JVC Trademark Glossary of Generic Terms

At the request of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), JVC has created a central bank of terms that are descriptive or generic to the jewelry industry, and which should not be approved for trademark protection without a disclaimer. JVC developed its central bank of descriptive and generic terms to help educate trademark examiners who review trademark applications. This list is now available to the jewelry industry.

A term’s inclusion on this list does not mean that it cannot be used in a trademark. In fact, there are many trademarks that include terms on this list. However, it is necessary to file a disclaimer in a trademark application when using a term on this list.

A disclaimer is a statement that is made upon application for a trademark, and its purpose is to alert others that the applicant is not claiming exclusivity in that descriptive or generic term. Therefore, the approval of that trademark would not block others in the industry from using that word – trademark rights would be in the term as a whole. A disclaimer statement usually looks like this: “no claim is made to use [descriptive or generic term] apart from the mark as shown.”

Ensuring that descriptive or generic terms are disclaimed is vital to the industry. The JVC welcomes comments and suggestions of terms to add or remove from its central bank of descriptive and generic terms.

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Source: Jewelers Vigilance Committee, jvc.org