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  76/516674

Mark:  RUULE (stylized)

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

 

Likelihood of Confusion

Although the examining attorney has searched the Office records and has found no similar registered mark which would bar registration under Trademark Act § 2(d), 15 U.S.C. § 1052(d), the examining attorney encloses information regarding pending Application Serial No. 75/731491.  37 C.F.R. § 2.83.  There may be a likelihood of confusion between the applicant's mark and the mark in the above noted application under § 2(d) of the Act.  The filing date of the referenced application precedes the applicant's filing date.  If the earlier‑filed application matures into a registration, the examining attorney may refuse registration under § 2(d).

 

If the applicant believes that there is no potential conflict between this application and the earlier-filed application, the applicant may present arguments relevant to the issue in a request to remove the application from suspension.  The election to file or not to file such a request at this time in no way limits the applicant's right to address this issue at a later point.

 

Informalities

Upon receipt of the applicant's response resolving the following informalities, action on this application will be suspended pending the disposition of the above referenced application.

 

Significance of Term

The applicant must indicate whether the proposed mark has any meaning in relation to the goods, whether the mark has any geographical significance or any meaning in a foreign language.  37 C.F.R. Section 2.61(b).

 

Classification and Identification of Goods

The identification of goods is unacceptable as indefinite.  TMEP § 1402.01.  The applicant may adopt the following identification, if accurate:

Class 12:                        Bicycles.

Class 25:                        Costumes for role playing games.

Class 28:             Toys, games, playthings and sporting goods; namely, action figures and accessories therefor, stuffed toy animals; baby's multiple activity toys; toy bakeware and cookware; balloons; toy banks; bath toys, [bathtub toys – repetitive, delete], inflatable bath toys; equipment sold as a unit for playing card games; toy cars; dolls, beanbag dolls, paper dolls, rag dolls, soft sculpture dolls, dolls' accessories and playsets therefor, including doll cases, doll clothing, doll house furnishings, doll costumes; stuffed toys; checker sets; chess sets; children's play cosmetics; child's multiple activity toys, toy construction blocks; infant's action crib toys; flying discs, hand held unit for playing electronic games; electronic game equipment with a watch function; electronically operated toy motor vehicles; board games and game equipment sold as a unit for playing board games, card games, manipulative games, parlour games, role-playing games and [“dress up sets” – “costumes for role playing” are in Class 25, not Class 28], action type target games; coin or non-coin operated video output stand alone game machines; rocking horses; jigsaw puzzles; kites; manipulative puzzles; paper face masks; toy model train sets; toy model vehicles and related accessories sold as a unit; electronic battery operated toys; toy trick noisemakers; toy whistles; party favors in the nature of small toys; toy cap pistols; plush toys; soft sculpture plush toys; three dimensional cube type puzzles [examiner suggests deleting parentheses]; toy record player for playing tunes and cassettes and discs therefor; [bicycles are in Class 12]; skateboards; ice skates; toy roller skates; toy in-line skates and skating knee, wrist and elbow pads; water squirting toys; teddy bears; wind up walking toys; wind up toys; non-motorized non-electric mobile self-propelled riding toys; toy trucks; twirling batons; toy zip guns; gymnastic apparatus; balls, namely, playground balls, soccer balls, sportballs, baseballs, basketballs, foam balls, baseball gloves, swimming floats for recreational use; headcovers for golf clubs; golf balls; golf clubs; inflatable swimming pools for recreational use; kickboard floatation devices for recreational use; gymnastic parallel bars; water skis, snow skis; snowboards; skipping ropes, jump ropes; snow sleds for recreational use; surf fins; surfboards; swim boards for recreational use; bodyboards; swim fins; [“inflatable and buoyant bath” – this wording is unclear – applicant identified bath toys and inflatable pools above, the exact nature of these goods is not clear, must specify or delete], swimming and ride-on toys, namely, [specify, the wording “swimming toys” is too vague – must specify the common commercial names for these goods]; musical toys, latex squeeze toys; exercise equipment, namely, stationary bikes, treadmills, stair stepping machines, weight lifting machines, free weights; Christmas tree ornaments.

Please note that, while an application may be amended to clarify or limit the identification, additions to the identification are not permitted.  37 C.F.R. § 2.71(a); TMEP § 1402.06.  Therefore, the applicant may not amend to include any goods that are not within the scope of goods set forth in the present identification.

For assistance regarding an acceptable listing of goods and/or services, please see the on‑line searchable Manual of Acceptable Identifications of Goods and Services, at http://www.gov.uspto.report/web/offices/tac/doc/gsmanual/.

Insufficient Fee

The application identifies goods that may be classified in several international classes.  Therefore, the applicant must either:  (1) restrict the application to the number of class(es) covered by the fee already paid, or (2) pay the required fee for each additional class(es).  37 C.F.R. §2.86(a)(2); TMEP §§810.01, 1401.04, 1401.04(b) and 1403.01. Effective January 1, 2003, the fee for filing a trademark application is $335 for each class.  This applies to classes added to pending applications as well as to new applications filed on or after that date.  37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(1). 

Requirements for Combined Application – Intent to Use or Section 44 Application

If the applicant prosecutes this application as a combined, or multiple‑class, application, the applicant must comply with each of the following.

(1)  The applicant must list the goods/services by international class with the classes listed in ascending numerical order.  TMEP §1403.01.

 

(2)  The applicant must submit a filing fee for each international class of goods/services not covered by the fee already paid.  37 C.F.R. §§2.6(a)(1) and 2.86(a); TMEP §§810.01 and 1403.01.  Effective January 1, 2003, the fee for filing a trademark application is $335 for each class.  This applies to classes added to pending applications as well as to new applications filed on or after that date.  

 

Drawing

The drawing is not acceptable because it will not reproduce satisfactorily.  The drawing contains unclear and fuzzy lines.  The applicant must submit a new drawing showing the mark clearly and conforming to 37 C.F.R. §2.52.  TMEP §807.07(a).

The requirements for a special‑form drawing are as follows:

 

(1) The drawing must appear in black and white; no color is permitted.

 

(2)  Every line and letter must be black and clear.

 

(3)  The use of gray to indicate shading is unacceptable.

 

(4)  The lining must not be too fine or too close together.

 

(5)  The preferred size of the area in which the mark is displayed is 2½ inches (6.1 cm.) high and 2½ inches (6.1 cm.) wide.  It should not be larger than 4 inches (10.3 cm.) high or 4 inches (10.3 cm.) wide.

 

(6)  If the reduction of the mark to the required size renders any details illegible, the applicant may insert a statement in the application to describe the mark and these details.

 

37 C.F.R. §2.52; TMEP §§807.01(b) and 807.07(a).  The Office will enforce these drawing requirements strictly. 

 

The Office prefers that the drawing be depicted on a separate sheet of smooth, nonshiny, white paper 8 to 8½ inches (20.3 to 21.6 cm.) wide and 11 inches (27.9 cm.) long, and that the sheet contain a heading listing, on separate lines, the applicant’s complete name; the applicant’s address; the goods or services recited in the application; and, if the application is filed under Section 1(a) of the Act, the dates of first use of the mark and of first use of the mark in commerce; or, if the application is filed under Section 44(d), the priority filing date of the foreign application.  37 C.F.R. §2.52(b); TMEP §§807.01(a), 807.01(b), 807.01(c) and 807.07(a).

 

 If the applicant has any questions or needs assistance in responding to this Office Action, please feel free to telephone the assigned examining attorney.

 

Wendy B. Goodman

/Wendy B. Goodman/

Trademark Attorney

Law Office 103

(703) 308-9103, x409

(703) 746-8103 (fax)

ecom103@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.