\ In this day and age of fast-paced innovation, the question of “what’s the next big thing” often hounds even the least-interested of onlookers. While only the most rabid of technologists strive to have the deepest understanding of the latest and greatest (so much so that they stop at nothing to try and read the next new feature), the technologically unconnected still like to look ahead and figure out whether they will need to spend $600 on technology that may, in the next few months, be completely outmoded. Fortunately, for those that live and breathe on up-to-the-minute information on their biggest tech crush’s new innovation, there is a tool that you can navigate to find just such valuable tidbits: the USTPO database of registered and pending trademarks.
And one of the biggest darlings when its comes to USPTO tea leaf reading habits seems to be Apple. One of the greatest sources for this information is Patently Apple, but the usual news sources typically cover this information too when there is some pending release.
And one of the biggest darlings when its comes to USPTO tea leaf reading habits seems to be Apple. One of the greatest sources for this information is Patently Apple, but the usual news sources typically cover this information too when there is some pending release.
I must admit, as a bit of an Apple-nerd myself (I count my iPad, MacBook Air, iMac, and iPhone as almost indispensable grown-up toys), I too enjoy monitoring the company’s happenings in the patent and trademark realm. Of course, Apple seems to be at the forefront of software and hardware innovation, constantly pushing the envelope of form and function. Apple’s branding is equally as powerful, managing to touch virtually every type of potentially source-identifying property, from standard word marks to the almost unprecedented store configuration of desks, signage, lighting, and storefront glass (side note: Microsoft and Samsung fans, we can just agree to disagree here on each of these points). So, naturally, Apple seems to be a great case study for this comment on tea leaf reading.
As Patently Apple wrote recently regarding Apple Pay, the company’s filing of trademark applications for the mark APPLE PAY CASH provided an excellent insight into what new updates might be coming to iOS. Patently Apple’s review of the APPLE CASH trademark proceeds to guide the reader through the full details of the applications, including the all-important goods and services description. While this section of the application provides insight into what APPLE PAY and APPLE CASH will do (which is probably the item of greatest interest to ‘thusiasts), it is also the metes and bounds or the property lines of the trademark. This is the item that us trademark attorneys are most interested in. More than just telling everyone what specifically the trademark will cover, it describes potential areas of expansion. An attorney worth his/her hourly rate will draft these in such a way that they look beyond the current capabilities of a product and take the trademark straight into the future. Patently Apple implicitly promotes the importance of such forward-looking trademark drafting by announcing the filing of new trademarks and conveying the idea that strategy in drafting trademark applications is an important quality.
Such a quality is crucial to adopt, especially if you are a technology company that is looking to cast the widest net with its trademark application. Patent attorneys usually counsel inventors and engineers on the art of claim drafting and how any invention should be described in its broadest terms to capture future iterations of the underlying product (see, for example, this very good and very concise treatment of the topic by Gene Quinn: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2013/05/25/patent-claim-drafting-101-the-basics/id=40886/). I think that good trademark attorneys counsel their clients to do this, too but from a branding and marketing perspective. Reach for the stars with your description of goods/services. Think about not only what is, but what could be, under the mark. To be sure, this requires a knowledge of the current functionality of the products/services but also areas for expansion, and even accessory products.
Another positive development from this increasing activity of trademark tea-leaf reading is that it may be enhancing people’s abilities to discern between different classes of goods and services. “Why does this matter,” you might ask. The significance is that entrepreneurs and the folks that engage in ideation may be gaining a stronger appreciation for the different components of products/services that might be protectable under a trademark. For example, if you develop a smartphone app that allows the user to search for great restaurants based on where the user’s friends have gone recently, you might now know that you don’t just want to file a trademark application for class 9 goods (downloadable software apps). You might also want to include class 45 services (that is, social media services). Knowing the distinctions between the two, and that your brand is eligible for protection in both classes, further reinforces your trademark and gives you more enforcement options.
It is just another benefit of living in an age where information, and resources for scouring that information, are well within our reach.
Photo by Ksenia Makagonova on Unsplash
As Patently Apple wrote recently regarding Apple Pay, the company’s filing of trademark applications for the mark APPLE PAY CASH provided an excellent insight into what new updates might be coming to iOS. Patently Apple’s review of the APPLE CASH trademark proceeds to guide the reader through the full details of the applications, including the all-important goods and services description. While this section of the application provides insight into what APPLE PAY and APPLE CASH will do (which is probably the item of greatest interest to ‘thusiasts), it is also the metes and bounds or the property lines of the trademark. This is the item that us trademark attorneys are most interested in. More than just telling everyone what specifically the trademark will cover, it describes potential areas of expansion. An attorney worth his/her hourly rate will draft these in such a way that they look beyond the current capabilities of a product and take the trademark straight into the future. Patently Apple implicitly promotes the importance of such forward-looking trademark drafting by announcing the filing of new trademarks and conveying the idea that strategy in drafting trademark applications is an important quality.
Such a quality is crucial to adopt, especially if you are a technology company that is looking to cast the widest net with its trademark application. Patent attorneys usually counsel inventors and engineers on the art of claim drafting and how any invention should be described in its broadest terms to capture future iterations of the underlying product (see, for example, this very good and very concise treatment of the topic by Gene Quinn: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2013/05/25/patent-claim-drafting-101-the-basics/id=40886/). I think that good trademark attorneys counsel their clients to do this, too but from a branding and marketing perspective. Reach for the stars with your description of goods/services. Think about not only what is, but what could be, under the mark. To be sure, this requires a knowledge of the current functionality of the products/services but also areas for expansion, and even accessory products.
Another positive development from this increasing activity of trademark tea-leaf reading is that it may be enhancing people’s abilities to discern between different classes of goods and services. “Why does this matter,” you might ask. The significance is that entrepreneurs and the folks that engage in ideation may be gaining a stronger appreciation for the different components of products/services that might be protectable under a trademark. For example, if you develop a smartphone app that allows the user to search for great restaurants based on where the user’s friends have gone recently, you might now know that you don’t just want to file a trademark application for class 9 goods (downloadable software apps). You might also want to include class 45 services (that is, social media services). Knowing the distinctions between the two, and that your brand is eligible for protection in both classes, further reinforces your trademark and gives you more enforcement options.
It is just another benefit of living in an age where information, and resources for scouring that information, are well within our reach.
Photo by Ksenia Makagonova on Unsplash
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