Trademark specimens: what the USPTO accepts and rejects

For a use-based application (Section 1(a)) or an intent-to-use application that has reached the Statement of Use stage, the USPTO requires a "specimen" for each class, real-world evidence showing the mark as it is actually used in connection with the goods or services identified. A specimen is not the same thing as an image of a logo. It must show the mark in the context of an actual sale or offering, and the USPTO’s standards differ depending on whether the class covers goods or services.

From the examining attorney’s side, a specimen review is really three separate questions asked together: does the specimen show the mark itself, does it show the specific goods or services identified in the application, and does it show that connection happening in actual commerce rather than in a design file, a plan, or a description of intent. A specimen that satisfies only one or two of those three questions is ordinarily refused, even if the underlying business is genuine and active.

The examples below are generic and illustrative only. No client materials, filings, or specific matters are described or shown on this page.

Goods specimens

For goods, the USPTO generally wants to see the mark as it appears at the point of sale, meaning something a purchaser would actually encounter when buying the product. Acceptable examples typically include a product label, a tag affixed to the goods, packaging that displays the mark, or a point-of-sale display. A photograph of the product itself with the mark visible on it can also work. What is generally not accepted: the mark shown only in an internal document, a press release, or promotional material that does not function as a point of sale.

Service specimens

For services, there is no physical product to photograph, so the USPTO instead looks for evidence that the mark is used in the sale or advertising of the services and that the services are actually rendered. Acceptable examples typically include a website page describing the services offered under the mark, a brochure or flyer used to advertise the services, signage, or business materials that show the mark in connection with the actual rendering of services, not merely the mark's existence.

Software specimens

Software presents its own wrinkle because "downloadable software" (a good) and "software as a service" (a service) are classified differently and require different kinds of proof. For downloadable software, a screenshot of an app store listing, a download page, or the installation interface showing the mark can work. For software-as-a-service, a screenshot of the login screen, dashboard, or a marketing page describing the service’s function under the mark is more appropriate. Submitting the wrong type of specimen for the claimed classification is a common source of refusals in this category.

E-commerce screenshots

A screenshot of a product listing or webpage can be an acceptable specimen for either goods or services, but it must clearly show the mark associated with the specific goods or services identified, along with enough of the page to establish that a purchase can actually be made, not just a mark displayed decoratively on an unrelated page.

Packaging and labels

Packaging and labels are among the most reliable goods specimens because they are, by nature, part of the point of sale. The mark should be prominently displayed, and the packaging or label should correspond to the goods actually identified in the application, a label for a product not covered by the application’s identification will not support that identification.

Advertising material

Advertising material is generally acceptable to show use of a mark for services, but is generally not acceptable as a specimen for goods, because advertising alone does not show the mark at the actual point of sale for a physical product. This distinction trips up a number of first-time filers who submit a marketing flyer to support a goods-based application.

Mockups

A mockup, a design file, rendering, or concept image created before the product or packaging actually exists in the marketplace, is not an acceptable specimen. The USPTO requires evidence of actual use in commerce, not a plan or intention to use the mark in the future. If a mark is not yet in use, the correct path is generally an intent-to-use application, not submitting a mockup as if it were a real specimen.

Digitally altered evidence

Specimens must reflect the mark as it genuinely appears in commerce. Digitally adding, removing, or altering elements of an image to make a specimen appear to satisfy the requirement, for example, superimposing a logo onto a product photo that does not actually carry it, can result in refusal and raises separate concerns about the accuracy of the application as a whole.

Substitute specimens

If an original specimen is refused, the applicant is ordinarily given the opportunity to submit a substitute specimen rather than losing the application outright. That substitute specimen ordinarily must have been in use in commerce by the relevant filing or statutory use-claim date, and the applicant must generally verify that fact in a declaration. A specimen created after the fact, or after the refusal, cannot retroactively cure a lack of qualifying use as of the date that actually matters to the application.

URL and access-date requirements

When a specimen consists of a webpage or screenshot, the USPTO requires the source URL and the date the page was accessed or printed to appear somewhere on the specimen itself. Missing this information is a purely technical but very common reason a webpage-based specimen is refused, even when the underlying evidence would otherwise be acceptable.

Common refusal reasons

Across goods and services alike, specimens are most often refused because they show only the mark itself with no supporting context (like a logo file with a blank background), because they do not match the identification of goods or services stated in the application, because they are mockups or drafts rather than evidence of actual use, or because required information like a URL and access date is missing from a webpage specimen.

This page is general information, not legal advice, and specimen acceptability is evaluated on the facts of each application; results cannot be guaranteed. Sources: USPTO, Specimen refusal and how to overcome refusal; USPTO, Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure §904 (specimen requirements).