1215.07    Disclaimers

Trademark Act §6(a), 15 U.S.C. §1056(a),  provides for the disclaimer of "an unregistrable component of a mark otherwise registrable." The guidelines on disclaimer discussed in TMEP §§1213–1213.11 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 non-source-identifying gTLD), disclaimer is required.

If a disclaimer is required and the domain name includes a misspelled or telescoped word, the correct spelling must be disclaimed. See TMEP §§1213.05(a)(i) and 1213.08(c).

A compound term composed of arbitrary or suggestive matter combined with a "dot" and a non-source-identifying gTLD is considered unitary, and, therefore, no disclaimer of the gTLD is required. See examples below and TMEP §§1213.05–1213.05(g)(iv) regarding unitary marks.

Mark Disclaimer
ABC BANK.COM  BANK.COM 
ABC FEDERALBANK.COM  FEDERAL BANK.COM 
ABC GROCERI STOR.COM  GROCERY STORE.COM 
ABC.COM  no disclaimer 
ABC.BANK.COM  no disclaimer 
ABCBANK.COM  no disclaimer