If an applied for trademark contains one or more parts which lack distinctiveness, meaning the ability to distinguish the goods and services in one operation from the goods and services provided in another, PRV can in certain exceptional cases explicitly state that the part/parts do not have protection in of themselves. PRV then registers a disclaimer.

A disclaimer should only be registered in exceptional cases, there must be a clear risk of uncertainty regarding the scope of the exclusive rights. If it is clear that a part cannot be covered by the protection, no disclaimer should be registered. It is PRV that decides whether a disclaimer should be registered or not. The applicant cannot demand that a disclaimer be registered.

Examples of when there can be reason to register a disclaimer are during the registration of a packaging outfit or of a trademark which contains a geographical name.

It is important to remember that it is always the mark in its entirety that is protected by registering a trademark, not the parts themselves.