UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

 

 

 

OFFICE ACTION

 

RESPONSE TIME LIMIT:  TO AVOID ABANDONMENT, THE OFFICE MUST RECEIVE A PROPER RESPONSE TO THIS OFFICE ACTION WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF THE MAILING OR E-MAILING DATE. 

 

MAILING/E-MAILING DATE INFORMATION:  If the mailing or e-mailing date of this Office action does not appear above, this information can be obtained by visiting the USPTO website at http://tarr.gov.uspto.report/, inserting the application serial number, and viewing the prosecution history for the mailing date of the most recently issued Office communication.

 

Serial Number  76/586045

 

This letter responds to the applicant’s Statement of Use communication filed on January 6, 2006.

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

 

Unacceptable Specimen of Use

The mark as depicted on the drawing does not agree with the mark as it appears on the specimens, and clarification is required.  37 C.F.R. §2.51; TMEP §807.12.  Specifically, the drawing displays the mark as a design mark of the letter “O” inside of the shape of a cap, and the specimen depicts the mark as a letter “O” being used within other wording. The specimen is unacceptable because the use of the mark is not the design alone, but integrated in with other wording and such use of the design mark creates an overall different appearance and commercial impression.  In addition, it is unclear as to how many other words or phrases the applicant would choose to use the design, which changes the overall appearance of the mark being sought for registration.

 

Applicant must either:

 

(1)   submit a new drawing of the mark that agrees with the mark as it appears on the specimen and that is not a material alteration of the original mark; 37 C.F.R. §2.72(a); TMEP §§807.14 et seq;

 

(2)   submit a substitute specimen that shows use of the mark as it presently appears on the drawing and is accompanied by a statement that “the substitute specimen was in use in commerce at least as early as the filing date of the application,” verified with an affidavit or a signed declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20; 37 C.F.R. §§2.59(a) and 2.72(a); TMEP §904.09; or

 

(3)   amend the application basis to intent-to-use under Section 1(b), and satisfy all the requirements for this new basis.  TMEP §806.03(c).

 

If applicant has questions about its application or needs assistance in responding to this Office action, please telephone the assigned trademark examining attorney directly at the number below.

 

 

/Regina C. Hines, Esq./

Regina.Hines@uspto.gov

Trademarks LO 114

571-272-9451

571-273-9451

 

 

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS OFFICE ACTION:

• ONLINE RESPONSE:  You may respond using the Office’s Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) Response to Office action form available on our website at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/index.html.  If the Office action issued via e-mail, you must wait 72 hours after receipt of the Office action to respond via TEAS.  NOTE:  Do not respond by e-mail.  THE USPTO WILL NOT ACCEPT AN E-MAILED RESPONSE.
• REGULAR MAIL RESPONSE:  To respond by regular mail, your response should be sent to the mailing return address above, and include the serial number, law office number, and examining attorney’s name.  NOTE:  The filing date of the response will be the date of receipt in the Office, not the postmarked date.  To ensure your response is timely, use a certificate of mailing.  37 C.F.R. §2.197.

 

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

 

VIEW APPLICATION DOCUMENTS ONLINE: Documents in the electronic file for pending applications can be viewed and downloaded online at http://portal.gov.uspto.report/external/portal/tow.

 

GENERAL TRADEMARK INFORMATION: For general information about trademarks, please visit the Office’s website at http://www.gov.uspto.report/main/trademarks.htm

 

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