The Record List Display

There are two views of the hit list for your search, the standard Record List and a newer Image LIst.

The Record List Display, or the Hit List, provides a listing of the Serial Numbers, Registration Numbers, Word Marks, links to TARR (the Trademark Application and Registration Retrieval system) to check the current status of the trademark, and Live/Dead flags for those trademarks retrieved by the search. There are options for jumping to different sections of the total hit list if your search retrieved more trademarks than currently listed. The search text is listed. The search query text can be modified and resubmitted directly from this Record List Display screen, but the free form search syntax must be used for the resubmitted query.

A second Image List provides an alternate view of the hits by displaying the drawings for the hits. Images are displayed in three columns. By selecting a drawing via a mouse click, you then toggle to the document display for that record. Returning to the Current List from the document display returns you to the last used view of the hit list, the text view or the images view.  

Return to Main Menu

Search Fields

This page contains definitions of search fields and tips on the use of fields in your TESS searches.

The TESS database contains many searchable fields. By narrowing your search to terms in a field that you specify, you can greatly decrease the likelihood of retrieving extraneous documents.

This page shows a list of all the available fields, defines each field, shows the abbreviated field name or code, and provides examples of how do field searching.

[AD] Abandonment Date
[AF] Affidavits
[AR] Assignment Recorded
[AT] Attorney of Record
[BI] Basic Index
[CB] Current Basis
[CC] Coordinated Class
[CD] Cancellation Date
[CR] Change in Registration
[DC] Design Search Code
[DD] Design Description
[DE] Description of Mark
[DM] Decimal Mark
[DS] Disclaimer
[FD] Filing Date
[FM] Full Mark
[GS] Goods and Services
[IC] International Class
[IR] International Registration
[LD] Live/Dead
[MD] Mark Drawing Code
[MI] Mark Index
[MN] Mark Non-Punctuated
[MP] Mark Punctuated [Word Mark]
[OB] Original Basis

Note: A special COMB index can be searched for the Combined Word Mark index introduced with the New User search screen. The Combined Word Mark includes the word mark and translation fields. Specifically, the BI - Basic Index, TI - Translation Index, MP - Mark Punctuated (word mark), and TL - Translation Statement indexes are searched. (The MP and TL indexes are included as a redundacy to enable highlighting of the search term in the results, as the BI and TI fields are not displayed.)

Return to Main Menu

Abandonment Date [AD]

This field contains the date the mark was abandoned. This field only applies to dead marks.

Dates are stored in the format YYYYMMDD for the four-digit year YYYY, the two digit month MM and the two digit day DD. The $ (unlimited) and ? (single character) truncation operators are appropriate for use in date searches.

For example, the following search will retrieve all marks with an abandonment date of June15, 1999.

Either of the following searches will retrieve all marks with an abandonment date any time in June, 1999.

Alternatively, the ` operator can be used for numeric range searches on date fields. The following search will retrieve all marks with an abandonment date in January 1999 or later.

Affidavits [AF]

This field contains notations on the types of affidavits filed on registrations. It refers to either or both Sec. 8 and Sec. 15 of the trademark law (Lanham Act, as amended), or to Section 12(c) for pre-1946 registrations.

Section 8: These affidavits are required for both the Supplemental and Principal Registers to show continuous use of the mark since registration. A Section 8 Affidavit must be filed between the fifth and sixth year anniversary of the registration date in order to maintain the registration.

Section 15: These affidavits apply only to the Principal Register. They must be filed within one year of any five-year period of continuous use to confer a status of incontestability in the registration.

Section 12(c): This affidavit may be filed for a registration that registered under trademark legislation that was in effect prior to the Lanham Act which was enacted in 1946. By filing this affidavit the registration takes on the benefits as well as the responsibilities (such as the requirement to file a Section 8 affidavit) of the 1946 Lanham Act.

TIP: Enter one of the following terms (using quotation marks) in the text entry box: "8"[AF] , "12C"[AF] or "15"[AF] .

(This field applies only to Registered marks.)

Assignment Recorded [AR]

This field contains the words Assignment Recorded for those records that having an assignment recorded at the US Patent and Trademark Office. The search ASSIGNMENT[AR] will retrieve marks that have an assignment recorded.

Attorney of Record [AT]

This field contains the name of the attorney as specified in any power of attorney submitted with the trademark application. Note that the power of attorney expires when an application matures into a registration.

TIP: Since this information may be not updated in the database and is often changed prior to registration, you should contact the US Patent and Trademark Office or examine the application file to ensure retrieval of current information.

Basic Index [BI]

The Basic Index field contains the word mark and pseudo mark information indexed for optimal searching efficiency. This field (along with the [TI] field) uses a special * truncation operator for more efficient left and/or right truncation searches. Please note that the * truncation operator cannot be used for internal truncation. The $ or ? truncation symbols are used for internal truncation, but their use may result in truncation overflow.

The search *DOG*[BI] will retrieve marks that have the word segment DOG anywhere in the word mark or pseudo mark. Alternatively, the search *DOG*[BI,TI] will retrieve the word segment DOG occurring anywhere in the word mark, pseudo mark or translation.

This field is not displayed; consequently, search terms for searches of this field will not be highlighted.

The TESS search system has the capability to respond quickly to searches that employ either left or right truncation, but using left and right truncation together presents a problem for any text search system. If you search for WAX$ ($ is the standard TESS multi-character substitution character) the system can go quickly to the part of the index containing words beginning with WAX. If you search for $WAX the system has a reversed index of the words contained in the documents and is smart enough to reverse the search term and go to the reversed index. So it will look for words beginning with XAW in the reversed index. This means a rapid response time to either left OR right truncated search terms.

In the case of a search using left AND right truncation, for example, $WAX$, the system cannot go to a specific in entry in either index because anything could precede or follow WAX. In this case the system must start at the first entry in the index, see if the first entry contains the search term WAX and then proceed to the next entry in the index, and continue this process until it has examined every word in the index. Even with a very fast computer system, this is a time-consuming procedure that results in slow responses to this type of search.

The permuted index accelerates the response time to a combined left and right truncation search by loading the index with all possible left and right truncation variations or permutations of the words in the mark. For example, when the word WAX is permuted the result is the following list of permuted terms:

*W* W* *WA* WA* *WAX* WAX* *WAX *A* *AX* *AX *X* *X

To search for WAX with both left and right truncation, your search would be *WAX*[BI]. The asterisk substitutes for the usual multi-character wildcard character $. In this case the search system goes immediately to the part of the index file that contains terms starting with *WAX* resulting in a much faster response to the query. You can, of course, search for any of the permutations of the word as shown above and get a fast response. If you really want to search for any word mark or pseudo mark that contains the letter A you can search for *A*[BI].

The permuted indexing technique was used only on the Basic Index [BI], Mark Index [MI], Pseudo Mark Index [PI] and Translation Index [TI] fields because of the amount of disk space involved. If it is necessary to use left and right truncation to search the Goods and Services [GS] field, for instance, you will have to use the standard TESS syntax of $WAX$, and the query response time will be longer. Single truncation searches should execute quickly on all fields, but the asterisk is still the preferred method for a single truncation search on the Basic Index [BI], Mark Index [MI], Pseudo Mark Index [PI] and Translation Index [TI] fields.

Use of the * truncation operator in the Basic Index is appropriate when searching for single terms. It is also appropriate to use the * in the Basic Index when searching multiple terms within the same search statement and when the desired results do not require that the terms occur adjacent to each other in the mark. Use of the * truncation operator in the Basic Index is not appropriate if it is required that the multiple terms searched utilizing the * truncation operator appear in the mark adjacent to each other as is commonly desired when executing a phrase search.

Searches involving internal truncation in combination with left and right truncation on the Basic Index would employ the standard TESS truncation characters for internal character replacement. For example, *TE$OLOGY*[BI], would return TEKNOLOGY, TECNOLOGY, TELEOLOGY, etc. Another example is *TE?NO*[BI], which uses the single character replacement truncation character, the question mark (?) character. This search returns TEKNOBAG, TECNOBAG and INTERNODE, etc.

For all searches employing left and right truncation on the Basic Index [BI] field using the asterisks as the left and right character substitution operators is always preferable to the standard dollar sign operator.

Current Basis [CB]

The Current Basis field contains the current filing basis information. Possible entries for this field include:

    Entry                  Meaning
    1A                     Filed under Section §1(a) {use in commerce}.
    1B                     Filed under Section §1(b) {intent to use}..
    44D                    Filed under Section §44(d) {foreign application}.
    44E                    Filed under Section §44(e) {foreign registration}.
    66A                    Filed under Section §66(a).
    NO FILING BASIS        No filing basis claimed.

More than one basis may occur.

Example: the search 1A[CB] will retrieve all records filed under section 1(a).

Please refer to the TMEP for additional information on the different filing bases.

Coordinated Class [CC]

Search the Coordinated Class field to retrieve marks from International Classes related to a specific International Class. The search "009"[CC] will retrieve marks in coordinated class 009, i.e., marks related to International Class 009. Usually, this search field is used in conjunction with other search fields.

This field is not displayed; consequently, search terms for searches of this field will not be highlighted.

The Coordinated Class Table (revised April 2006) was designed to automatically include related International Classes in the search results when the primary International Class is searched. For example, a search for the International Class 007 utilizing the Coordinated Class index to designate that the search is for the Coordinated Classes associated with International Class 007 will include results containing any of the following International Class designations: 007, 008, 011, 012, 035, 037, 040, 042, A, B, 200.

Primary	
International	
Class		Related International Classes
001		005, 017, 035, 042, 044, A, B, 200
002		017, 019, 035, 037, 040, 042, A, B, 200
003		005, 021, 035, 042, 044, A, B, 200
004		001, 035, 037, 042, A, B, 200
005		001, 003, 010, 035, 042, 044, A, B, 200
006		011, 017, 019, 020, 035, 037, 040, 042, A, B, 200
007		008, 011, 012, 035, 037, 040, 042, A, B, 200
008		007, 021, 035, 037, 040, 042, 045, A, B, 200
009		010, 016, 028, 035, 038, 041, 042, 044, A, B, 200
010		005, 035, 042, 044, A, B, 200

011		006, 007, 009, 019, 020, 035, 037, 040, 042, A, B, 200
012		007, 035, 037, 042, A, B, 200
013		028, 035, 042, 045, A, B, 200
014		025, 026, 035, 037, 040, 042, A, B, 200
015		028, 035, 041, 042, A, B, 200
016		009, 035, 041, 042, A, B, 200
017		001, 002, 006, 019, 035, 037, 040, 042, A, B, 200
018		014, 025, 035, 042, 044, A, B, 200
019		002, 006, 011, 017, 035, 037, 040, 042, A, B, 200
020		006, 021, 028, 035, 042, A, B, 200

021		003, 008, 020, 035, 042, 044, A, B, 200
022		023, 024, 035, 042, A, B, 200
023		022, 024, 026, 035, 042, A, B, 200
024		023, 025, 026, 035, 042, A, B, 200
025		014, 018, 024, 035, 042, A, B, 200
026		023, 024, 035, 042, A, B, 200
027		019, 024, 035, 037, 042, A, B, 200
028		009, 016, 020, 025, 035, 041, 042, A, B, 200
029		005, 030, 031, 032, 033, 035, 042, 043, A, B, 200
030		001, 005, 029, 031, 032, 033, 035, 042, 043, A, B, 200

031		005, 029, 030, 032, 035, 042, 043, 044, A, B, 200
032		005, 029, 030, 031, 033, 035, 042, 043, A, B, 200
033		005, 029, 030, 031, 032, 035, 042, 043, A, B, 200
034		004, 035, 042, A, B, 200
035		036, 037, 038, 039, 040, 041, 042, 043, 044, 045, A, B, 200
036		035, 037, 038, 039, 040, 041, 042, 043, 044, 045, A, B, 200
037		035, 036, 038, 039, 040, 041, 042, 043, 044, 045, A, B, 200
038		035, 036, 037, 039, 040, 041, 042, 043, 044, 045, A, B, 200
039		035, 036, 037, 038, 040, 041, 042, 043, 044, 045, A, B, 200
040		035, 036, 037, 038, 039, 041, 042, 043, 044, 045, A, B, 200

041		035, 036, 037, 038, 039, 040, 042, 043, 044, 045, A, B, 200
042		035, 036, 037, 038, 039, 040, 041, 043, 044, 045, A, B, 200       
043		035, 036, 037, 038, 039, 040, 041, 042, 044, 045, A, B, 200       
044		035, 036, 037, 038, 039, 040, 041, 042, 043, 045, A, B, 200       
045		035, 036, 037, 038, 039, 040, 041, 042, 043, 044, A, B, 200       
A		B, 200
B		A, 200
200		041, 042, A, B

Cancellation Date [CD]

Search the Cancellation Date field to retrieve marks that were cancelled on a particular date.

Dates are stored in the format YYYYMMDD for the four-digit year YYYY, the two digit month MM and the two digit day DD. The $ (unlimited) and ? (single character) truncation operators are appropriate for use in date searches.

For example, the following search will retrieve all marks with a cancellation date of June15, 1999.

Either of the following searches will retrieve all marks with a cancellation date any time in June, 1999.

Alternatively, the ` operator can be used for numeric range searches on date fields. The following search will retrieve all marks with a cancellation date in January 1999 or later.

Change in Registration [CR]

This field indicates that a change in the registration of a mark has occurred.

The most common changes are:

• a change in the ownership of the mark;
• a change in the name of the owner (for example, International Harvester changes its name to Navistar);
• a change in address; and/or,
• a change in the goods or services classes in which the mark is used.

TIP: This field contains the words "Change in Registration Has Occurred". Enter any of the words in the expression in this field to retrieve all records for which a change in registration has occurred. For example, the search CHANGE[CR] might be performed.

This field applies only to Registered marks.

Design Search Code [DC]

This field contains a six-digit code (do NOT include the periods) used to identify design elements that comprise a mark that contain a design (drawing). A mark may have more than one design code associated with it. Design search codes are defined in the Design Search Code Manual. (This manual is available on the USPTO Web site, at the Trademark Search Library in Arlington VA, and at all Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries.)

Trademarks which have data design search code field or that have a mark drawing code of 2, 3, 4 or 5 should have an image associated with them. Please note that due to the production processes involved, the availability of trademark images may lag several months behind the availability of text.

Example: Enter 150501[DC] to retrieve records for trademarks incorporating typewriters in the design.

Example: Enter 020119[DC] to retrieve records for trademarks incorporating athletic men in the design.

Example: Enter 080112[DC] to retrieve records for trademarks incorporating pizzas in the design.

Design Description [DD]

For any design code occurring in the record, the DD field include the corresponding entries from the Alphabetical Index of the Design Search Code Manual for that design code. While the DD index can be used for searching design codes, the intention was to display the design code descriptions from the Alphabetical Index with the full text display so that users will more readily see the significance of each design code entry. Additionally, the DD field includes the design code entries with the period format (e.g., 03.01.08 for dogs), so searches can be perform on design code using either the purely numeric format (e.g., 030108[DC]) or the traditional design code format with periods (e.g., 03.01.08[DD]), but note that the DD index must be specified for the traditional design code format with periods (or omit the [DD] index specification, as the tradition design code format with the periods is fairly unique to design code entries).

Example: Enter LION[DD] with the plurals option set to retrieve records for trademarks having design code entries associated with lion or lions in the alphabetical index of the Design Search Code Manual.

Example: Enter HUMANS[DD] with the plurals option set to retrieve records for trademarks having design code entries associated with humans in the alphabetical index of the Design Search Code Manual.

Description of Mark [DE]

This field contains words contained in the written description of the mark.

Example: For the three musical notes that make up the sound mark registered to NBC, this field states, "The mark comprises a sequence of chime-like musical notes ..."

Decimal Mark [DM]

Suppose you’re interested in punctuation symbols like ( ) [ ] | \ " that have special meanings for the search engine and are not available for searching. The DM – Decimal Mark – index provides a means of searching those characters or strings of characters occurring in the word mark entry. The catch: you’ll have to get the decimal value of any character you intend to search in the word mark entry. Those decimal values are readily available in the Standard Character Set listing on the USPTO website at http://www.uspto.gov/teas/standardCharacterSet.html.

For example, the decimal value of the [ character is 91 and the decimal value of the ] character is 93. The search

will retrieve word marks like [M] or [A], where the character [ and the character ] must occur in the word mark in any order but with at most a single character between them.

The Decimal Mark index is meant to be a last resort option for word mark searching when traditional search methods fail because the desired search term includes characters like [ or " that are not indexed for traditional searches.

Disclaimer [DS]

This field contains words in a statement waiving exclusive rights to specific words or elements of a mark. Without this disclaimer, the USPTO would not register the mark.

Example: The trademark for Florida Gold states "no claim is made to the exclusive use of 'Florida' apart from the mark as shown."

Filing Date [FD]

This field contains the date when a complete application was received by the US Patent and Trademark Office, following receipt of all filing material requirements. Contingent upon registration, it constitutes date of constructive use (legal equivalent of actual use).

Dates are stored in the format YYYYMMDD for the four-digit year YYYY, the two digit month MM and the two digit day DD. The $ (unlimited) and ? (single character) truncation operators are appropriate for use in date searches.

For example, the following search will retrieve all marks with a filing date of June15, 1999.

Either of the following searches will retrieve all marks with a filing date any time in June, 1999.

Alternatively, the ` operator can be used for numeric range searches on date fields. The following search will retrieve all marks with a filing date in January 1999 or later.

Full Mark [FM]

For this index, each Word Mark is a single index entry with any blank space converted to a hyphen. A search for the mark GOOD AS GOLD might be submitted as GOOD-AS-GOLD[FM]. This field provides for exact match searches. Truncation operators such as $ or ? are valid used in this search field,but this index has not been optimized for truncation searches and their use is not recommended. The asterisk (*) can be used for right truncation to help circumvent truncation overflow errors for searching this field. For example, the search GOOD-AS*[FM] could be used to search for marks beginning GOOD AS.

Goods and Services [GS]

This field contains a written description which clearly identifies the nature of the goods and/or services as set forth in the application or registration. See Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual for guidance and suggestions of acceptable descriptions of goods and services. (This manual is available at the Trademark Search Library in Arlington, VA and at all Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries.)

International Class [IC]

This field identifies the class(es) assigned to a mark under the International Classification of Goods and Services (Nice Agreement) based upon the goods or services on which the mark is used. The International Classification has been the primary classification for marks in the United States since September 1, 1973.

TIP: Enter a numeric international class in quotes with leading zeros, if necessary.

Example: Enter "032"[IC] to retrieve documents classified in International Class 032.

Note: This International Class field is included for searching convenience, but the displayed International Class information is actually part of the Goods and Services [GS] text to allow for the searching of specific GS text terms occurring in a specific International Class. For example, the search ((IC WITH "032") SAME FRUIT)[GS] will retrieve only marks containing the word FRUIT occurring for International Class 032 in the Goods and Services statement.

A list of International Trademark Class Numbers and Short Titles follows. Note that these short titles are not an official part of the International Classification. They are provided here as a means by which the general content of numbered International Classes can be quickly identified. See Section 6.1 of the Trademark Rules of Practice for the full names of the International Classes and Chapter 1400 of the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure for additional trademark classification information.

001  Chemicals
002  Paints
003  Cosmetics and Cleaning Preparations
004  Lubricants and Fuels
005  Pharmaceuticals
006  Metal Goods
007  Machinery
008  Hand Tools
009  Electrical and Scientific Apparatus
010  Medical Apparatus
011  Environmental Control Apparatus
012  Vehicles
013  Firearms
014  Jewelry
015  Musical Instruments
016  Paper Goods and Printed Matter
017  Rubber Goods

018  Leather Goods
019  Non-metallic Building Materials
020  Furniture and Articles Not Otherwise Classified
021  Housewares and Glass
022  Cordage and Fibers
023  Yarns and Threads
024  Fabrics
025  Clothing
026  Fancy Goods
027  Floor Coverings
028  Toys and Sporting Goods
029  Meats and Processed Foods
030  Staple Foods
031  Natural Agricultural Products
032  Light Beverages
033  Wines and Spirits
034  Smokers' Articles

035  Advertising and Business
036  Insurance and Financial
037  Construction and Repair
038  Communication
039  Transportation and Storage
040  Material Treatment

041  Education and Entertainment
042  Computer, Scientific and Legal
043  Hotels and Restaurants
044  Medical, Beauty and Agricultural
045  Personal

International Registration [IR]

This field includes the International Registration number for applications filed under §66(a).

Filed ITU [IU]

This search field no longer exists. With the implementation of the Madrid Protocol, filing basis information was reorganized into the Current Basis [CB] and Original Basis [OB] fields.

Live/Dead [LD]

The field contains either LIVE or DEAD.

The search LIVE[LD] can be used to obtain all live records.

Use this search field in conjunction with other searches to retrieve only live or dead records. For example, the search *DOG*[BI,TI] AND LIVE[LD] will retrieve all live marks containing the word segment DOG in the word mark, pseudo mark, or translation fields, including instances of the word DOG embedded within a word such as HOTDOGS, DOGGIE, DOGHOUSE, BULLDOG, GUARDDOG, DOGMAIL or WATCHDOG.

What does a status of "dead" or "abandoned" mean?

Mark Drawing Code [MD]

This field provides a code to indicate the type of mark drawing.

The following table provides the approximate occurrences of each of the 7 mark drawing codes with their text descriptions.

To search in this field, enter the desired mark drawing code number in quotes with the [MD] search field tag.

Example: Enter "2"[MD] for design only marks. Enter "6"[MD] for sensory marks (such as sound and fragrance marks).

Mark Index [MI]

Similar to the Basic Index, the Mark Index field contains word mark, in both punctuated and non-punctuated form, but not the pseudo mark information. MI is indexed for optimal searching efficiency. This field uses a special * truncation operator for very fast left or right truncation searches. Please note that the * truncation operator cannot be used for internal truncation. The $ or ? characters are used for internal truncation but their added use may result in a truncation overflow condition. The MI index was added with the Fall 2005 update to allow for * truncation searches of word mark entries independent of the pseudo mark entries that are included in the BI index.

The search *DOG*[MI] will retrieve marks that have the word segment DOG anywhere in the word mark. Alternatively, the search *DOG*[BI] will retrieve the word segment DOG occurring anywhere in the word mark or pseudo mark.

This field is not displayed; consequently, search terms for searches of this field will not be highlighted.

Mark Non-Punctuated [MN]

This index contains the text for the Word Mark. Punctuation characters have been removed and replaced by a space. This means that a word mark like ARE-TWO is indexed as two separate indexed terms ARE and TWO. G*R*I*T is indexed as the four separate letters G, R, I and T.

This field is not displayed; consequently, search terms for searches of this field will not be highlighted.

We recommend using the Basic Index field for word mark searches.

Mark Punctuated [MP]

This field contains the Word Mark, including any punctuation characters. This is the word mark field displayed in the text output. Search terms for searches of this field will be highlighted in the display of the word mark.

TIP: This field cannot be used to search marks using only a design, fragrance, sound, etc. See field contents for Mark Drawing Code for information on searching these types of marks.

We recommend using the Basic Index field for word mark searches.

Original Basis [OB]

The Original Basis field contains the original filing basis information. Possible entries for this field include:

    Entry                  Meaning
    1A                     Filed under Section §1(a) {use in commerce}.
    1B                     Filed under Section §1(b) {intent to use}..
    44D                    Filed under Section §44(d) {foreign application}.
    44E                    Filed under Section §44(e) {foreign registration}.
    66A                    Filed under Section §66(a).
    NO FILING BASIS        No filing basis claimed.

More than one basis may occur.

Example: the search 1A[OB] will retrieve all records originally filed under section 1(a).

Please refer to the TMEP for additional information on the different filing bases.

Other Data[OD]

This field contains information regarding any concurrent use of the mark, court ordered restriction, or other information which exists for the particular mark.

Owner Name [ON]

This field contains the name of the individual, corporation, partnership, association, etc., having controlling interest in the use of the mark. For example, the search WAL-MART[ON] will retrieve marks owned by Wal-Mart (although there may be variations in the spelling of that name that may not be retrieved by that specific search).

This field is included for improving owner searches by not retrieving irrelevant hits for occurrences of the search terms in the owner address; however, this field is not displayed, so search terms for this field will not be highlighted.

Owner Name and Address [OW]

Address This field contains the name and address of the owner or applicant for the mark including street, city, state or country and zip code. This field also indicates if an owner is an individual, corporation, partnership, association, etc., and state or country of citizenship or incorporation. This field is displayed and search terms for searches of this field will be highlighted.

Priority Date [PD]

This field relates to Section 44(d) applications. It contains the date of filing in a foreign country which becomes the "priority" filing date in the United States.

Dates are stored in the format YYYYMMDD for the four-digit year YYYY, the two digit month MM and the two digit day DD. The $ (unlimited) and ? (single character) truncation operators are appropriate for use in date searches.

For example, the following search will retrieve all marks with a priority date of June15, 1999.

Either of the following searches will retrieve all marks with a priority date any time in June, 1999.

Alternatively, the ` operator can be used for numeric range searches on date fields. The following search will retrieve all marks with a priority date in January 1999 or later.

Physical Filing Date [PF]

Dates are stored in the format YYYYMMDD for the four-digit year YYYY, the two digit month MM and the two digit day DD. The $ (unlimited) and ? (single character) truncation operators are appropriate for use in date searches.

For example, the following search will retrieve all marks with a physical filing date of June15, 1999.

Either of the following searches will retrieve all marks with a physical filing date any time in June, 1999.

Alternatively, the ` operator can be used for numeric range searches on date fields. The following search will retrieve all marks with a physical filing date in January 1999 or later.

This field is not displayed.

Pseudo Mark Index [PI]

Similar to the Basic Index, the PI index contains pseudo mark but not the word mark information. PI is indexed for optimal searching efficiency. This field uses a special * truncation operator for very fast left or right truncation searches. Please note that the * truncation operator cannot be used for internal truncation. The $ or ? characters are used for internal truncation but their added use may result in a truncation overflow condition. The PI index was added with the Fall 2005 update to allow for * truncation searches of pseudo mark entries independent of the word mark entries that are included in the BI index.

Examples:

• A document with the word mark 4U might contain a pseudo mark of FOR YOU.
• Searching the pseudo index field for *QUICK*[PI] should retrieve marks whose word mark field contains words like KWIK, KWIX, QUIK, etc.

Pseudo Mark [PM]

For some marks, the USPTO has added a pseudo mark to the search data to assist TESS users in identifying relevant marks related to their search term. Pseudo mark entries are not displayed or printed in the search results and are not part of the official application or registration. Pseudo marks provide an additional search tool for locating documents whose word mark may contain an alternative or intentionally corrupted spelling for a normal English word. The pseudo mark field often contains spellings that are very similar or phonetically equivalent to the word mark.

Examples:

• A document with the word mark 4U might contain a pseudo mark of FOR YOU.
• Searching the pseudo mark field for QUICK should retrieve marks whose word mark field contains words like KWIK, KWIX, QUIK, etc.

We recommend using the Basic Index field for word mark/pseudo mark searches.

Published for Opposition [PO]

This field contains the date that the application was published for opposition in the Trademark Official Gazette.

Dates are stored in the format YYYYMMDD for the four-digit year YYYY, the two digit month MM and the two digit day DD. The $ (unlimited) and ? (single character) truncation operators are appropriate for use in date searches.

For example, the following search will retrieve all marks with a published for opposition date of June15, 1999.

Either of the following searches will retrieve all marks with a published for opposition date any time in June, 1999.

Alternatively, the ` operator can be used for numeric range searches on date fields. The following search will retrieve all marks with a published for opposition date in January 1999 or later.

Prior Registrations [PR]

This field contains the registration numbers of other US registrations owned by the applicant or registrant.

TIP: Enter as a seven-digit number in quotes with leading zeros if necessary, as in "1800144"[PR] or "0040006"[PR].

Registration Date [RD]

This field contains the date on which a mark was registered by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

This field applies only to registered marks; pending marks will have a registration date of 0.

Dates are stored in the format YYYYMMDD for the four-digit year YYYY, the two digit month MM and the two digit day DD. The $ (unlimited) and ? (single character) truncation operators are appropriate for use in date searches.

For example, the following search will retrieve all marks with a registration date of June15, 1999.

Either of the following searches will retrieve all marks with a registration date any time in June, 1999.

Alternatively, the ` operator can be used for numeric range searches on date fields. The following search will retrieve all marks with a registration date in January 1999 or later.

Renewals (RE)

This field contains the date on which a renewal for a trademark was registered by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Trademarks may be renewed indefinitely for ten-year periods provided certain conditions are met.

Following are examples of entries for this field.

1ST RENEWAL   19991028
2ND RENEWAL   19970102
3RD RENEWAL   19990920
4TH RENEWAL   19991013

All records with a renewal entry might be retrieved by the search RENEWAL[RE]. Renewals for a particular date can be retrieved by the search of that date. For example, the search 199906??[RE] will retrieve all records with a renewal date in June, 1999. Searches of this field can be performed on any of the keyword, such as "1ST"[RE] to retrieve all records with a 1st renewal entry.

This field applies only to Registered marks.

Register [RG]

This field identifies the mark as being either on

• the Principal Register
• the Principal Register with a Section 2(f) claim of acquired distinctiveness, or
• the Supplemental Register.

The Principal Register is where most marks are registered. The Supplemental Register exists to allow registration of marks that are not distinctive but are "capable" of becoming distinctive. Principal Register marks which have acquired distinctiveness through long use are registered based on a claim under Section 2(f) of the Lanham Act. Usually, at least five years of use is sufficient to support a Section 2(f) claim. Registration on the Supplemental Register does not bar later registration on the Principal Register once the mark has become capable of distinguishing the owner's goods or services from those of others.

There are 4 unique entries in this field, namely
(a) PRINCIPAL,
(b) PRINCIPAL-2(F)-IN PART,
(c) PRINCIPAL-2(F) and
(d) SUPPLEMENTAL.

The search PRINCIPAL[RG] retrieves only occurrences of (a) PRINCIPAL.

The search PRINCIPAL-2[RG] AND PART[RG] retrieves only occurrences of (b) PRINCIPAL-2(F)-IN PART.

The search PRINCIPAL-2[RG] NOT PART[RG] retrieves only occurrences of (c) PRINCIPAL-2(F).

The search SUPPLEMENTAL[RG] retrieves only occurrences of (d) SUPPLEMENTAL.

This field applies only to Registered marks.

Registration Number [RN]

This field contains the unique number assigned to applications that have received approval for registration. To search this field, use the seven-digit registration number. If the registration number does not contain seven digits, pad with leading zeros.

Examples: "1371604"[RN] or "0916522"[RN]

TIP: The registration number is 7 digits. Do not include any commas in the registration number.

The search `RN > "0" will retrieve all registered marks.

The search `RN = "0" will retrieve all pending marks. Note that marks with serial numbers beginning with the series code 89 are marks protected by treaties or international agreements.

Section 44 Indicator [SF]

This search field no longer exists. With the implementation of the Madrid Protocol, filing basis information was reorganized into the Current Basis [CB] and Original Basis [OB] fields.

Single Design Code [SD]

The [SD] field has been deactivated. Single Design Search Code searches can be performed using the [TD] search field. See the [TD] Total Designs search field to search for marks based on the number of design codes occurring in the record.

Serial - Other Formats [SO]

Serial numbers are sometimes displayed in the XX-XXXXXX or XX/XXXXXX formats. To help simplify serial number searching, those alternative formats for the serial number were loaded into this SO field. Searches of serial numbers in the hyphenated or slashed formats may be performed using the [SO] index. For example, "71-060158"[SO] will retrieve the mark with serial number 71060158, as will "71/060158"[SO].

Since the hyphenated and slashed format are fairly unique to serial numbers, you might choose for convenience to omit the [SO] index tag, searching that rather unique serial number format across all X-Search indexes.

Serial Number [SN]

This field contains the unique identification number assigned by the US Patent and Trademark Office to trademark applications which have received a filing date. Search for a specific record by entering its full 8-digit serial number, e.g., 70011210[SN] to retrieve the record for serial number 70011210.

The serial number consists of a 2-digit series code and 6 digit application number. If the application number does not contain 6 digits, leading zeros must be entered.

Standard Characters Claimed

This field has the entry STANDARD CHARACTERS CLAIMED for standard character drawings.

The search STANDARD[ST] will retrieve all records with the standard characters claim.

Supplement Register Date[SR]

This field contains the date that the application was amended for placement on the Supplemental Register.

Dates are stored in the format YYYYMMDD for the four-digit year YYYY, the two digit month MM and the two digit day DD. The $ (unlimited) and ? (single character) truncation operators are appropriate for use in date searches.

For example, the following search will retrieve all marks with a supplemental register date of June15, 1999.

Either of the following searches will retrieve all marks with a supplemental register date any time in June, 1999.

Alternatively, the ` operator can be used for numeric range searches on date fields. The following search will retrieve all marks with a supplemental register date in January 1999 or later.

Trademark Search Facility Classification Code Index [TC]

Notice: The Trademark Search Facility Classification Code now appears as an additional search field option on the public trademark electronic search systems. It is the same coding system that was formerly applied to paper copies of trademark registrations including design elements located in the USPTO Trademark Search Facility. In the absence of paper, the USPTO is continuing to make this information available electronically for all trademarks registered from August 28, 2007 and forward for the convenience of searchers who used the paper files. When a record is retrieved as a result of a search that has this coding assigned, the field will be labeled "Trademark Search Facility Classification Code" and appear on the record underneath the field labeled "Design Code". The coding will NOT be applied to any pending applications, and will only be applied to registrations that issue on or after August 28, 2007. The USPTO strongly advises all users to rely solely on the Design Code field, which is being actively maintained for all pending applications and active registrations for marks that include a design element. Its accompanying Design Search Code Manual is available as a link from the Trademark home page.

This field has the classification codes used at the Trademark Search Facility for organizing trademarks for searching. The * (asterisk) wildcard character may be used for right truncation with this search field to avoid truncation overflows on TESS. The Table of TC Entries lists the possible codes for the TC index.

     LET*[TC]

This example search uses the TC index to retrieve all marks with TC entries like LETTER.

Total Designs [TD]

The TD index in a numeric index of the number of design codes occurring in the record. Search "0"[TD] for marks with no design codes, "1"[TD] for marks with a single design code entry (a theme previous performed via the SD index, such as the 030108[SD] search to retrieve marks with the 030108 design code only), "2"[TD] for marks with two design code entries, etc. Alternatively, perform a numeric range search like the following.

     030108[dc] AND `TD < 4

This example search uses the DC and TD index to retrieve all marks with the simple dog design code 03.01.08 and no more than 2 other design code entries.

Distinctiveness Limitation Statement [TF]

This field contains statements such as AS TO "SANTA FE". An example search is "SANTA FE"[TF].

Translation Index [TI]

This field contains English equivalents to foreign words or characters used in a trademark.

This field, along with the [BI] field, uses a special * truncation operator for more efficient left and/or right truncation searches. Please note that the * truncation operator cannot be used for internal truncation. The $ or ? truncation symbols are used for internal truncation, but their use may result in truncation overflow. The search *DOG*[BI,TI] will retrieve marks that have the word segment DOG anywhere in the word mark, pseudo mark, or translation.

For example, the search wolf[TI] will retrieve documents containing the words "lupo", "ookami", "lobo", and other language equivalents to the word wolf, provided an appropriate entry has been included in the translation statement.

Translation (TL)

This field contains English equivalents to foreign words or characters used in a trademark.

For example, the search wolf[TL] will retrieve documents containing the words "lupo", "ookami", "lobo", and other language equivalents to the word wolf, provided an appropriate entry has been included in the translation statement.

Type of Mark (TM)

This field indicates the type of mark: trademark, service mark, collective mark, collective membership mark, or certification mark.

• Trademark: Any word, name, symbol or device, or any combination thereof, used or intended to be used by a person to identify and distinguish his goods from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of those goods.
• Service Mark: Any word, name, symbol or device or any combination thereof, used or intended to be used by a person to identify and distinguish his services from the services of others, to indicate the source of the services (i.e., banking activities).
• Collective Mark: Any trademark or service mark used or intended to be used by the members of an association, cooperative, or other collective group to identify and distinguish their goods or services. For example, the FTD mark is used by member florists of the Florists' Transworld Delivery Association.
• Collective Membership Mark: A mark adopted or intended to be adopted for the purpose of indicating membership in an organized group. For example, the letters AAA inside an oval indicates membership with the American Automobile Association.
• Certification Mark: A mark which is used or intended to be used to certify that goods or services of others meet certain standards established by the owner. The most common types of certification marks are those which: (1) originate from a specific geographic region, such as Roquefort cheese; (2) meet standards in relation to the quality, materials, or mode of manufacture, such as Underwriters Laboratory approval; or (3) were performed by an individual who has met certain standards or belongs to a certain organization or union, such as a union label in clothing

Update/Load Date [UD]

This field contains the date of the last update for the serial number record. This field is not displayed.

Dates are stored in the format YYYYMMDD for the four-digit year YYYY, the two digit month MM and the two digit day DD. The $ (unlimited) and ? (single character) truncation operators are appropriate for use in date searches.

For example, the following search will retrieve all marks with a update/load date of June15, 1999.

Either of the following searches will retrieve all marks with a update/load date any time in June, 1999.

Alternatively, the ` operator can be used for numeric range searches on date fields. The following search will retrieve all marks with a update/load date in January 1999 or later.

Please refer to TARR to obtain the most up-to-date status for any record retrieved by TESS.

US Class [US]

This field contains the US class information. You are advised to include any numeric class in quotes. For example , the search "022"[US] might be performed to search for marks in US class 022 [Games, Toys, and Sporting Goods].

001  Raw or Partly Prepared Materials
002  Receptacles
003  Baggage Animal Equipments, Portfolios and Pocketbooks
004  Abrasives and Polishing Materials
005  Adhesives
006  Chemicals and Chemical Compositions
007  Cordage
008  Smokers' Articles, Not Including Tobacco Products
009  Explosives, Firearms, Equipments and Projectiles
010  Fertilizers
011  Inks and Inking Materials
012  Construction Materials
013  Hardware, Plumbing and Steamfitting Supplies
014  Metals, Metal Castings and Forgings
015  Oils and Greases
016  Protective and Decorative Coatings
017  Tobacco Products
018  Medicines and Pharmaceutical Preparations
019  Vehicles
020  Linoleum and Oiled Cloth
021  Electrical Apparatus, Machines and Supplies
022  Games, Toys and Sporting Good
023  Cutlery, Machinery, Tools and Parts Thereof
024  Laundry Appliances and Machines
025  Locks and Safes
026  Measuring and Scientific Appliances
027  Horological Instruments
028  Jewelry and Precious-metal Ware
029  Brooms, Brushes and Dusters
030  Crockery, Earthenware and Porcelain
031  Filters and Refrigerators
032  Furniture and Upholstery
033  Glassware
034  Heating, Lighting and Ventilating Apparatus
035  Belting, Hose, Machinery Packing and Non-Metallic Tires
036  Musical Instruments and Supplies
037  Paper and Stationery
038  Prints and Publications
039  Clothing
040  Fancy Goods, Furnishings and Notions
041  Canes, Parasols and Umbrellas
042  Knitted, Netted and Textile Fabrics and Substitutes
043  Thread and Yarn
044  Dental, Medical and Surgical Appliances
045  Soft Drinks and Carbonated Waters
046  Foods and Ingredients of Foods
047  Wines
048  Malt Beverages and Liquors
049  Distilled Alcoholic Liquors
050  Merchandise Not Otherwise Classified
051  Cosmetics and Toilet Preparations
052  Detergents and Soaps
100  Miscellaneous
101  Advertising and Business
102  Insurance and Financial
103  Construction and Repair
104  Communication
105  Transportation and Storage
106  Material Treatment
107  Education and Entertainment
200  COLLECTIVE MEMBERSHIP
A    GOODS CERTIFICATION MARK
B    SERVICES CERTIFICATION MARK

Plurals

If the plurals option is selected, TESS will automatically search for the singular, plural and possessive regardless of whether you enter the singular or the plural. A search for DOG and a search for DOGS will return the same hits when you have the plural box checked. The use of any form of truncation or pattern matching in combination with the plurals feature is not recommended.

A search for HOG[BI] with the plurals function turned on will return results containing both the singular, plural and possessive forms of HOG that occur in the Basic Index. Results will include: HOG, HOGS and HOG'S found in the Basic Index.

Caution! The plurals option does not work with pattern matching. For example, the search {A}MIND[BI,TI] with the plurals option selected might be expected to retrieve the mark CMINDS, but CMINDS is not retrieved by that search. This is a limitation of the search engine.

Caution! Right truncation should not be used with the plurals option. For example, the search MOUSE*[BI,TI] with the plurals option selected might be expected to retrieve marks with MICE in the word mark, pseudo mark or translation. Unfortunately, the search engine literally checks for the word ending MOUSE* in the plurals table and fails to recognize MICE as the plural of MOUSE, as there is not an entry in the plurals table for MOUSE*.

Generally, left truncation can be used with the plurals option. For example, the search *MOUSE[BI,TI] with the plurals option selected does retrieve marks with MICE in the word mark, pseudo mark or translation.

---

Plurals Table

For most searches, selecting the plurals option will provide the desired singular and plural forms for your search. Note that the plurals option work both ways, converting singular search terms to plurals and plural search terms to the singular form for the actual search. If you have doubts about the substitutions being performed for your search, turn the plurals option off and specify the explicit search terms you wish to retrieve.

The TESS search engine employs an exception table to create the singular and plural forms of search words. If the word is not in exception table, an S is appended to the word to form its plural. For example, the plural form of BANANA is BANANAS.

The exception table provides the substitutions that are used to form the plural form or multiple plural forms for select words. The bulk of the entries include a word ending and the list of one or more alternative endings that are substituted to form the plural forms. For example, the plural forms of words ending in Y are provided by the following entry.

Y IES YS

The above entry means that for any word ending in Y, two plural forms are created by substituting IES and YS for Y. The plural forms for LADY are LADYS and LADIES.

When forming the plural forms for a word, the exception table is searched in order. Once a word match is found, then the substitutions specified in that word are performed and searching stops. For example, although BOY ends in Y, the entry OY precedes Y in the table, so the plural form of BOY is BOYS. The substitution IES is not performed for the Y in boy, so BOIES is not a plural form BOY.

An alternative format used in the exception table is for entries beginning with the equal sign (=), which indicates an exact match of the full word must occur for the substitution to be performed. An example of such an entry follows.

=OCTOPUS =OCTOPUSES =OCTOPI

The plural forms of OCTOPUS are OCTOPUSES and OCTOPI, but OCTOPUS is not considered to be a word ending for such substitutions. There are very few uses of this format in the exception table, so there is little likelihood of encountering these exceptions during your searches. If you have doubts about the substitutions being performed for your search, turn the plurals option off and specify the explicit search terms you wish to retrieve.

If an entry in exception table begins with a plus sign (+) then TESS substitutes for the word following the plus sign with all the alternative entries included on the line.

Each line represents the various forms of a given word ending. If the end of an input term matches any of the strings given on a line, then that is expanded to the beginning part of the input term (less the matched ending), plus each of the endings given on that exception line.

ORDER COUNTS! These exceptions will be tested for in the order in which they are defined in this table. Once a matching ending is found, the table lookup stops.

	AEROPLANE       AIRPLANE        AEROPLANES      AIRPLANES
        CATALOG         CATALOGUE       CATALOGS        CATALOGUES
	CENTER          CENTRE          CENTERS         CENTRES
	CHECK           CHEQUE          CHECKS          CHEQUES
	COLOUR          COLOR           COLOURS         COLORS
	COMPUTERIZED    COMPUTERISED
	DISC            DISK            DISCS           DISKS
	ENCYCLOPEDIA    ENCYCLOPAEDIA   ENCYCLOPEDIAS   ENCYCLOPAEDIAS
	FERTILISER      FERTILIZER      FERTILISERS     FERTILIZERS
	INQUIRY         ENQUIRY         INQUIRIES       ENQUIRIES
	JEWELRY         JEWELLERY       JEWELRIES       JEWELLERIES
	KETCHUP         CATSUP          KETCHUPS        CATSUPS
	KNIT            KNITTED
	LICENSE         LICENCE         LICENSES        LICENCES
	MOLD            MOULD           MOLDS           MOULDS
	MOLDING         MOULDING        MOLDINGS        MOULDINGS
	MOUSTACHE       MUSTACHE        MOUSTACHES      MUSTACHES
	ONLINE          ON-LINE         ONLINES         ON-LINES
	ORGANISATION    ORGANIZATION    ORGANISATIONS   ORGANIZATIONS
	PAJAMAS         PYJAMAS         PAJAMA          PYJAMA
	PROGRAM         PROGRAMME       PROGRAMS        PROGRAMMES
	PROPELLANT      PROPELLENT      PROPELLANTS     PROPELLENTS
	THEATRE         THEATER         THEATRES        THEATERS
	TYRE            TIRE            TYRES           TIRES
	WOOLEN          WOOLLEN         WOOLENS         WOOLLENS
	STATIONARY      STATIONERY      STATIONARIES    STATIONERIES
        AMOEBA		AMOEBAE		AMOEBAS
	AMEBA		AMEBAE		AMEBAS
	CHILD		CHILDS		CHILDREN	CHILDRENS
	INDEX		INDEXES		INDICES
	HUMAN		HUMANS
	MAN		MEN		MENS		MANS
	AY		AYS
	MONEY		MONEYS		MONIES
	EY		EYS
	IY		IYS
	INDIA		INDIAS
	INDIUM		INDIUMS
	IUM		IUMS		IA		IAS
	OY		OYS
	UY		UYS
	Y		IES		YS
	SH		SHES
	ACHE		ACHES
	CH		CHES		CHS
	J		JES		JS
	GENUS		GENERA		GENUSES
	ANALYSIS	+ANALYSES
	+ANALYSE	ANALYSES	+ANALYSIS
	=ROSE		=ROSES
	ROSIS		ROSES
	=NOSE		=NOSES
	NOSIS		NOSES
	BASIS		BASE		BASES
	CRISIS		CRISES
	GENESIS		GENESES
	OASIS		OASES
	OSMOSIS		OSMOSES
	ABUSE		ABUSES
	BUS		BUSES		BUSSES
	SS		SSES
	GOOSE		GOOSES		GEESE
	LOUSE		LOUSES		LICE
	MOUSE		MOUSES		MICE		MICES
	ALUMNA		ALUMNAE		ALUMNAS		ALUMNAES
	FORMULA		FORMULAE	FORMULAS
	NUCLEUS		NUCLEI		NUCLEUSES
	ALUMNUS		ALUMNI		ALUMNIS
	FUNGUS		FUNGI		FUNGUSES
	THESAURUS	THESAURI	THESAURUSES
	CACTUS		CACTI		CACTUSES
	RADIUS		RADII		RADIUSES
	=OCTOPUS	=OCTOPUSES	=OCTOPI
	THESIS		THESES
	SE		SES
	YNX		YNGES		YNXES
	ICE		IX		ICES		IXES		IXS
	=OX		=OXEN		=OXES
	X		XES		XS
	Z		+ZES		ZS
	AO		AOS
	EO		EOS
	IO		IOS
	OO		OOS
	UO		UOS
	=CANOE		=CANOES
	=DOE		+DOES
	=DO		+DOES
	=DOES		+DOE		+DO
	=HOE		=HOES
	=FLOE		=FLOES
	=FOE		=FOES
	=OBOE		=OBOES
	=ROE		=ROES
	=SHOE		=SHOES
	=TOE		=TOES
	=TO		+TO
	O		OES		OS		OE
	FOOT		FEET
	TOOTH		TEETH
	PERSON		PERSONS		PEOPLE		PEOPLES
	DATUM		DATA
	STAFF		STAFFS		STAVES
	=DWARF		=DWARFS		=DWARVES
	FF		FFS
	BELIEF		BELIEFS		BELIEVES
	CALF		CALFS		CALVES
	ELF		ELFS		ELVES
	GRIEF		GRIEFS		GRIEVES
	HALF		HALFS		HALVES
	HOOF		HOOFS		HOOVES
	KERCHIEF	KERCHIEFS	KERCHIEVES
	KNIFE		KNIFES		KNIVES
	LEAF		LEAFS		LEAVES
	LIFE		LIFES		LIVE		LIVES
	LOAF		LOAVES
	ROOF		ROOFS		ROOVES
	SCARF		SCARFS		SCARVES
	SELF		SELFS		SELVES
	SHEAF		SHEAFS		SHEAVES
	SHELF		SHELFS		SHELVES
	THIEF		THIEFS		THIEVES
	WHARF		WHARFS		WHARVES
	WIFE		WIFES		WIVES
	WOLF		WOLFS		WOLVES

Return to Main Menu

---

Logical Operators

The logical operators for TESS are described in the following table.

Operator Precedence:

For longer search statements, the precedence order, from highest to lowest, is as follows:

1. ADJ, NEAR (highest precedence)
2. WITH
3. SAME
4. AND, NOT, NOT SAME, NOT WITH, NOT NEAR, NOT ADJ
5. XOR
6. OR (lowest precedence)

For example, the consider the following three search results.

Search Summary:


No.  Search Terms                               Documents   Occurrences
S1   (BANKS OR INVESTMENT AND SERVICES)[GS]         16774         59223
S2   ((BANKS OR INVESTMENT) AND SERVICES)[GS]       13434         58843
S3   (BANKS OR (INVESTMENT AND SERVICES))[GS]       16774         59223

In the first search, TESS applies the its rules for the order of operations, first searching the two terms INVESTMENT and SERVICES in the GS field, and then combining that result via the OR operator with the search of BANKS in the GS field. In the second and third searches, the order of operations is determined by the parenthesis. Note that the counts for the first and third searches match.

We recommend that you include parenthesis in your longer searches to explicitly indicate the order of operations rather than submitting ambiguous queries that may not be interpreted as intended by the search engine.

Return to Main Menu

Truncation Operators

Return to Main Menu

Pattern Matching

Additionally, TESS includes a CLASS concept for searches. You can use classes to specify which of all the searchable characters should or should not be included in your results. For your search, enclose the class operator within braces {}. For example, the class V represents the vowels A, E, I, O, U or Y. The search H{V}T[MN] will search the MN (Mark Non-Punctuated) index for all occurrences of HAT, HET, HIT, HOT, HUT, or HYT.

CLASS	CLASS CONTENTS
A	The alphabet characters A through Z.
C	The consonants (the letters B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y and Z).
D	The decimal digits 0 through 9.
E	The even digits 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8.
M	The mixed set of characters A through Z and digits 0 through 9.
O	The odd digits 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9. (Use the letter O, not the digit 0.)
V	The vowels A, E, I, O, U, or Y.

The $ and ? truncation operators may be used with a character class in a search statement. Place the truncation operator outside the pattern delimiters, such as {A}$ to search for any letter (A-Z) followed by anything.

The exclamation point (!) can be used with classes to exclude the class from your search. The search A{!D}, for example, will search for the letter A followed by any character other than the digits 0 through 9.

Multiple occurrences of a class might be specified within the {} delimiters by appending a count after the class name or by repeating the class identifier. The searches H{V,V}T[BI] and H{V2}T[BI] are equivalent and should retrieve all records containing the letter H followed by two vowels followed by the letter T, such as HEAT or HOOT but not HALT.

You can combine classes with the plus sign (+). For example, the search DOG{A+O}[BI] will search for DOG followed by either a letter (A-Z) or an odd digit found in the Basic Index search field.

A class followed by a number searches for a string of that many occurrences of the class. For example, the search {D5}[BI] will search for strings of 5 consecutive digits. Alternative, use a colon (:) to specify the run length for the operator. For example, the search {D:6}[BI] will find any six character strings of digits, or the search {A4:6}[BI] will find any string of four to six letters of the range A to Z. The search CPS{M0:1}[BI] will find word mark or pseudo mark entries beginning with the three characters CPS and having either none or one character (alpha or digit) following the S.

You may designate the particular characters that should occur within the braces. For example, a search for *TE{"ckxq"}*[BI] will return results found in the Basic Index where the letter string TE is preceded by any number of characters or zero characters, immediately followed by the letters "c", "k", "x" or "q" with those characters followed by any number or zero characters. Results will include: Technology, Texture, Tech, Tecs, Teq and others.

Return to Main Menu

Sample Truncation Searches

Following is a search history demonstrating the $ and * truncation operators. The first search of DOG[MN] merely searches for the occurrences of the word DOG in the Mark Non-Punctuated field. A similar search DOG[BI] retrieves occurrences of DOG from the Basic index search field, with includes the text for both the Word Mark and the Pseudo Mark fields, resulting in a larger number of hits. For search 03, the $ truncation operator is used, providing all occurrences from the Mark Non-Punctuated field for the three characters DOG followed by any other characters. Search 04 performs the same truncation search as search 03 using the Basic Index and its special * truncation operator. Since the Basic Index also includes the pseudo mark search field, which is not included in the Mark Non-Punctuated field, it is not unexpected to retrieve a higher number of hits with this search. Searches 05 and 06 include double truncation.

#     Hits       Search
1     2005       DOG[MN]
2     2390       DOG[BI]
3     2966       DOG$[MN]
4     3337       DOG*[BI]
5      869       $DOG$[PM]
6     3771       *DOG*[BI]

The use of the vowel class is demonstrated in the following searches. For the first search, the search statement D{V}G[MN] directs TESS to search the MN [Mark Non-Punctuated] Search field for the character D followed by a vowel followed by the character G. The same search is performed by search 02 using the actual possible vowel combinations. Searches 03 and 04 confirm that the two searches are identical.

#     Hits       Search

1     2148       D{V}G[MN]
2     2148       DAG[MN] or DEG[MN] or DIG[MN] or
DOG[MN] or DUG[MN] or DYG[MN]
3        0       1 not 2
4        0       2 not 1

Return to Main Menu

Phrase Searching

TESS does not utilize implied adjacency when searching two or more terms. To designate that two or more search terms should be searched as a phrase, enclose your search in quotes. Enclosing two or more search terms in quotes tells TESS to invoke the adjacency operator. You can also enter the adjacency (adj) operator yourself between your search terms to specify adjacency. If you do not specify adjacency in a search containing two or more search terms, your search results will contain occurrences of either search term. TESS defaults to using the Boolean OR operator if no operator is specified. For example, the search (CAT FOOD)[BI] is equivalent to (CAT OR FOOD)[BI]. For the phrase CAT FOOD, the search "CAT FOOD"[BI] might be entered. Please recall that the Basic Index is the preferred index for word mark searches. Additionally, the Full Mark [FM] index is designed for exact match searches of the word mark; search for phrases in the Full Mark index by substituting a hyphen for any blank space character, as in CAT-FOOD[FM] to retrieve those few records with the word mark having the exact phrase CAT FOOD with no additional text.

Use of the * truncation operator in the Basic Index is appropriate when searching for single terms. It is also appropriate to use the * in the Basic Index when searching multiple terms within the same search statement and when the desired results do not require that the terms occur adjacent to each other in the mark. Use of the * truncation operator in the Basic Index is not appropriate if it is required that the multiple terms searched utilizing the * truncation operator appear in the mark adjacent to each other as is commonly desired when executing a phrase search.

A search of the Basic Index where adjacency of search terms is required and it is desired to include the use of truncation, use either the $ or ? truncation operators in place of the * truncation operator. For example, a search for marks that contain the two adjacent terms HOT DOG can be successfully entered in the Basic Index and utilizing truncation, as (HOT$ ADJ DOG$)[BI]. An alternative entry method would be HOT$[BI] ADJ DOG$[BI]. Truncation overflow may occur with the use of the $ or ? truncation operators.

Note that the plurals option does not apply to items in quotes. If the use of the Plurals option is desired when searching for a phrase, use the ADJ operator to designate adjacency of search terms. For example, (CAT ADJ FOOD)[BI] with the Plurals option turned on will retrieve CAT FOODS.

Return to Main Menu

Special Search Features

Quotes SHOULD be used for numeric searches in any search field so that your search will not be interpreted as a reference to a previous search statement, especially for searches of coordinated classes, international classes or U.S. classes. For example, the search for coordinated class 001 should always include quotes around the number, as in "001"[CC], so that the search system cannot mistake 001 as a reference to search statement 1. The numeric ranges for the other numeric fields typically will exceed the maximum number of statements allowed in your session. The following session demonstrates searching for the Serial Number [SN] field. Note that for the second search, the $ truncation operator in quotes was interpreted literally as a dollar sign and not interpreted as a truncation operator, resulting in no hits for the search. The third search retrieves a range of ten serial numbers (73550140 to 73550149), and the fourth search retrieves a range of 100 serial numbers (though only 99 serial number occur in that range from 73550100 to 73550199).

 #     Hits       Search
s1        1       "73550141"[SN]
s2        0       "7355014$"[SN]
s3       10       7355014$[SN]
s4       99       735501$[SN]

Alternatively, the ` operator can be used for numeric range searches, as shown in the following example search of the Filing Date field for all filing date entries for the year 1985.

 #     Hits       Search
s1    59803       `FD > 19850000 < 19860000

The following numeric comparisons can be used with the ` numeric operator in searches.

Numeric Comparison	Meaning
=	Equal to
<>	Not equal to
>	Greater than
>=	Greater than or equal to
<	Less than
<=	Less than or equal to

The apostrophe is not a searchable character and is treated like a blank space (end of word indicator) in TESS 1.1. For example, the owner name Landry's Trademark is actually the three words Landry, S and Trademark. Using quotes for implied adjacency, an owner name search for Landry's Trademark would be "LANDRY S TRADEMARK"[ON]. Note that the apostrophe was replaced by a blank space. An alternative search for the same owner using the ADJ adjacency operator would be LANDRY ADJ S ADJ TRADEMARK[ON].

Suppose you wish to retrieve only marks that have a word repeated in the word mark field. For example, suppose the mark of interest was READER TO READER. The search READER[BI,TI] SAME READER[BI,TI] will provide some undesirable hits containing the word READER only once. Instead, use the NEAR operator in the MP (Mark Punctuated) or MN (Mark Non-Punctuated) fields, as in READER[MP] NEAR2 READER[MP] or READER[MN] NEAR2 READER[MN].

The searches ("003" or "005" or "008")[IC]> and "003"[IC] or "005"[IC] or "008"[IC]> provide identical results, as expected; however, the second format is more efficient, providing the search results more quickly than the first format.