9, 1982, disclaimers for marks published for opposition and those registered on the Supplemental Register are printed in a standardized form in the Official Gazette, regardless of the text submitted. Disclaimers are in the standardized format in certificates of registration on the Supplemental Register issued as of that date. Disclaimers are in the standardized format in certificates of registration on the Principal Register issued as of February 1, 1983. The disclaimed matter is taken from the disclaimer of record and inserted into the standardized disclaimer format for printing and database purposes. The standardized disclaimer text is as follows:

No claim is made to the exclusive right to use "____________" apart from the mark as shown.

See 1022 OG 44 (Sept. 28, 1982). See also In re Owatonna Tool Co., 231 USPQ 493, 495 (Comm’r Pats. 1983) ("[T]he use of the standardized form is solely for the purpose of printing and data base purposes, not for the limitation of registrant’s rights.").

For the record only, examining attorneys will accept disclaimers with additional statements pertaining to reservation of common-law rights, although §6 of the Trademark Act of 1946 states that no disclaimer shall prejudice or affect the applicant’s or registrant’s rights then existing or thereafter arising in the disclaimed matter. Disclaimers with these additional statements can be entered by examiner’s amendment. The examining attorney must inform the applicant or attorney who authorizes the amendment that the disclaimer will be printed in the standardized format.

Where non-adjacent components of a mark, or adjacent components that do not form a grammatically or otherwise unitary expression must be disclaimed, the following format is suggested:

No claim is made to the exclusive right to use "________" and "________" apart from the mark as shown.

While the "and" connector is preferred, the USPTO will also accept a statement that "no claim is made to the exclusive right to use "________" or "________" apart from the mark as shown."

See TMEP §1213.08(b) regarding the disclaimer of unregistrable matter in its entirety.