Offc Action Outgoing

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

 

 

 

OFFICE ACTION

 

TO AVOID ABANDONMENT, WE MUST RECEIVE A PROPER RESPONSE TO THIS OFFICE ACTION WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF OUR MAILING OR E-MAILING DATE. 

 

 

Serial Number  76/473722

 

The assigned examining attorney has reviewed the referenced application and determined the following.

 

SEARCH OF OFFICE RECORDS

 

The examining attorney has searched the Office records and has found no similar registered or pending mark which would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d), 15 U.S.C. §1052(d).  TMEP §704.02.

 

REGISTRATION

 

Descriptive

 

The examining attorney refuses registration on the Principal Register because the proposed mark merely describes the goods/services.  Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1), 15 U.S.C. §1052(e)(1); TMEP §§1209 et seq.

 

A mark is merely descriptive under Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1), 15 U.S.C. §1052(e)(1), if it describes an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose or use of the relevant goods/services.  In re Gyulay, 820 F.2d 1216, 3 USPQ2d 1009 (Fed. Cir. 1987);  In re Bed & Breakfast Registry, 791 F.2d 157, 229 USPQ 818 (Fed. Cir. 1986); In re MetPath Inc., 223 USPQ 88 (TTAB 1984); In re Bright‑Crest, Ltd., 204 USPQ 591 (TTAB 1979); TMEP §1209.01(b).

 

The proposed mark merely describes a feature of the goods; specifically the treats have a spiral or coiled shape.  As evidence of the descriptive nature of the proposed mark, the examining attorney provides dictionary definitions of the terms of the mark.  See attached definitions of curl from The American Heritage Dictionary.

 

Registration of the proposed mark must, therefore, be refused.  The applicant may, however, offer evidence in support of registration.

 

The applicant may seek to overcome this refusal as stated below.

 

Principal Register 2(f)

 

An applicant may not base a claim of acquired distinctiveness under Section 2(f) on ownership of a registration on the Supplemental Register.  In re Canron, Inc., 219 USPQ 820 (TTAB 1983); TMEP §1212.04(d).

 

However, the application indicates use of the mark for a significant time.  Therefore, the applicant may amend to seek registration under Trademark Act Section 2(f), 15 U.S.C. §1052(f), based on acquired distinctiveness.  If the applicant chooses to do so by using the statutory suggestion of five years of use as proof of distinctiveness, the applicant should submit a claim of distinctiveness that reads as follows, if accurate.

 

The mark has become distinctive of the goods/services through the applicant’s substantially exclusive and continuous use in commerce for at least the five years immediately before the date of this statement.

 

The applicant must provide this statement supported by an affidavit or a declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20.  37 C.F.R. §2.41(b); TMEP §1212.05(d).

 

Applicant’s Response

 

No set form is required for response to this Office action.  The applicant must respond to each point raised.  Additional information is available on-line at the Patent and Trademark Office site on the global computer network.  The site is located at WWW.USPTO.GOV.

 

/wgb/

William Breckenfeld

Trademark Attorney

Law Office 113

703-308-9113 x158 Phone

703-746-8113 Fax

ecom113@uspto.gov

 

 

How to respond to this Office Action:

 

To respond formally using the Office’s Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), visit http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/index.html and follow the instructions.

 

To respond formally via E-mail, visit http://www.gov.uspto.report/web/trademarks/tmelecresp.htm and follow the instructions.

 

To respond formally via regular mail, your response should be sent to the mailing Return Address listed above and include the serial number, law office and examining attorney’s name on the upper right corner of each page of your response.

 

To check the status of your application at any time, visit the Office’s Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) system at http://tarr.gov.uspto.report/

 

For general and other useful information about trademarks, you are encouraged to visit the Office’s web site at http://www.gov.uspto.report/main/trademarks.htm

 

FOR INQUIRIES OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS OFFICE ACTION, PLEASE CONTACT THE ASSIGNED EXAMINING ATTORNEY.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                          

curl

 
curl (kûrl) verb

curled, curl·ing, curls verb, transitive

1.    To twist (the hair, for example) into ringlets or coils.

2.    To form into a coiled or spiral shape: curled the ends of the ribbon.

3.    To decorate with coiled or spiral shapes.

4.    To raise and turn under (the upper lip), as in snarling or showing scorn.

 

verb, intransitive

1.    To form ringlets or coils.

2.    To assume a spiral or curved shape.

3.    To move in a curve or spiral: The wave curled over the surfer.

4.    Sports. To engage in curling.

 

noun

1.    Something with a spiral or coiled shape.

2.    A coil or ringlet of hair.

3.    A treatment in which the hair is curled.

4.    a. The act of curling: the curl of a meandering river. b. The state of being curled.

5.    Sports. A weightlifting exercise using one or two hands, in which a barbell held at the thigh or to the side of the body is raised to the chest or shoulder and then lowered without moving the upper arms, shoulders, or back.

6.    Any of various plant diseases in which the leaves roll up.

 

— phrasal verb.

curl up

To assume a position with the legs drawn up: The child curled up in an armchair to read.

 [Middle English crullen, curlen, from crulle, curly, perhaps of Middle Low German origin.][1]