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What happens if I receive a "merely descriptive" refusal?

Senior Trademark Attorney

A merely descriptive refusal means the examiner considers the mark incapable of identifying a single commercial source because it simply describes the goods or services it covers. The application is paused until the issue is resolved or the response deadline passes.

The response options are: arguing that the mark is suggestive rather than descriptive (requiring imagination to connect it to the goods), submitting evidence of acquired distinctiveness through long and exclusive commercial use, or amending the application to the Supplemental Register if the mark is descriptive but has some commercial recognition.

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