What is the Supplemental Register?
The Supplemental Register is a secondary federal trademark register available for certain marks that do not currently qualify for registration on the Principal Register.
After filing, a USPTO examining attorney reviews the application for compliance with federal trademark law. An examining attorney is a government lawyer who evaluates issues such as conflicts with earlier marks, distinctiveness, the identification of goods and services, specimens, disclaimers, ownership, and other filing requirements.
If the examining attorney identifies a problem, the USPTO may issue an Office Action, which is an official written notice explaining the refusal or requirement and the response deadline. If the application is approved, it generally proceeds to publication in the Official Gazette so third parties have an opportunity to oppose registration before the application moves to the next stage.
The Principal Register is the USPTO's primary federal trademark register and provides the full set of benefits available to qualifying federally registered marks.
The Supplemental Register is a secondary federal register for certain marks that can function as trademarks but do not yet qualify for the Principal Register, often because they are merely descriptive and have not acquired sufficient distinctiveness.