We all know that pumpkin-related products are far more common on the shelves in the autumn. This quick Friday blog looks at the highly important question: how seasonal are filings for pumpkin-related marks?

Not really very seasonal! That’s a bit surprising, because people care about pumpkins a whole lot less outside of the fall. We looked at filing numbers for both marks that contained PUMPKIN and marks with pumpkin in the description of goods, and compared the overall filings from 2010-20 and filings just in September/October/November of those years.

On the mark front, applications for PUMPKIN marks were very slightly more common in the fall, accounting for 32% of applications. Filings with “pumpkin” in the goods, in contrast, was essentially exactly on par with the rest of the year: 25% of total applications.

There are a few things that could be going on here. First, and probably the key factor, is that many companies offer pumpkin-themed products under their house marks or key products marks, from Starbucks coffee to Special K cereal to Kind bars and many more. These include “pumpkin” or “pumpkin spice” in the descriptive text of the packaging, but not in the mark itself, and so don’t necessitate any other filings. Second, companies often plan ahead, and get applications on file well in advance of a product launch. That “spreads out” applications over the year.

As a final check, we did a quicker search of the COLA registry at the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. As common as pumpkin-y craft beers and flavored spirits are, and since seasonal variants often have different packaging that IS registered, we thought a quick search might show real differences. Nope! Only about 21% of COLA registrations that included “pumpkin” as the brand or fanciful name were filed in the fall months.

Anyway, happy Friday, and enjoy the weekend.