The audacious efforts of EPS Settlements Group to trademark the term "The Structured Settlements Company" have been chronicled in this forum over the past 9 months. As reported recently EPS failed to obtain an allowance from the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) on simply "The Structured Settlements Company" due to the generic nature of the claim. It was anticipated by this author that a large number of industry members would oppose the mark at the time it would have been published for opposition.
On or about April 17, 2009, EPS began an alternate strategy to claim the word combination mark " EPS Settlements Group The Structured Settlements Company".The claim initially met with similar USPTO objections to the first application. On November 18, 2009, the USPTO examiner amended the application by requiring the following disclaimer.
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “SETTLEMENTS GROUP THE STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS COMPANY” apart from the mark as shown.
So essentially the only thing EPS would now get is the use of EPS before those words. It appears that ANY other entity, even those performing the same services as EPS CAN USE the terms "settlements group", "the structured settlements company" or a combination of the two and not be infringing on EPS proposed trademark. The mark has yet to be published for opposition but the status report suggests that it soon will be.
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