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 |