USPTO Design Search Code Manual



	USPTO Design Search Code Manual

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CATEGORIES

INTRODUCTION

GENERAL GUIDELINES

DESIGN SEARCH CODE

KEYWORD SEARCH

ALPHABETICAL INDEX

TABLE OF CATEGORIES

01	Celestial bodies, natural phenomena, geographical maps This category includes objects that appear in the sky, including clouds, stars, moons, sun, planets and constellation. Additionally, designs associated with weather conditions such as rainbows, lightning, and snowflakes are found here. Maps of countries and continents are also in 01.
02	Human beings This category includes representations of men, women and children regardless of the activity they are engaged in or how they are dressed. Stylized humans, those in caricature form, stick figures and parts of the human body are also in this category.
03	Animals This category includes most animals, except mythological animals. Animals found here include mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and insects. Prehistoric animals, stylized animals and animals with human attributes are also coded in category 03.
04	Supernatural beings, mythological or legendary beings, fantastical beings or unidentifiable beings This category includes beings such as devils, angels, leprechauns, witches, and super heroes. Designs that are part human and part animal and mythological animals such as unicorns and Pegasus are in this category. Plants, objects or geometrical figures that represent humans or animals are also in category 04.
05	Plants This category includes almost every type of plant such as flowers, trees, leaves, vegetables, and fruits. Also, decorations made from plants are in this category.
06	Scenery This category includes mountains, lakes, waterfalls, beaches, forests and islands. Also, desert scenery and urban scenery such as skylines and street scenes fall within category 06.
07	Dwellings, buildings, monuments, stadiums, fountains, structural works and building materials This category includes almost any structure that is built by man. All dwellings from igloos to skyscrapers are in 07. Interior and exterior portions of buildings along with building materials such as bricks, wood and cinderblocks are in this category.
08	Foodstuff This category includes goods that are edible such as meat, dairy products, sandwiches, and baked goods. It does not include fruits and vegetables.
09	Textiles, clothing, headwear, footwear and sewing accessories This category includes all types of clothing items and textile goods such as towels, curtains, sheets and carpeting. Also sewing products such as zippers, patterns, and sewing machines can be found in 09.
10	Tobacco, smokers' materials; fans; toilet articles; medical devices and apparatus including tablets, capsules or powders This category includes most tobacco products and medical devices as well as products in tablet or capsule form. Grooming aids such as razors, toothbrushes, and make up products are in this category. You will also find non-motorized fans, canes and umbrellas in category 10.
11	Household utensils This category includes most items that would be found in a household kitchen, including cutlery, cookware, beverage ware and electric or non-electric kitchen appliances. Other household utensils such as irons, brooms and plungers are in category 11.
12	Furniture and sanitary fixtures This category includes all types of home and office furniture. Sanitary fixtures such as sinks, bathtubs and toilets are found in category 12.
13	Lighting, cooking, heating, cooling or refrigeration equipment This category includes lighting goods such as torches, candles, table lamps and flashbulbs. Stoves, refrigerators, toasters and air conditioners are also in category 13.
14	Hardware, tools and ladders; nonmotorized agricultural implements; keys and locks This category includes all types of hardware, power tools and hand tools. Cables, wires, valves, hammers, locks, and keys can be found in category 14. Additionally, non-motorized agricultural goods such as pitchforks, plows and rakes are in found here.
15	Machines and parts thereof, including industrial agricultural, home and office machines; electrical equipment This category includes all types of machines such as generators, conveyor belts, vacuum cleaners and vending machines. Office machinery such as computers, photocopiers, and cash registers can be found in category 15. Wheels and bearings are also in this category.
16	Telecommunications, sound recording or reproduction equipment; photography, cinematography and optics This category includes goods in the telecommunications and sound recording industries such as antennas, telephones, microphones, tape players, radios and televisions. Goods that are used for cinematography such as cameras and optical equipment, including eyeglasses and telescopes are in category 16.
17	Horological instruments and parts; jewelry; weights and measures This category includes all goods that measure time and all jewelry items. Additionally, scales such as the Scales of Justice are found here. Other measuring instruments such as rulers, thermometers and Geiger counters are found in category 17.
18	Transport; equipment for animals; traffic signs This category includes all types of land, water and air vehicles, whether powered by animals, humans or motors. Equipment for animals such as saddles, leashes and horseshoes are found here. Traffic signs including stop signs, road signs and buoys are found in category 18.
19	Baggage, containers and bottles This category includes goods that are used to hold something such as luggage, barrels, bottles, boxes, coffins and baskets. Receptacles for laboratory use such as beakers and test tubes can be found in category 19.
20	Writing, drawing or painting materials, office materials, stationery and books This category includes most items found in a stationery store such as pencils, writing paper, labels and postage stamps. Books, magazines and newspapers are also found in category 20.
21	Games, toys and sporting articles This category includes all types of sporting equipment and toys such as dice, dolls, balls and swings. Merry-go-rounds and amusement park rides are also in category 21.
22	Musical instruments and their accessories; bells; sculptures This category includes any type of musical instrument such as guitars, bagpipes, whistles and tuning forks. Bells, including sleigh bells and the Liberty bell are found here. Any type of sculpture, whether of humans or animals can be found in category 22.
23	Arms, ammunition and armor This category includes weapons, firearms, ammunition, and explosives such as fireworks and dynamite. Suits of armor are also found in category 23.
24	Heraldry, flags, crowns, crosses, arrows and symbols This category includes shields, crests and seals with or without words or figures. Coins, medals and prize ribbons can be found in category 24. Crowns, crosses and arrows have been classified here. Banners and flags, including any American flag, are included in this category. Lastly, symbols such as the dollar symbol, percent symbol, punctuation marks and the universal prohibition symbol are in category 24.
25	Ornamental framework, surfaces or backgrounds with ornaments This category includes frames for pictures, ornamental borders and backgrounds such as checkerboards and wood graining. Designs consisting of repetitive figures, words and letters are found in category 25.
26	Geometric figures and solids This category includes geometric designs such as circles, triangles, rectangles, oblongs, polygons, ovals, diamonds, squares, quadrilaterals, lines, angles, chevrons, spheres, cubes, and prisms. It is the largest of all the categories.
27	Forms of writing This category includes designs that have letters, numbers, or punctuation symbols that are arranged in such a manner as to form a human, animal, plant or object. Conversely, if the design of a plant, human, geometric figure, or object is arranged to form a letter, number or punctuation symbol, they are found in category 27.
28	Inscriptions in various characters This category includes designs that have non-Latin characters. Inscriptions in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew and Greek are in this category.
29	Miscellaneous This category includes marks that consist solely of color. The codes for color marks are divided by the color, whether a single color or multiple colors are claimed, and whether the color is used over the entire object or only a portion of the object. Category 29 also includes inconspicuous design elements functioning as punctuation or parts of letters.

INTRODUCTION

This manual contains three documents concerning the maintenance and use of the automated design mark data base. The documents include: (1) the General Guidelines, (2) the design search code and (3) an alphabetical index.

The General Guidelines provide broad instructions and procedures for interpreting the design search code.

The design search code is a numerical classification index which codifies design figurative elements into categories, the most general classification, divisions, subsets of categories, and sections, subsets of divisions. The design search code is the equivalent of a filing system for paper records, such as, the system in use in the Trademark Search Room. Each design element in a specific section is assigned a six-digit number. The first two numbers, which may range from 0129, indicate the category; the second group of two-digit numbers, which may be any odd number between 0125, indicates the division; and the third group of two-digit numbers, which may range from 0133, indicates the section. For example, category 01 represents celestial bodies, natural phenomena and geographical maps. Division 01 in category 01 (01.01) represents stars. Section 03 in division 01 in category 01 (01.01.03) represents five pointed stars.

The design code also contains explanatory notes, such as, specific guidelines which provide instructions for specific code sections, cross-reference notes which direct users to other code categories, sections and divisions and notes describing elements which are included or excluded from a code section.

The alphabetical index is a list of design elements with their corresponding numeric code. If the specific item you are looking for is not listed, a synonym or related item will direct you to the appropriate code.

CODING DESIGN MARKS

The individuals coding design trademarks have been instructed to look at the designs from two aspects. First, the coder should look at the mark as if he were going to search that particular mark. The coder should identify the significant design elements and assign the appropriate codes. Second, the coder should look at the subject mark and think, if I was searching for another mark, what elements in the subject mark would be considered significant. Those elements should be coded. Although the first and second perspective will often coincide, there are many instances where the second perspective will dictate more comprehensive coding.

The General Guidelines provide an overview for coding.

USING THE DESIGN CODE

In conducting a design search, one may focus on an extremely narrow group of similar design marks by using one or more six-digit codes. One may also look at broader categories or divisions of marks by using either two-digit or four-digit codes. Typically one will restrict either broad or narrow groupings of design marks by limiting the search to one or more classes of goods and services.

For example, the mark illustrated below is used to identify electrically heated utensils namely, skillets, coffee percolators and serving trays in International Class 11 and U.S. Class 21. Please note, non-electric coffee percolators are classified in International Class 21 and U.S. Classes 2 and 13. Skillets are related to pans and pans may be found in International Class 21 and U.S. Classes 13 and 33.

Sample trademark with design as described above.

The design elements of the mark consist of the silhouette of a colonial man's head. The circle serves as a carrier or border for the significant elements and may be ignored in this particular instance. The following codes are relevant for conducting a search.

02.01.01   Heads, portraiture, busts of men

02.01.02   Shadows or silhouettes of men

02.01.06   Colonial men

A narrow search could be constructed by requesting the head or silhouette of a colonial man in International Classes 11 and 21 or U.S. Classes 13 and 33.

Search for a DESIGN MARK:

(020101[DC] OR 020102[DC]) AND 020106[DC] AND ("011"[IC] OR "021"[IC] OR "013"[US] OR "033"[US])

After reviewing the marks retrieved, the user can remove the class limits and continue the search.

Search for a DESIGN MARK:

(02010[DC] OR 020101[DC]) AND 020106[DC] NOT S1

In the second search statement S1 stands for the first search statement. By using the Boolean NOT operator, the user will not retrieve the documents retrieved in the first search statement.

After reviewing the marks retrieved, the user may need to continue the search by looking for the heads of men, silhouettes of men or colonial men in the appropriate classes.

Search for a DESIGN MARK:

(020101[DC] OR 020102[DC] OR 020106[DC]) AND ("011"[IC] OR "021"[IC] OR "013"[US] OR "033"[US]) NOT S1 NOT S2

After reviewing the marks retrieved, the user can remove the class limits and continue the search.

Search for a DESIGN MARK:

(020101[DC] OR 020102[DC] OR 020106[DC]) NOT S1 NOT S2 NOT S3

A broad search could be constructed by asking for all men and all women in International Classes 11 and 21 or U.S. Classes 13 and 33.

Search for a DESIGN MARK:

(0201??[DC] OR 0203??[DC]) AND ("011"[IC] OR "021"[IC] OR "013"[US] OR "033"[US])