UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
SERIAL NO: 76/559839
APPLICANT: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
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*76559839* |
CORRESPONDENT ADDRESS: MARY HUTCHINGS REED WINSTON & STRAWN 35 WEST WACKER DRIVE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60601
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RETURN ADDRESS: Commissioner for Trademarks 2900 Crystal Drive Arlington, VA 22202-3514
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MARK: ELCA
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CORRESPONDENT’S REFERENCE/DOCKET NO: N/A
CORRESPONDENT EMAIL ADDRESS:
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Please provide in all correspondence:
1. Filing date, serial number, mark and applicant's name. 2. Date of this Office Action. 3. Examining Attorney's name and Law Office number. 4. Your telephone number and e-mail address.
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Serial Number 76/559839
The assigned examining attorney has reviewed the referenced application and determined the following.
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.
The recitation of services is unacceptable as indefinite. The applicant may adopt the following recitation, if accurate:
International Class 45: “Ministerial and evangelistic services”
The wording “religious services” in the recitation of services is unacceptable as indefinite. The applicant must amend the recitation to specify the common commercial name of the services or to indicate their nature. TMEP §1402.11. For example, “Religious instruction services” are in International Class 41.
For assistance with identifying goods and/or services in trademark applications, please see the online searchable Manual of Acceptable Identifications of Goods and Services at http://www.gov.uspto.report/web/offices/tac/doc/gsmanual/.
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 services that are not within the scope of the services recited in the present identification.
If the applicant prosecutes this application as a combined, or multiple‑class, application based on use in commerce under Trademark Act Section 1(a), 15 U.S.C. §1051(a), the applicant must comply with each of the following:
(1) The applicant must specifically identify the services in each class and list the 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(b); 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.
(3) The applicant must submit:
(a) dates of first use and first use in commerce and one specimen for each class that includes goods or services based on use in commerce under Trademark Act Section 1(a). The dates of use must be at least as early as the filing date of this application, 37 C.F.R. §§2.34(a)(1) and 2.86(a), and the specimen(s) must have been in use in commerce at least as early as the filing date of the application, and/or
(b) a statement of a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce on or in connection with all the goods or services specified in each class that includes goods or services based on a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce under Trademark Act Section 1(b), where such statement was not included for the goods or services in the original application.
(4) The applicant must submit an affidavit or a declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20 signed by the applicant to verify (3) above. 37 C.F.R. §§2.59(a) and 2.71(c).
Status Inquiry – Applicants may retrieve information about pending and registered trademarks from the USPTO’s database by simply entering a valid trademark serial number or registration number at: http://tarr.uspto.gov.
Additionally, applicants may contact the Trademark Assistance Center at: 703-308-9000.
If you need information regarding the application process or applying for a Trademark, please access other resources on the Trademark Web page such as: Frequently-Asked Questions or Basic Facts about Trademarks. More detailed information is available in the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure and the Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual.
If the applicant has any questions or needs assistance in responding to this Office action, please telephone the assigned examining attorney.
/Leslie L. Richards/
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 106
703-308-9106 ext. 172
703-746-8106 fax
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 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.
FOR INQUIRIES OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS OFFICE ACTION, PLEASE CONTACT THE ASSIGNED EXAMINING ATTORNEY.