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TM Clearance Search – Design Code - Categories & Occurrences
Overview of a trademark clearance search including a design element by using the design search code
Clearance searching for a trademark can include searching for alphanumeric elements and
design elements. Meaning, as far as alphanumeric elements, a clearance search can include
words and numbers, so searching for a name, which is the whole mark element, or part of the
mark element. Or meaning, as far as design elements, a clearance search can include pictures,
figures, or shapes, so searching for a logo or logo shape.
When a trademark application is examined during the application process for a registration, the
Trademark Examiner/Trademark Office will add a design search code(s) to the filing. The assigned
design search code allows others to more easily search applications and registrations to
determine if a design within the existing application or registration will cause confusion
between their proposed trademark application and the existing application or registration.
The design codes are broken down into 29 main categories. The 29 main categories are
detailed in the USPTO Design Search Code Manual.
The 29 main categories design codes are:
01 - Celestial bodies, natural phenomena, geographical maps
02 - Human beings
03 - Animals
04 - Supernatural beings, mythological or legendary beings, fantastical beings or unidentifiable
05 - Plants
06 - Scenery
07 - Dwellings, buildings, monuments, stadiums, fountains, structural works, and building
materials
08 - Foodstuff
09 - Textiles, clothing, headwear, footwear and sewing accessories
10 - Tobacco, smokers; materials; fans; toilet articles; medical devices and apparatus including
tablets, capsules, or powders
11 - Household utensils
12 - Furniture and plumbing fixtures
13 - Lighting, cooking, heating, cooling, or refrigeration equipment
14 - Hardware, tools, and ladders; non-motorized agricultural implements; keys and locks
15 - Machines and parts thereof, including industrial agricultural, home and office machines;
electrical equipment
16 - Telecommunications, sound recording or reproduction equipment; photography,
cinematography and optics
17 - Horological instruments and parts; jewelry; weights and measures
18 - Transport; equipment for animals; traffic signs
19 - Baggage, containers, and bottles
20 - Writing, drawing, or painting materials, office materials, stationery, and books
21 - Games, toys, and sporting articles
22 - Musical instruments and their accessories; bells; sculptures
23 - Arms, ammunition, and armor
24 - Heraldry, flags, crowns, crosses, arrows, and symbols
25 - Ornamental framework, surfaces, or backgrounds with ornaments
26 - Geometric figures and solids
27 - Forms of writing
28 - Inscriptions in various characters
29 – Miscellaneous
How do I search for a design in a trademark clearance search?
A design can be searched for by searching for a design code which would likely be assigned to a
previous filing.
The design code is found by going to the USPTO Design Search Code Manual from the
Trademark Office.
In the Table of Categories, the main category is found by looking for a relevant description. For example, the design being searched for is a drawing of a train, the main category would be 18 for “Transport; equipment for animals; traffic signs”.
Then the searcher would click on the main category of 18 and go to the subcategories for the main category. The searcher can look for a train by: a) scrolling through the pictures; b) going to the relevant next sub category which is outlined at the top of the page; or c) doing a crtl+f search for a word describing the design element. So for a train the sub category would be 18.05 for Land motor vehicles, and the most specific sub category would be 18.05.03. Then that most specific sub category can be used in a search.
So a search for trains in the Free Form search function can be done with a search of 180503[DC]. There are no periods used for the design search code. The TESS field for searching the design search code is [DC]. The sub category of Land motor vehicles can be searched for with a truncation operator so the search would be 1805$[DC]. The main category of Transport; equipment for animals; traffic signs can also be searched for with a truncation operator and search would be 18$[DC].
Number of Federal TM Filings with Different Design Codes
Number of TM filings in 2022 having the different main categories of design search codes
The number of filings with design elements for each category in 2022 Trademark applications or registrations are:
01 - Celestial bodies, natural phenomena, geographical maps - 19599
02 - Human beings - 15896
03 – Animals - 15565
04 - Supernatural beings, mythological or legendary beings, fantastical beings or unidentifiable - 4081
05 – Plants - 13735
06 – Scenery - 3730
07 - Dwellings, buildings, monuments, stadiums, fountains, structural works, and building materials - 5109
08 – Foodstuff - 1514
09 - Textiles, clothing, headwear, footwear and sewing accessories - 5846
10 - Tobacco, smokers; materials; fans; toilet articles; medical devices and apparatus Including tablets, capsules, or powders - 1531
11 - Household utensils - 2572
12 - Furniture and plumbing fixtures - 556
13 - Lighting, cooking, heating, cooling, or refrigeration equipment - 928
14 - Hardware, tools, and ladders; non-motorized agricultural implements; keys and locks - 2422
15 - Machines and parts thereof, including industrial agricultural, home and office machines; electrical equipment - 1600
16 - Telecommunications, sound recording or reproduction equipment; photography, cinematography and optics - 2295
17 - Horological instruments and parts; jewelry; weights and measures - 2363
18 - Transport; equipment for animals; traffic signs - 3320
19 - Baggage, containers, and bottles - 2294
20 - Writing, drawing, or painting materials, office materials, stationery, and books - 2284
21 - Games, toys, and sporting articles - 3333
22 - Musical instruments and their accessories; bells; sculptures - 565
23 - Arms, ammunition, and armor - 1158
24 - Heraldry, flags, crowns, crosses, arrows, and symbols - 16900
25 - Ornamental framework, surfaces, or backgrounds with ornaments - 1369
26 - Geometric figures and solids - 71396
27 - Forms of writing - 15167
28 - Inscriptions in various characters - 3414
29 – Miscellaneous - 2067
Filings in 2022, with a design element, populated all 29 categories of the design code. In total, there were 222,608 total filings that had one or more design elements as part of the trademark application or registration. Design code category #26 – Geometric figures and solids – was used on 32% of the applications. The next popular categories of the design code were: #01 – Celestial bodies, natural phenomena, geographical maps (9%); #24 – Heraldry, flags, crown, crosses, arrows: and symbols (7.5%) and #02 – Human Beings and #03 – Animals – (7% each).
Will the design code be specific to the good?
Will a particular International Class for goods have a design which is more specific to the good?
Will a particular International Class for Goods (IC 1 – 34) have a design which is more specific to that type of good?
This is answered by viewing the examples of IC 006 for Metal Goods and IC 010 Medical Apparatus.
When delving deeper into design codes for trademark applications or registrations, certain International Classes for Goods would have design elements more specific to that type of good. However, after examining two very different classes of goods – IC 006 Metal Goods and IC 010 Medical Apparatus – there are several observations that are not expected. For example, in the 2022 filings for IC Metal Goods (total design code occurrences: 2341), only a small percentage of design elements usually associated with metal goods were represented: design code #07 – Dwellings, buildings, monuments, stadiums, fountains, structural works, and building materials – was only in 5% of filings and design code #14 – Hardware, tools and ladders; non-motorized agricultural implements; keys and locks -– was in only in 5% of filings as well. Unexpectedly, design code #15 – Machines and parts thereof, including industrial, agricultural, home and office machines; electrical equipment – only appear in 1% of filed applications or registrations. In the 2022 filings for IC 010 Medical Apparatus (total design code occurrences were 4071), the design code #02 – Human Beings – only appeared on 10% of these filings. None of these design code usages mentioned, for either class of goods, are the most frequent occurrences in 2022 filings.
Both the IC 006 Metal Goods filings and the IC 010 Medical Apparatus filings revealed a trend. Design code category #26 – Geometric figures and solids - was by far, the most frequently used category for a design element indication. For IC 006 Metal Goods, 44% of filings contained the design code while for IC 010 Medical Apparatus, 41% of filings were in this category. Geometric figures and solids design elements were four times more frequently claimed than the next common category (Metal Goods – design code #27 – Forms of writing – was second at 8%. Medical Apparatus – design code #02 - Human beings – was was second at 10%). Another trend was the frequency of design code #24 – Heraldry, flags, crowns, crosses, arrows, and symbols – was recurrently cited in both the Metal Goods (6%) and Medical Apparatus (7%) class filings. Finally, both the Metal Goods and Medical Apparatus filings saw identical frequencies (7% of applications or registrations) with the design elements in design code #01 – Celestial bodies, natural phenomena, geographical maps.
IC 006 Metal Goods - and the occurrences of different design codes
The number of filings for IC 006 Metal Goods with design elements for each category in 2022 Trademark applications or registrations are:
01 - Celestial bodies, natural phenomena, geographical maps - 165
02 - Human beings - 62
03 - Animals - 108
04 - Supernatural beings, mythological or legendary beings, fantastical beingsor or unidentifiable - 26
05 – Plants - 71
06 – Scenery - 34
07 - Dwellings, buildings, monuments, stadiums, fountains, structural works, and buildingmaterials - 121
08 – Foodstuff - 0
09 - Textiles, clothing, headwear, footwear and sewing accessories - 34
10 - Tobacco, smokers; materials; fans; toilet articles; medical devices and apparatus Including tablets, capsules, or powders - 6
11 - Household utensils - 5
12 - Furniture and plumbing fixtures - 8
13 - Lighting, cooking, heating, cooling, or refrigeration equipment - 7
14 - Hardware, tools, and ladders; non-motorized agricultural implements; keys and locks - 113
15 - Machines and parts thereof, including industrial agricultural, home and office machines; electrical equipment - 26
16 - Telecommunications, sound recording or reproduction equipment; photography, cinematography and optics - 9
17 - Horological instruments and parts; jewelry; weights and measures - 5
18 - Transport; equipment for animals; traffic signs - 35
19 - Baggage, containers, and bottles - 19
20 - Writing, drawing, or painting materials, office materials, stationery, and books – 3
21 - Games, toys, and sporting articles - 12
22 - Musical instruments and their accessories; bells; sculptures - 1
23 - Arms, ammunition, and armor - 7
24 - Heraldry, flags, crowns, crosses, arrows, and symbols - 150
25 - Ornamental framework, surfaces, or backgrounds with ornaments - 8
26 - Geometric figures and solids - 1040
27 - Forms of writing - 198
28 - Inscriptions in various characters - 35
29 – Miscellaneous - 33
IC 010 Medical Apparatus Goods - and the occurrences of different design codes
The number of filings for IC 010 Medical Apparatus with design elements for each category in 2022 Trademark applications or registrations are:
01 - Celestial bodies, natural phenomena, geographical maps - 285
02 - Human beings - 413
03 – Animals - 179
04 - Supernatural beings, mythological or legendary beings, fantastical beings or unidentifiable - 77
05 – Plants - 158
06 – Scenery - 30
07 - Dwellings, buildings, monuments, stadiums, fountains, structural works, and building materials - 29
08 – Foodstuff - 4
09 - Textiles, clothing, headwear, footwear and sewing accessories - 54
10 - Tobacco, smokers; materials; fans; toilet articles; medical devices and apparatus Including tablets, capsules, or powders - 99
11 - Household utensils - 8
12 - Furniture and plumbing fixtures - 11
13 - Lighting, cooking, heating, cooling, or refrigeration equipment - 8
14 - Hardware, tools, and ladders; non-motorized agricultural implements; keys and locks - 36
15 - Machines and parts thereof, including industrial agricultural, home and office machines; electrical equipment - 15
16 - Telecommunications, sound recording or reproduction equipment; photography,
cinematography and optics - 23
17 - Horological instruments and parts; jewelry; weights and measures - 52
18 - Transport; equipment for animals; traffic signs - 11
19 - Baggage, containers, and bottles - 30
20 - Writing, drawing, or painting materials, office materials, stationery, and books – 17
21 - Games, toys, and sporting articles - 36
22 - Musical instruments and their accessories; bells; sculptures - 3
23 - Arms, ammunition, and armor - 11
24 - Heraldry, flags, crowns, crosses, arrows, and symbols - 287
25 - Ornamental framework, surfaces, or backgrounds with ornaments - 13
26 - Geometric figures and solids - 1657
27 - Forms of writing - 377
28 - Inscriptions in various characters - 92
29 – Miscellaneous - 56
How the data was found
Searches used in TESS
*To be noted: Data for this webpage was accessed on May 20, 2023, using TESS. Filings/Applications are continually reviewed and modified, and the database updates its information daily.
The data for how many filings, filed in 2022, with a design element, in TESS, have a design code
from the different main categories of design search codes, with the following searches in TESS.
2022$[FD] AND 01$[DC] 01 - Celestial bodies, natural phenomena, geographical maps
2022$[FD] AND 02$[DC] 02 - Human beings
2022$[FD] AND 03$[DC] 03 - Animals
2022$[FD] AND 04$[DC] 04 - Supernatural beings, mythological or legendary beings, fantastical beings or unidentifiable
2022$[FD] AND 05$[DC] 05 - Plants
2022$[FD] AND 06$[DC] 06 - Scenery
2022$[FD] AND 07$[DC] 07 - Dwellings, buildings, monuments, stadiums, fountains, structural works and building materials
2022$[FD] AND 08$[DC] 08 - Foodstuff
2022$[FD] AND 09$[DC] 09 - Textiles, clothing, headwear, footwear and sewing accessories
2022$[FD] AND 10$[DC] 10 - Tobacco, smokers' materials; fans; toilet articles; medical devices and apparatus including tablets, capsules, or powders
2022$[FD] AND 11$[DC] 11 - Household utensils
2022$[FD] AND 12$[DC] 12 - Furniture and plumbing fixtures
2022$[FD] AND 13$[DC] 13 - Lighting, cooking, heating, cooling, or refrigeration equipment
2022$[FD] AND 14$[DC] 14 - Hardware, tools, and ladders; non-motorized agricultural implements; keys and locks
2022$[FD] AND 15$[DC] 15 - Machines and parts thereof, including industrial agricultural, home and office machines; electrical equipment
2022$[FD] AND 16$[DC] 16 - Telecommunications, sound recording or reproduction equipment; photography, cinematography, and optics
2022$[FD] AND 17$[DC] 17 - Horological instruments and parts; jewelry; weights and measures
2022$[FD] AND 18$[DC] 18 - Transport; equipment for animals; traffic signs
2022$[FD] AND 19$[DC] 19 - Baggage, containers, and bottles
2022$[FD] AND 20$[DC] 20 - Writing, drawing, or painting materials, office materials, stationery
and books
2022$[FD] AND 21$[DC] 21 - Games, toys, and sporting articles
2022$[FD] AND 22$[DC] 22 - Musical instruments and their accessories; bells; sculptures
2022$[FD] AND 23$[DC] 23 - Arms, ammunition, and armor
2022$[FD] AND 24$[DC] 24 - Heraldry, flags, crowns, crosses, arrows, and symbols
2022$[FD] AND 25$[DC] 25 - Ornamental framework, surfaces, or backgrounds with ornaments
2022$[FD] AND 26$[DC] 26 - Geometric figures and solids2022$[FD] AND 27$[DC] 27 - Forms of writing
2022$[FD] AND 28$[DC] 28 - Inscriptions in various characters
2022$[FD] AND 29$[DC] 29 – Miscellaneous
The data for how many filings, filed in 2022, for IC 006 Metal Goods, and the amount with each
design code main category, was found with the following searches in TESS.
2022$[FD] AND 01$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 165
2022$[FD] AND 02$[DC] AND 006[IC] - 62
2022$[FD] AND 03$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 108
2022$[FD] AND 04$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 26
2022$[FD] AND 05$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 71
2022$[FD] AND 06$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 34
2022$[FD] AND 07$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 121
2022$[FD] AND 08$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 0
2022$[FD] AND 09$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 34
2022$[FD] AND 10$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 6
2022$[FD] AND 11$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 5
2022$[FD] AND 12$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 8
2022$[FD] AND 13$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 7
2022$[FD] AND 14$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 113
2022$[FD] AND 15$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 26
2022$[FD] AND 16$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 9
2022$[FD] AND 17$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 5
2022$[FD] AND 18$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 35
2022$[FD] AND 19$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 19
2022$[FD] AND 20$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 3
2022$[FD] AND 21$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 12
2022$[FD] AND 22$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 1
2022$[FD] AND 23$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 7
2022$[FD] AND 24$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 150
2022$[FD] AND 25$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 8
2022$[FD] AND 26$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 1040
2022$[FD] AND 27$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 198
2022$[FD] AND 28$[DC] AND 006[IC] – 35
2022$[FD] AND 29$[DC] AND 006[IC] - 33
The data for how many filings, filed in 2022, for IC 010 Medical Apparatus, and the amount with
each design code main category, was found with the following searches in TESS.
2022$[FD] AND 01$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 285
2022$[FD] AND 02$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 413
2022$[FD] AND 03$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 179
2022$[FD] AND 04$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 77
2022$[FD] AND 05$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 158
2022$[FD] AND 06$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 30
2022$[FD] AND 07$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 29
2022$[FD] AND 08$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 4
2022$[FD] AND 09$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 54
2022$[FD] AND 10$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 99
2022$[FD] AND 11$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 8
2022$[FD] AND 12$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 11
2022$[FD] AND 13$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 8
2022$[FD] AND 14$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 36
2022$[FD] AND 15$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 15
2022$[FD] AND 16$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 23
2022$[FD] AND 17$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 52
2022$[FD] AND 18$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 11
2022$[FD] AND 19$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 30
2022$[FD] AND 20$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 17
2022$[FD] AND 21$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 36
2022$[FD] AND 22$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 3
2022$[FD] AND 23$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 11
2022$[FD] AND 24$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 287
2022$[FD] AND 25$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 13
2022$[FD] AND 26$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 1657
2022$[FD] AND 27$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 377
2022$[FD] AND 28$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 92
2022$[FD] AND 29$[DC] AND 010[IC] – 56
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