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  76/574102

 

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. Section 1052(d).  TMEP section 704.01.

 

Recitation of Services

 

The wording in the recitation of services is too broad because it could include services classified in other classes. In particular, “consulting services” relating to personnel management and labor management are properly classified in Class 35, while “consulting services” pertaining to safety issues and law are properly classified in Class 42.  Please note that, while an application may be amended to clarify or limit the recitation, additions to the recitation are not permitted.  37 C.F.R. Section 2.71(a); TMEP section 1402.06.  Therefore, the applicant may not amend to include any services that are not within the scope of the services identified in the present recitation.  The applicant may amend the recitation to substitute any or all of the following, if accurate:

 

Consulting services pertaining to personnel management and labor management relations for agricultural employers in International Class 35; and/or

 

Consulting services pertaining to safety issues, agricultural law and labor law compliance for agricultural employers in International Class 42.

 

TMEP section 1402.11.

 

If applicant should fail to respond to this Office action within the six month time limit, then the unacceptable services (those in Class 35) will be deleted from the application and the application will then proceed forward with the currently acceptable services (those in Class 42) only.

 

 

For the applicant’s convenience,  the Office maintains a web site containing the               Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual, located at http://www.gov.uspto.report/web/offices/tac/doc/gsmanual/search.html. The applicant should use the listings located in this database exactly as worded if possible.  Please note that any listings that include terms within parenthesis and/or brackets must set forth the term or terms that specifically cover the applicant’s goods or services and that the actual parenthesis or brackets may not be included. As always, any identification of goods or recitation of services the applicant chooses to adopt should 1) accurately describe the applicant’s goods or services; 2) be placed in the correct class of goods or services; and 3) list only those goods or services within the scope of those included in the original application.

 

Combined Application Requirements

 

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 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 original specimen is acceptable to show use for the Class 42 services, not for the Class 35 services.  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).

 

Substitute Declaration

 

If applicant provides any additional information that needs to be verified (as set forth above), the following is a properly worded declaration under 37 C.F.R. Section 2.20: 

 

The undersigned, being hereby warned that willful false statements and the like so made are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, under 18 U.S.C. §1001, and that such willful false statements and the like may jeopardize the validity of the application or document or any resulting registration, declares that the facts set forth in this application are true; all statements made of his/her own knowledge are true; and all statements made on information and belief are believed to be true.

 

_____________________________

(Signature)

 

_____________________________

(Print or Type Name and Position)

 

_____________________________

(Date)

 

No set form is required for response to this Office action.  The applicant must respond to each point raised.  The applicant should simply set forth the required changes or statements and request that the Office enter them.  The applicant must sign the response.  In addition to the identifying information required at the beginning of this letter, the applicant should provide a telephone number to speed up further processing.

 

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

 

NOTICE:  TRADEMARK OPERATION RELOCATING OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER  2004

 

The Trademark Operation is relocating to Alexandria, Virginia, in October and November 2004.  Effective October 4, 2004, all Trademark-related paper mail (except documents sent to the Assignment Services Division for recordation, certain documents filed under the Madrid Protocol, and requests for copies of trademark documents) must be sent to:

 

Commissioner for Trademarks

P.O. Box 1451

Alexandria, VA  22313-1451

 

Applicants, registration owners, attorneys and other Trademark customers are strongly encouraged to correspond with the USPTO online via the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), at www.uspto.gov.

 

 

 

/Elizabeth Pignatello/

Trademark Examining Attorney

Law Office 105

(703) 308-9105 Ext. 224

(703) 872-9825 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.

 

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.