A description of goods or services is required in all applications for federal trademark registration. Descriptions should be limited to those goods and products which are currently being sold under the proposed mark (or will be sold, if an Intent to Use application is filed). According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the description should be concise, not vague or overly broad, and should consist of the common commercial description of the goods or services. At the same time, broader descriptions have the potential, if not rejected by the USPTO Examiner, of ultimately providing broader protection. Thus, there is always a tension between drafting a description that is narrow enough to pass the examination, yet broad enough to offer protection out to the boundaries of the goods or services being registered.
