A disclaimer will be requested if the Examining Attorney feels that a portion of the mark cannot be approved.This is usually a very minor issue that is easy to overcome.Most often, the disclaimer will be of a portion of a mark that is descriptive of what you do or sell. Forexample, if you want to register the trademark, “FroYoParadise” for a frozen yogurt shop, you mustdisclaim the term “FroYo” because it describes what you are selling.Receiving a disclaimer requirement does not necessarily hurt your overall chances for approval. Usually, simply disclaiming the disputed portion of your mark will overcome the issue. However, if the challenged termis critical to your brand, you may want to refuse the disclaimer and present arguments that the term shouldnotbe disclaimed. We usually recommend accepting a disclaimer unless the term is critical to the brand.If you accept the disclaimer, the trademark will not be altered, and the application will typically be approvedwith the disclaimed portion still included. However, there will be a note added to the application statingwhich portion of the term is disclaimed. This means you would not be able to use the trademark to challengeother companies’ use of just the disclaimed term.