Preface:

According to USPTO regulations (TMEP § 1402.06):

Allow modification of product description, butThe scope of the original application shall not be significantly expanded (no material alteration). The transition from "shirt to pants" or the addition of new product categories both belong to "substantial expansion",The examiner will directly reject the modification request.

Legal Logic Analysis:

① Trademark boundary: The scope of registration protection is based on the initial submitted product description. If subsequent modifications exceed the original scope, it is equivalent to applying for new rights and requires re examination.

② Public trust interests: Others may conduct trademark searches based on publicly available application information (such as "only covering shirts"), and arbitrarily expanding the scope may harm the reasonable expectations of third parties.

2、 Staged Operation Guide

Scenario 1: The application is still under review (not yet registered)

Permitted adjustments:

✅ Narrowing down the scope: for example, changing from "shirts" to "T-shirts" (more specific).

✅ Clarification description: Revise "clothing" to "shirts, pants" (within the scope of the original description).

(Note: If the initial declaration is "shirts", "pants" cannot be added)

Prohibited operations:

❌ Add new products (such as adding 'pants').

❌ Cross category expansion (such as adding a new category 18 backpack from category 25 clothing).

Scenario 2: The trademark has been registered (or published)

1. Modification method: Submit a new application (not modifying the original registration).

① Need to pay a new fee (current official fee of $250- $350/class) and undergo 12-18 months of review again.

② The original registered "shirt" rights are reserved, and new applications for "pants" require independent review.

2. Exception:

Only when the registration has not been completed for 5 years, can you request the deletion of "shirts" and the addition of "pants" through Section 7, provided that:

New and old products belong to the same product line in business (such as daily clothing), and the modification does not change the core protection scope of the trademark.

(The success rate is extremely low, and USPTO usually considers "shirt → pants" as a substantive change)

3、 The legal path to expand the scope of goods

If you need to add "pants" or other products, you must do so through the following methods:

1. Submit a new trademark application

① Submit a new application independently for 'pants' and go through the complete process again (using the original trademark design).

② Advantage: Avoiding the risk of invalid registration.

2. Expansion after registration (5-6 year window period)

① When submitting a Section 8 usage statement 5-6 years after registration, a Section 7 request can be submitted simultaneously:

② Delete unused products (such as discontinued "shirts");

③ But new products cannot be added (only deletion or restriction of scope is allowed).

After declaring "shirt", it cannot be directly changed to "pants", and a new application must be submitted.Business expansion needs to be achieved through new registration, which is the only compliance path to ensure the stability of trademark rights.

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