Filing on a Foreign Basis: A Practitioner's Guide to Section 44 Priority Claims, Home Registrations, and Scope Traps
By Casey Scott McKay ·
This guide is the operational half of the Marksy article on Section 44, and it assumes you know the difference between a 44(d) priority claim and a 44(e) registration basis. It runs a foreign-basis filing through thirteen stages, from the country-of-origin analysis that determines eligibility to the maintenance planning that decides whether the registration survives its fifth year. Its center is the bona fide intent file - the contemporaneous documentation that answers the challenge most likely to be brought against a Section 44 application - and the scope-drafting exercise that converts a broad foreign identification into a definite American one without exceeding it. It supplies a basis-selection matrix comparing Section 44(e), Section 66(a), and intent to use on the dimensions that actually differ, a dual-basis strategy, model priority-claim and identification language, and a maintenance calendar built backward from the Section 8 deadline. The final stages take the opposing chair and explain how to attack a foreign-basis application or registration, and what a registrant should have on file to defeat that attack.
IP and Technology > Trademarks | Guide | Published 26 October 2023 - Updated 13 September 2025 | Casey Scott McKay - marksy.us
Summary. This guide is the operational half of the Marksy article on Section 44, and it assumes you know the difference between a § 44(d) priority claim and a § 44(e) registration basis. It runs a foreign-basis filing through thirteen stages, from the country-of-origin analysis that determines eligibility to the maintenance planning that decides whether the registration survives its fifth year. Its center is the bona fide intent file — the contemporaneous documentation that answers the challenge most likely to be brought against a Section 44 application — and the scope-drafting exercise that converts a broad foreign identification into a definite American one without exceeding it. It supplies a basis-selection matrix comparing Section 44(e), Section 66(a), and intent to use on the dimensions that actually differ, a dual-basis strategy, model priority-claim and identification language, and a maintenance calendar built backward from the Section 8 deadline. The final stages take the opposing chair and explain how to attack a foreign-basis application or registration, and what a registrant should have on file to defeat that attack.
Keywords: section 44 filing procedure · priority claim mechanics · home registration copy · country of origin analysis · bona fide intent file · scope of goods drafting · dual basis application · madrid versus section 44 · central attack risk · maintenance planning foreign basis · section 8 specimen planning · opposition bona fide intent · expungement defense · foreign applicant docketing · six month window · us counsel coordination · translation requirements · identification narrowing · portfolio strategy
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