COVID-19 and Your Trademark

The coronavirus has penetrated nearly every aspect of our lives and the world of trademarks is not immune.

You can read the entirety of the USPTO’s message here: https://www.uspto.gov/coronavirus

Practically speaking, the pandemic shouldn’t affect the average trademark application filer. While all of the USPTO offices are closed to the public, employees are still going to work. “Unless otherwise notified, USPTO operations will continue without interruption. Patent and trademark application deadlines and other deadlines are not extended.”

Now when it comes to fees, the only fees being waived, as of now, relate to the petitions.

So, if you have an ABANDONED application OR a CANCELLED/EXPIRED registration and the failure to respond was related to the COVID-19 outbreak, “the USPTO will waive the petition fee.”

“If the applicant or registrant did not receive a notice of abandonment or cancellation, the petition must be filed not later than six months after the date the trademark electronic records system indicates that the application is abandoned or the registration is canceled/expired.”

“In all cases, the petition must include a statement explaining how the failure to respond to the Office communication was due to the effects of the Coronavirus outbreak.”

You can read the entire notice here: https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/coronavirus_relief_ognotice_03162020.pdf

Now, there are NO waiver or extensions of dates or requirements for the following:

“(1) the 36-month period set forth in 15 U.S.C. § 105l(d) within which a statement of use must be filed and the associated fee(s);” aka EXTENSIONS & the STATEMENT OF USE

“(2) the periods set forth in 15 U.S.C. §§ 1058, 114 l(k) for filing affidavits of continued use or excusable nonuse and the associated fee(s);” aka the Section 8

“(3) the period set forth in 15 U.S.C. § 1059 for filing a renewal and the associated fee(s);” aka the Section 9

“(4) the periods set forth in 15 U.S.C. §§ 1063 and 1064 for filing an opposition or cancellation proceeding at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board” aka if this applies to you, an attorney is helping you

Now with anything related to the coronavirus, this is subject to change at a moment’s notice. If you’re not sure if any of this applies to your unique situation, give us a ring at 800-776-0530 or email us staff at tmexpress dot com

Beware of Official-y Correspondence

Once you get that trademark filed be aware that your information is of public record, which means, unfortunately, some will mine that resource & some of those folks will send you solicitations. 

These solicitations often look very official, and "may use names that resemble the USPTO name, including, for example, one or more of the terms "United States," “U.S.,” "Trademark," "Patent," "Registration," "Office," or "Agency."  

Some will even have documents that resemble actual government documents rather than what you'd expect a company to send and this is often done by "emphasizing official government data like the USPTO application serial number, the registration number, the International Class(es), filing dates, and other information that is publicly available from USPTO records."

Most of these are asking you for money. That's your major warning flag.

"All official correspondence will be from the “United States Patent and Trademark Office” in Alexandria, VA, and if by e-mail, specifically from the domain “@uspto.gov.”

If you did receive something that you're not too sure about go ahead and forward it to me - shannon at tmexpress dot com - and I can confirm if it's official or not.

Read more about what the USPTO has to say about this here.

IP Webinar Series: December 9-11th

"The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will co-host a free webinar series to help business owners understand the intellectual property process, starting on Tuesday, December 9.

Register today!

This three-part webinar series will provide participants with insightful tips for success on getting a patent or registering a trademark or copyright."

The trademark webinar takes place on December 11th, 1pm-2pm EST. Register here.

I'll be there so "see" you on-line!

The Government Shutdown and Your Trademarks

         

          

         Since several clients have asked how the government shutdown may affect their trademarks, we here at TradeMark Express decided it’d be a good idea to provide all of our clients an update.

          First, good news! The USPTO “will remain open...[and will] operate as usual for approximately four weeks.” This means that all “11,789 employees will be excepted” until approximately starting the week of October 28th. This means that all of your trademark needs will be met from filing a new application to submitting renewal forms.

          However, should the reserve funds be exhausted before then the USPTO will shut down. If a shut down happens, regardless of when it occurs, “a very small staff would continue to work to accept new applications and maintain IT infrastructure.” But what does this mean for you?

          NEW APPLICATIONS

            Even if the USPTO shuts down, new applications will be accepted. Given that it takes about 3-4 months to be assigned to an examining attorney there will be no noticeable delays for new applications as it’s not expected (or hoped!) that the government will be shut down for months. So, more good news! There is no need to delay your needed comprehensive research or application preparation!

          PENDING APPLICATIONS

          In regard to already filed applications including those with pending Office Actions or those needing renewal forms, the USPTO will essentially function on a holiday schedule. This means that “any action or fee that is due on a date falling on...a Federal holiday...is considered timely if the action is received, or the fee paid, on the following day that is NOT...a Federal holiday.” Let’s say the USPTO shuts down and your Office Action is due the very next day. No need to worry! It won’t actually be due until the USPTO is open.

CAVEAT – While these are the provisions in place as of now, the USPTO representative I spoke to warned that nothing is “positive yet” and the office is in “wait and see” mode as the USPTO has never closed down before. Should anything change from what’s outlined above, TradeMark Express will send out another notice.

         

         

TO SUM IT UP...

If you’re thinking about filing a new application or have a pending application that needs attention then don’t delay and contact TradeMark Express today! 

The Trademark Information Network

Awhile back the USPTO launched a media component to their trademark page, namely, the Trademark Information Network. From this page you can watch a number of different videos that discuss the basics of trademarks and all the way up to post-registration issues.

Have you watched any? What did you think?

I'll devote some posts to watching these videos & provide a critique/reaction to each one.

More Changes Coming to the USPTO's Online Presence

The USPTO issued a press release on December 7th. Here are the details:

On or about December 16, 2011, the USPTO will introduce a new system, Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR 1.0). TSDR 1.0 will redefine the way Trademark status data and all documents will be displayed to the public. It reengineers the existing functionality that TARR and TDR currently provide and adds new features, providing access to one place for viewing, printing, and downloading snapshots of the data the USPTO stores about a trademark application or registration.

New features include:

• The ability to preview and print the status content being presented.
• The ability to download a PDF or the original form of the status content (an Extensible Markup Language (XML) file).
• The ability to view the mark as stored in the USPTO mark image repository, and expand the size thereof through mouse rollover feature.
• The organization of content into logical sections, with a more logical arrangement of the content within those sections.
• The ability to collapse and expand sections of the data.
• The ability to move easily between status and document content.
• The presentation of basis data at both the case and class levels.
• Links to related properties, where applicable.
• Access to Trademark status data without going to the TSDR site via an Application Programming Interface (API), which is accessible via unique URL’s that allow the retrieval of data in a specified format (PDF or XML).
• Significant decrease in the amount of time between an update to the internal USPTO database record and what is available externally (seconds as opposed to hours).

Please note that, at a currently undetermined point, both TARR and TDR will disappear. Until then, the links for both TARR and TDR will take the user to an "interim" page, from which either the existing system can be reached or the new TSDR 1.0 can be accessed.

Update on the Steve Jobs Exhibit at the USPTO

The USPTO exhibit I wrote about last month honoring Steve Jobs' patents & trademarks is up and running. Check out the awesome iPhone models here.

To check out the more unusual Apple trademarks, read this Atlantic article. I don't know...I think the glass retail store is pretty cool.

Are you going to the USPTO exhibit? Do you have a favorite Apple trademark?

Steve Jobs Exhibit at the USPTO

The USPTO has decided to pay tribute to the late Steve Jobs with an exhibit highlighting the Apple innovator's patents and trademarks. Here is part of the press release:

"In tribute to the tremendous influence of Steve Jobs, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will showcase The Patents and Trademarks of Steve Jobs: Art and Technology that Changed the World. The free exhibit will open to the public on November 16 at the USPTO’s campus in Alexandria, Virginia.

“This exhibit commemorates the far-reaching impact of Steve Jobs’ entrepreneurship and innovation on our daily lives,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos. “His patents and trademarks provide a striking example of the importance intellectual property plays in the global marketplace.”

Located in the atrium of the Madison Building, the exhibit features more than 300 of the patents that bear the name of the iconic innovator along with many of the trademarks that have given Apple its instantly recognizable identity around the world...

The Jobs exhibit, which runs through January 15, 2012, is free and open to the public, as is the National Inventors Hall of Fame and Museum."

What does a USPTO Search Look Like?

When an applicant submits a Federal trademark application, there is a timeline that's followed. Anywhere from 4-7 months after filing, the USPTO will conduct a search of their own records to look for any marks that may be conflicting to yours.

Let's look at ISHINE again, which was filed for floor finishing preparations. Here's what the USPTO Search Summary looks like:

*i$sh{"iy"}n*

*sh{"iy"}ne* or *sh{"iy"}ny* or *sh{"iy"}ni*

Okay, so that's confusing looking, right? Let's define the $ symbol & the * symbol before we dive into the search strategies:

• The $ symbol definition: Matches zero or more continuous characters. The $ truncation operator can be used in any search field to represent 0, 1, or more than one character other than a blank space character.
• The * symbol definition: Matches zero or more continuous characters. The * is a more efficient truncation operator for left and/or right truncation.

To understand the difference between the two:

*wonder* results in 1279 hits whereas $wonder results in 808 hits.

Now let's break down each search strategy:

*i$sh{"iy"}n*

The front and back asterisk symbols means any instance of those letters in that order will pop up, regardless if it's at the beginning of a word (e.g. ishine), the middle of a word (e.g. silvershine), the end of a word (e.g. finishing) or as separate words (e.g. ice shine, which blocked this mark).

One important note, you can see that the USPTO limited the vowel characters between the letters H and N to just find the letters I or Y. This means that the USPTO didn't look for marks like ishone. Since shone is an inflection of shine, that mark would be relevant.

*sh{"iy"}ne* or *sh{"iy"}ny* or *sh{"iy"}ni*

The concept is similar to the above. The main difference is that the USPTO added three different vowels to the end and dropped the letter I at the beginning. This results in marks such as shine, shyny, shining, etc. As you can well imagine, this resulted in a large number of hits – 2,595 to be exact. The USPTO then narrowed it by International Classification, which resulted in 926 hits.

Lastly, they narrowed it by the goods description. Interestingly enough, they only used two words to describe the goods – floor or floors. 46 hits were the result here. The limitation of the goods description is also troublesome. What about all the types of flooring that are out there? For instance, if there was a mark with a similar name who had filed as "hardwood finishing preparations" or "laminate finishing" it would not have come up during the USPTO's search.

The Problem with the USPTO: Flaw #3 – Meaning

The USPTO offers a fantastic free resource for potential trademark owners – the ability to search the Feeral trademark files for free. To get started, go here and click on the Search link that's located in the right-hand column.

However, as with many things in life, you get what you pay for.

When it comes to trademarks and locating potential conflicts and/or similarities, the SAM rule must be kept in mind.

What is the SAM rule?

Here's what the USPTO has to say about this:

Similarity in sound, appearance, or meaning may be sufficient to support a finding of likelihood of confusion."

The dreaded likelihood of confusion conclusion means a refusal is on its way. To avoid that, comprehensive research should be conducted prior to filing.

What does similarity in Meaning mean? And how does the USPTO search engine fail in this respect?

"Similarity in meaning or connotation is another factor in determining whether there is a likelihood of confusion between marks. The focus is on the recollection of the average purchaser who normally retains a general, rather than specific, impression of trademark" Click here to read more.

The USPTO provides an example of CITY WOMAN (clothing) being refused because it's likely to be confused with CITY GIRL (also clothing), in terms of meaning. It's reasonable for the average consumer to believe these marks are related as woman and girl both describe a female person. Since it's for clothing, it's very easy to see how one could assume City Woman is a line of women's clothing whereas City Girl is a line geared towards young girls or teens.

Flaw #3, Meaning:

That being established, let's do a search using the USPTO search engine. A search for CITY WOMAN brings up 20 marks, one of them being the now abandoned CITY WOMAN in question.

But it does NOT bring up CITY GIRL.

So let's say CITY WOMAN was your mark & you conducted a search at the USPTO. You even searched variations, like City Women (no Girls here), Cities Women (no, not there) and City Lady (nope & now City Womanl doesn't even show up). You'd mistakenly think that the name was available.

Here's one example of why comprehensive research is important.

Click to read about the Sound flaw. Click to read about the Appearance flaw.

The Problem with the USPTO: Flaw #2 – Appearance

The USPTO offers a fantastic free resource for potential trademark owners – the ability to search the Feeral trademark files for free. To get started, go here and click on the Search link that's located in the right-hand column.

However, as with many things in life, you get what you pay for.

When it comes to trademarks and locating potential conflicts and/or similarities, the SAM rule must be kept in mind.

What is the SAM rule?

Here's what the USPTO has to say about this:

Similarity in sound, appearance, or meaning may be sufficient to support a finding of likelihood of confusion."

The dreaded likelihood of confusion conclusion means a refusal is on its way. To avoid that, comprehensive research should be conducted prior to filing.

What does similarity in Appearance mean? And how does the USPTO search engine fail in this respect?

"Similarity in appearance is one factor in determining whether there is a likelihood of confusion between marks. Marks may be confusingly similar in appearance despite the addition, deletion or substitution of letters or words." Click here to read more.

The USPTO provides an example of TRUCOOL (a synthetic coolant) being refused because it's likely to be confused with TURCOOL (cutting oil), in terms of appearance. Now these marks are decidedly different but the fact that the goods are similar & the marks' APPEARANCE is very close, a refusal was issued.

Flaw #2, Appearance:

That being established, let's do a search using the USPTO search engine. A search for TRUCOOL brings up 3 marks, one of them being the now abandoned TRUCOOL in question.

But it does NOT bring up TURCOOL.

So let's say TRUCOOL was your mark & you conducted a search at the USPTO. You even searched variations, like TrueCool (no TURCOOL here), Tru Kool (no, not there) and Troo Cool (nope & now TruCool doesn't even show up). You'd mistakenly think that the name was available.

Here's one example of why comprehensive research is important.

Click to read about the Sound flaw. Click to read about the Meaning flaw.

The Problem with the USPTO: Flaw #1 – Sound

The USPTO offers a fantastic free resource for potential trademark owners – the ability to search the Feeral trademark files for free. To get started, go here and click on the Search link that's located in the right-hand column.

However, as with many things in life, you get what you pay for. This month's newsletter will be about the 3 fatal flaws of the USPTO search engine.

When it comes to trademarks and locating potential conflicts and/or similarities, the SAM rule must be kept in mind.

What is the SAM rule?

Here's what the USPTO has to say about this:

Similarity in sound, appearance, or meaning may be sufficient to support a finding of likelihood of confusion."

The dreaded likelihood of confusion conclusion means a refusal is on its way. To avoid that, comprehensive research should be conducted prior to filing.

What does similarity in Sound mean? And how does the USPTO search engine fail in this respect?

"Similarity in sound is one factor in determining whether there is a likelihood of confusion between marks. There is no 'correct' pronunciation of a trademark because it is impossible to predict how the public will pronounce a particular mark. Therefore, 'correct' pronunciation cannot be relied on to avoid a likelihood of confusion." Click here to read more.

The USPTO provides an example of ISHINE being refused because it's likely to be confused with ICE SHINE, in terms of sound. The sound similarity and the common goods description (floor finishing preparations) are the 2 main factors that warranted a refusal.

Flaw #1, Sound:

That being established, let's do a search using the USPTO search engine. A search for ISHINE brings up 3 marks, one of them being the now abandoned ISHINE in question.

But it does NOT bring up ICE SHINE.

So let's say ISHINE was your mark & you conducted a search at the USPTO. You even searched variations, like EyeShine (still no ICESHINE), I Shine (no ICE anywhere) and AyeShine (no dice on the ICE). You'd mistakenly think that the name was available.

Here's one example of why comprehensive research is important.

Click to read about the Appearance flaw. Click to read about the Meaning flaw.

Unsolicited Trademark Mailings: A Warning from INTA

When TradeMark Express started preparing and submitting Federal trademark applications for clients, we heard almost immediately about official-looking mailings they received requesting more money to either monitor their mark or to be listed in a "trademark registration directory." These unsolicited offers are in no way affiliated with the USPTO and therefore, do NOT require a response.

The appearance of these mailings is the first foot in the door of confusion. They often come on very official looking stationery; an invoice that looks very governmental in form and/or appears to be affiliated with a governmental entity.

Take a look at one of the examples INTA provides on their web site from the United States Trademark Protection Agency (USTPA – see what they did there?): PDF format - USTPA Example Mailing.

The only mailings any trademark owner should most definitely respond to are going to be those directly from the US Patent & Trademark Office. Also, any official USPTO email is going to come from addresses ending in uspto.gov

If you've received a mailing you're not sure about, please contact any of our offices for guidance.

Read the International Trademark Association's (INTA) full article here. A listing they identified of some of the companies who send out unsolicited mailings is also provided within the article.

It's Graph Time Again!

As promised in this post, I'm revisiting the USPTO's Performance & Accountability Report.

I decided to take a look at the highest number of applications filed based on state residency. Here are the top 6 out of the 310,296 applications filed by residents of the US:

Now let's take a look at these same states to see how many made it to registration. This represents a portion of the 122,266 applications registered to residents of the US. Of course, there's going to be some rollover from those filed in 2006/registered in 2007 and those filed in 2007/registered in 2008 but this gives a pretty fair snapshot:

It still boggles my mind that such a large number of trademark applications are filed that NEVER make it to registration. This is why we always stress to our clients to stay on top of their trademark filings. The USPTO will not keep watch of your trademark; that's your responsibility. Also ensuring that the name is available in the first place will get you past the dreaded refusal Office Action.

Mention our blog & get $25 off of our Premium Package.

Fun With Graphs

Every year the USPTO publishes an online Performance and Accountability Report, which contains some pretty interesting statistics about patents & trademarks. I used this site to create a couple of graphs to provide a visual on these stats.

A 27% increase in 4 years is pretty significant. The increase every year goes to show how important folks are taking their trademarks & brand identity.

The above is a 5 year look at the number of registrations issued. As you can see, the number of applications filed versus those that move to registration differ greatly. This is going to be for a number of reasons -- refusals, abandonments, oppositions, etc.

Look at 2006 - 128,672 applications never made it to registration. Even if each one of those applications consisted of only 1 class filed, that's a total of $41,818,400. Let's even say that all 128,672 applications used TEAS Plus -- that's still a total of $35,384,800! That's staggering.

There's all sorts of statistics available so I'll be devoting a couple of more posts on the various findings.

US Patent & Trademark Office: Navigating the Web Site

Anyone that's had to slog through a governmental web site knows how confusing it can be at times. That being said, let's take a virtual walk together through the web site of the US Patent & Trademark Office.

Start at the home page.

You'll see a headline of sorts along with 3 columns of information. Left hand column are a series of links that drop down to show even more links – more about this to follow. The middle column is the site's top news with various headlines and blurbs. The right hand column are banner links that go to various pages/sites, such as the Department of Commerce, Kids' Pages, jobs at the USPTO, etc.

Left hand column – we're going to concentrate on 2 of the 13 available links.

Click on Patents – a drop down should open with a series of numbered links.

Let's take a look at a few a bit closer:

The very first link, not numbered, Patents main page takes you to the hub of the US patent universe. This is the main page where you can access all of the other related patent links.

Link #1 About Patents takes you right back to that main page, which is confusing. Ignore that. Instead from the main page, click on Basic Facts About Patents. This will give you a good idea of what a patent actually is.

Link #5 Search Patents takes you to the USPTO Patent Search page. From here you can search issued or published applications.

Link #6 File Online in EFS-Web takes you to the Patent Electronic Business Center. From here you can also search patents as well as file a patent application.

Back to the home page.

Link #1 Where Do I Start? is a great place to start. This page provides a pretty thorough road map of the trademark process.

Link #3 Search TM database takes you to the Trademark Electronic Search System. From here you can do a preliminary check of the Federal trademarks.

Link #4 File Online Forms goes to the Trademark Electronic Application System where you'd file a trademark application electronically.

Link #5 Check Status is the page every trademark owner should bookmark. This is where you can check your status using your Serial Number.

Link #6 View Full Files allows you to view all the associated documents with many of the Federal trademark filings. For instance, you can view your application or specimens. Also, if you receive an Office Action, a copy will be available here.

And there's a brief walk through of the most important patent and trademark links on the US Patent and Trademark Office web site. There are many more of course but the ones detailed above are those that will be most helpful to those starting the patent and trademark processes.

How Slow Can the PTO Go?

I had intended the post for today to be a follow-up to these 2 posts:

O Romeo, Romeo & When Applications Go Wrong.

To sum up, these posts were about potential problems for the applications of Romeo & for La Bella Bella Maternity. And my intention had been to compare my predictions with how the USPTO interpreted the applications.

However, both of these applications have yet to be assigned to an examining attorney. Romeo filed on January 4th, which means it's been 72 days. La Bella Belly Maternity filed on January 17th, which means it's been 59 days.

Now, it's not news that the USPTO takes awhile to get things moving. But this lag in movement does go to show how vital it is to ensure that the name is legally available prior to filing.

Both of these marks have the potential of being refused for likelihood of confusion. Should that be the case, the USPTO will let the applicant know by way of an Office Action. Now, if either of these marks have to undergo a name change...well, that could've been avoided had research been completed first. Undergoing a name change months after time, effort & money has already been poured into a name is frustrating to say the least.

I'll devote another post to these 2 marks once their applications have moved to the next stage.

Trademark vs. Service Mark

Simply put, trademarks are for goods while service marks are for services. When discussing either, it is common to use the term "trademark", even when discussing a service use, because the handling of either is interchangeable by both the USPTO and all 50 Secretary of State Offices.

The USPTO says that a "service mark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms 'trademark' and 'mark' are often used to refer to both trademarks and service marks."

Let's look at each term in more detail

Trademark:

The USPTO's definition: trademark "protect words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish goods and services from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of the goods."

If your name and/or logo appear on the tangible goods that you're selling, you'd be filing for a trademark. For instance, let's say you want to protect the name of your clothing line. As long as the name appears on the hang tag, label or the packaging the clothes come in, that would suffice as proof of you using the name in connection with a clothing line. And therefore, you'd file for a trademark.

If the name appears only on the front of the shirt, that's ornamental use and therefore not eligible for trademark protection.

Service Mark:

The USPTO's definition: service mark is "a word, name, symbol or device that is to indicate the source of the services and to distinguish them from the services of others."

If you're selling services in connection with a name and/or logo, you'd be filing for a service mark. TradeMark Express is our service mark that we use in connection with our trademark research & application services.

For example, you are opening a restaurant using a specific name. The name as it appears on any signage, menus, advertising, etc., would suffice as proof of your use in connection with your services.

Likelihood of Confusion: Meaning

When filing for a Federal trademark, it's important to keep the SAM rule in mind.

Who's SAM?

SAM's not a person but a concept employed by the USPTO during their review process of new Federal trademark applications.

The USPTO will refuse registration "if the marks are similar and the goods and or services related." So basically marks do not need to be exact conflicts to be considered for refusal. ""Similarity in sound, appearance, or meaning may be sufficient to support a finding of likelihood of confusion," hence the SAM rule.

Let's take some time to dissect the third one – MEANING

Similarities in meaning takes into consideration that consumers could easily assume that marks that share a similar meaning are related, such as an offshoot product line or a new facet of a service. Because of that the USPTO will take into consideration marks that MEAN the same as one another.

Let's look at an example to illustrate this point.

You have a web site development service that you plan to name WebWorks & would like a Federal trademark. The comprehensive research you ordered showed a registered trademark for web site development for Internet Works. The words are different but for the average consumer the words web and internet are interchangeable and therefore are thought to MEAN the same thing.

*Comprehensive research will be on the lookout for SAM*

Likelihood of Confusion: Appearance

When filing for a Federal trademark, it's important to keep the SAM rule in mind.

Who's SAM?

SAM's not a person but a concept employed by the USPTO during their review process of new Federal trademark applications.

The USPTO will refuse registration "if the marks are similar and the goods and or services related." So basically marks do not need to be exact conflicts to be considered for refusal. ""Similarity in sound, appearance, or meaning may be sufficient to support a finding of likelihood of confusion," hence the SAM rule.

Let's take some time to dissect the second one – APPEARANCE

Similarities in appearance takes into consideration that consumers often see trademarks be it on television, on the web, magazines, etc. Because of that the USPTO will take into consideration marks that APPEAR to be similar to one another.

Let's look at an example to illustrate this point.

You have a cosmetics line that you plan to name Facing East & would like a Federal trademark. The comprehensive research you ordered showed a registered trademark for cosmetics for Facin' East. The spelling is slightly different but both marks APPEAR to be nearly identical.

*Comprehensive research will be on the lookout for SAM*