A disclaimer is a statement that indicates that the applicant does not have the exclusive right to use a specific word of a trademark by itself.
Disclaimers are required for composite trademarks (English translation=trademarks with more than one word or design marks with separate elements) for the portion of the trademark that is merely descriptive, generic, or geographic or it contains a company designation or a well-known symbol such as the dollar sign ($). The disclaimer statement indicates that the applicant does not have the exclusive right to use that specific word of the trademark when standing alone. The exclusive trademark rights exist in the entire mark. The reasoning for disclaimers is that these types of words and/or symbols are needed by other people and businesses to describe their goods and/or services. So no one gets to claim exclusive rights to these terms.
For example, if you tried to register a beer named Legalese IPA, you would probably have to disclaim the exclusive rights to “IPA”. The IPA element is descriptive and un-registerable by itself. While you would be able to stop other breweries from naming their beers Legalese Stout, you are not able to stop anyone from calling a beer an IPA.
Here are some famous examples of disclaimers:
STARBUCKS COFFEE – No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “coffee” apart from the mark as shown.
KIA MOTORS – No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “motors” apart from the mark as shown.
BURGER KING – No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “burger” apart from the mark as shown.