A recent decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit makes it easier to register marks for goods that are sold
over the Internet. The decision, In re Sones, (2009 U.S.
App. LEXIS 28198, 12/23/09), holds that a Web page may be an
acceptable specimen even if the goods are not pictured on that
page. In so holding, the Federal Circuit refused to follow a
provision of the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP),
which had required that a Web page submitted as a "display
associated with the goods" include a picture of the goods
themselves.
In Sones, the applicant applied to register ONE NATION
UNDER GOD for charity bracelets and submitted, as a specimen, two
pages from a Web site. One page offered the charity bracelet as an
item that could be ordered, inviting the user to "Add to
Cart"; the other page was a "Your Shopping Cart"
page showing an order for the goods bearing the mark. The USPTO
rejected the Statement of Use because the specimen did not
