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What are my chances of overcoming a specimen refusal?

Written by Jan Buza

Co-founder of Trama

High, in most cases. Specimen refusals are among the more straightforward office actions to resolve because the fix is usually practical rather than legal: submit a better specimen.

If the original specimen was simply of poor quality, illegible, or not the right type for the class, a replacement that addresses those specific issues will generally be accepted. The main situation where a specimen refusal is harder to overcome is where the mark is not genuinely in US commercial use; in that case, the substitute specimen cannot be produced, and the filing basis needs to be changed.

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