Does an e-book qualify as a trademark specimen for a book?

Photo of Tomas Orsula

Written by Tomas Orsula

Senior Trademark Attorney

Based on the Nice classification, e-books are categorised under Class 9. Physical books, on the other hand, are classified under Class 16. For this reason, it is not sufficient to provide a specimen for an e-book if you sell physical books and vice versa.

If you provide an insufficient or wrong specimen, the USPTO will refuse it and ask you to provide a correct specimen to register your mark. Failing to provide a new specimen may lead to losing your application.

If you sell e-books as well as physical books, you can consider registering for Classes 9 and 16 to obtain a higher level of protection. In such a case, you will have to provide specimens for both classes. If you currently only sell e-books, you can submit a specimen for Class 9. Class 16 can be filed with an intent-to-use, which will grant you some additional time to start selling physical books.

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