Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

According to the Trademark Office, a "specimen is an actual example of how you are using the mark in commerce on or in connection with the identified goods and/or services. This is not the same as the drawing of the mark, which merely represents what you are claiming as the mark."

Mock-ups are not permitted to show use, and intentionally passing off a mock-up as a real specimen likely is fraud.

If you can prove that the specimen "couldn't actually exist", you might succeed in defending against an infringement claim, and might even be able to invalidate the trademark registration altogether...

Doing so would likely cost tens of thousands of dollars.

You might be able to raise the issue with the registrant and/or counsel, but to what end?

If you're planning a competing product and want to use the same 'brand', be careful.. there may be other claims that don't depend on trademark registration.

Best advice is consult an attorney who 'gets' this stuff.

The trademark office requires a specimen of the mark in actual use, but the specimen itself does not need to be in continuous use for five years. Obviously, signage fades and advertising rotates, so the fact that a mark is in use continuously does not mean that the individual specimens are. It's okay to submit the most recent example to the trademark office--it does not need to be five years old--but it must be a specimen showing actual use in commerce, not a mock-up. A photograph of a sign or ad is, however, acceptable.