Commissioner for Trademarks
P.O. Box 1451
Alexandria, VA 22313-1451
www.uspto.gov
September 21, 2007
Serial No: 76/671825
Applicant: MDA, Inc.
Mark: BE A CHAMPION
Your request was received on September 13, 2007.
Under 37 C.F.R. Section 2.19(b), an individual authorized to represent an applicant or party in a trademark case may withdraw upon application to and approval by the Commissioner. Under 37 C.F.R. Section 10.40(a), a practitioner shall not withdraw from employment until the practitioner has taken reasonable steps to avoid foreseeable prejudice to the rights of the applicant.
A request to withdraw as counsel for an applicant must be accompanied by: (1) a statement of the reason(s) for the request to withdraw; (2) a statement that the attorney has given due notice to the applicant that the attorney is withdrawing from employment and will be filing the necessary papers with the Patent and Trademark Office; (3) a statement that the attorney has delivered to the applicant all papers and property in the attorney's file concerning the prosecution of the application; (4) a statement that the attorney notified the applicant of any responses that may be due and the time frame within which applicant must respond; and (5) a statement that the applicant was given notice of the attorney’s withdrawal from employment at least two months prior to the expiration of the response period. In re Slack, 54 USPQ2d 1504.
Your request to withdraw is denied because it does not include a statement or statements of the reason(s) for the request to withdraw, that the attorney has given due notice to the applicant that the attorney is withdrawing from employment and will be filing the necessary papers with the Patent and Trademark Office, that the attorney has delivered to the applicant all papers and property in the attorney's file concerning the prosecution of the application, that the attorney notified the applicant of any responses that may be due and the time frame within which applicant must respond, and that the applicant was given notice of the attorney's withdrawal from employment at least two months prior to the expiration of the response period.
The request to withdraw is denied without prejudice to its resubmission in accordance with 37 C.F.R. Section 10.40(a) as specified above.
Accordingly, the attorney of record remains responsible for prosecution of the application.
Please note that the applicant's attorney may file future requests to withdraw as the attorney via the Office's online form, located at http://teas.gov.uspto.report/V2.0/woa250/. This form contains all of the necessary requirements outlined in In re Slack. A request properly submitted through this form will be immediately granted, and the attorney will receive online notification of the grant upon filing.
/Thomas G. Howell/
Thomas G. Howell
Managing Attorney
Law Office 105
571-272-9302
571-273-9302 [F]
cc: MDA, Inc.
NOTICE OF NEW PROCEDURE FOR E-MAILED OFFICE ACTIONS: In late spring 2007, for any applicant who authorizes e-mail communication with the USPTO, the USPTO will no longer directly e-mail the actual Office action to the applicant. Instead, upon issuance of an Office action, the USPTO will e-mail the applicant a notice with a link/web address to access the Office action using Trademark Document Retrieval (TDR), which is located on the USPTO website at http://portal.gov.uspto.report/external/portal/tow. The Office action will not be attached to the e-mail notice. Upon receipt of the notice, the applicant can then view and print the actual Office action and any evidentiary attachments using the provided link/web address. TDR is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays and weekends. This new process is intended to eliminate problems associated with e-mailed Office actions that contain numerous attachments.