Certificate of Sale (Specimens): US trademarks are based on the principle of “actual use” (Chinese trademarks are registered first). During the registration process, a certificate of sales in the US market is required to obtain registration.

After February 15, 2020, the U.S. Intellectual Property Office will propose the following new rules for the certificate of sale:

1. The sale certificate of a specific product may include:

(1) a photo of the actual goods bearing the trademark,

(2) the actual packaging and labeling of the goods bearing the trademark,

(3) Show the sales route of the trademark and be directly related to the goods.

In the case of a service type: a direct link between the trademark and the service must be shown to prove that it is available for sale, including in the performance of the service or how it is used, or advertising of the service.

Labels and Tags

Need to clearly show that the trademark has been used in business, not just LOGO.

If a product label or tag (product label) is provided as a proof of use picture, this label or tag must be attached to the product or packaging, and a single tag cannot be taken as a picture of use, unless the tag itself can fully reflect the For commercial use, for example, there is a lot of sufficient product information on the label, including net weight, volume, UPC barcode, composition and content. Applicants are advised to provide the label pictures attached to the products as much as possible, rather than a single label picture that is not combined with the products. Because the trademark examiner has a great deal of personal judgment and discretion in the examination process, there are different opinions on what kind of labels meet the requirements.

2. For the sample of web pages, the applicant is required to provide the website address and the date of access or printing.

Web Page Specimen web page displays URL link and picture date

If you submit a picture of a web page as evidence, such as a screenshot of Amazon’s storefront, the picture must have a URL link to the web page and the date the page was printed. This means that it is not possible to use the screenshot tool to take a screenshot of a webpage, because generally such screenshots do not reflect the date. Based on our experience, it is recommended to save the web page as a save as PDF so that there will be a date.

Third, the inviolable bottom line

PS modify the picture (Digitally Created), once it is detected, it will be rejected directly.

Do not submit false, electronically synthesized, or trademark proof images made in response to trademark registration.

The full text of the new regulations is available at https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/TM-ExamGuide-MEF-1-20.pdf?utm_campaign=subscriptioncenter&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=

4. If the above certification cannot be provided at the time of registration, you can choose “Application for Intention”, but additional costs will be incurred

Actual application (common): The trademark has been put on sale in the United States, and a certificate of sale must be submitted with the application.

Pros: Cost savings

Disadvantages: All materials need to be prepared in the early stage

Intention application: The trademark is not used in the US market, and it can be provided within 6 months after the review + publicity period.

Advantages: do not need to be limited to the principle of first use and then register, and have sufficient time to prepare supporting documents.

Disadvantages: The inability to provide information at one time will increase the review process and processing time. Therefore, it is necessary to pay an additional 100 US dollars for the Intellectual Property Office official fee and related lawyer service fees when supplementing the certificate.