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ARTICLE · 28 JUNE 2018

Play-Doh Scent Registration May Serve As Trademark Model

Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC
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Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC

Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC

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Trademark attorneys usually handle registrations online.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Catherine M.C. Farrelly
Catherine M.C. Farrelly
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Trademark attorneys usually handle registrations online. But the lawyer for toy maker Hasbro Inc. faced a problem that no computer could solve.

Lawyer Catherine M.C. Farrelly was trying to get a trademark registration for the iconic scent of Play-Doh, the modeling compound that has been sold as a children's toy since 1956. The Patent and Trademark Office requires a specimen of any trademark, so the scent had to be sent. Farrelly, of Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein & Selz PC, New York, told Bloomberg Law that she sent the application in February 2017 with a note that a box of Play-Doh was on its way by overnight delivery.

Hasbro Inc.'s success in getting a trademark registration in May 2018 for the smell of Play-Doh might serve as a model for lawyers tasked with securing aroma-related trademarks, trademark lawyers told Bloomberg Law.

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