Title 19 Part 140

Every application for registration or renewal must be on a current form supplied by the Department of State, completed in the English language, plainly written or typed, and of sufficient clarity to permit recording and reproduction by the department in its current record retention medium. If the mark or any part thereof is not in the English language, it must be accompanied by a sworn translation.

After an application has been examined and found acceptable, the registration date is the date of initial receipt of the application by the department.

A description of the mark, other than merely a word mark, must be set forth in the application including a written description of any designs sought to be registered. All extraneous matter should be omitted.

When registration is sought of a mark which would be unregistrable by reason of section 360-a(e) of the General Business Law but which is said by the applicant to have become distinctive in commerce of the goods or services set forth in the application, the applicant may, in support of registrability, submit with the application, or in response to a request for evidence or a refusal to register, affidavits, depositions or other appropriate evidence showing duration, extent and nature of use and advertising expenditures in connection therewith (identifying types of media and attaching typical advertisements), and affidavits, letters, or statements from the trade or public, or both, or other appropriate evidence tending to show that the mark distinguishes such goods or services.

If an application is found not entitled to registration, the department will advise the applicant and give the reasons for the rejection. The applicant has six months following the rejection within which to reply or amend the application, which will then be re-examined. This procedure may be repeated until:

If the applicant fails to file a proper response within six months, the application is deemed abandoned. An abandoned application may be revived as a pending application if it is shown to the satisfaction of the department that the delay was unavoidable.

Prior to actual registration of a mark, the applicant by written request may withdraw the application.