Suspension Letter

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

 

 

 

NOTICE OF SUSPENSION

 

ISSUE/MAILING DATE:

 

PLEASE NOTE:  A further review of the application by the Office recently revealed the below issue.  This is an unusual situation and examining attorney regrets any inconvenience caused to the applicant.

 

Application 79/042,310 (listed below) is seeking extension of protection into the United States under the Madrid Protocol.  This application was filed on April 20, 2007, via the Madrid Protocol filing system, while the instant applicant’s application was filed on May 9, 2007.  However, as per standard procedure under the Protocol, the below application was not entered into the Office’s database/system until mid-September 2007.  This lag in time is inherent in Madrid Protocol filing system for marks seeking extension of protection into the United States.

 

Consequently, the below mark was not revealed when the instant mark was searched on June 22, 2007.  Here, the marks are identical and the goods are virtually identical, therefore, the applicant’s application must be suspended pending resolution of the below mark.

 

SUSPENSION PROCEDURE: This suspension notice serves to suspend action on the application for the reason(s) specified above and below.  No response is needed.  However, if you wish to respond to this notice, you should use the “Response to Letter of Suspension” form found at http://teasroa.gov.uspto.report/rsi/rsi.  The Office will conduct periodic status checks to determine if suspension remains appropriate.

 

Action on this application is suspended pending the disposition of:

 

            - Application Serial No(s). 79/042,310

 

The suspension is due to applicant's effective filing date being subsequent to the effective filing date of the above-identified application(s).  As such, the latter mark, if and when it registers, may be cited against this application in a refusal to register under Section 2(d) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1052(d).  See 37 C.F.R. §2.83; TMEP §§1208 et seq.  A copy of information relevant to this pending application(s) is attached.

 

Applicant may submit a request to remove the application from suspension to present arguments related to the potential conflict between the relevant application(s) or other arguments related to the ground for suspension.  TMEP §716.03.  Applicant's election not to present arguments during suspension will not affect the applicant's right to present arguments later should a refusal in fact issue.  If a refusal does issue, applicant will be afforded 6 months from the mailing or e-mailing date of the Office action to submit a response.  15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §2.62.

 

The following issues are hereby continued:

 

(1)    Statement of Use - the examining attorney acknowledges the Statement of Use and notes that it has met all of the requirements for acceptance, however, its acceptance is deferred until the above issue has been resolved.

 

If the applicant has any questions, please telephone the assigned examining attorney.

 

/KaranChhina/

Karanendra S. Chhina

Trademark Attorney

Law Office 114

(571) 272-9447

 

 

STATUS CHECK: Check the status of the application at least once every six months from the initial filing date using the USPTO Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) online system at http://tarr.uspto.gov.  When conducting an online status check, print and maintain a copy of the complete TARR screen.  If the status of your application has not changed for more than six months, please contact the assigned examining attorney.