Offc Action Outgoing

TO AVOID ABANDONMENT OF APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION, THE USPTO MUST RECEIVE APPLICANT’S COMPLETE RESPONSE TO THIS LETTER WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF THE ISSUE/MAILING DATE BELOW.

ISSUE/MAILING DATE:

THIS IS A FINAL ACTION.

This FINAL OFFICE ACTION includes a PARTIAL REQUIRMENT and applies to only the following class in the application: Class 21. Failure to respond to this action will result in abandonment of the specified class. The application will then proceed to publication for the remaining class ONLY. 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a).

This Office action responds to applicant’s communication dated 12/27/2010 where applicant:

(1) Amended the identification of goods; and

(2) Disclaimed the term PASTA.

The examining attorney has reviewed the applicant’s response and determined the following:

(1) Applicant’s amended identification of goods remains unacceptable and the requirement is maintained and made FINAL; and

(2) Applicant’s disclaimer of the term PASTA is acceptable and made of record and the requirement is withdrawn.

IDENTIFICATION OF GOODS OVERLY BROAD AND INDEFINITE – AMENDMENT REQUIRED – FINAL PARTIAL REQUIREMENT

The wording “hand-operated kitchen tool for cutting dough for pasta, pizza, croissants, namely, pasta cutters” in the identification of goods is indefinite and must be clarified because pasta cutters are not classified in the Class 21, but Class 08. See TMEP §1402.01. The acceptable Class 21 “cutters” are in the nature of molds, as in cookie cutters, or housewares that do not cut in the nature of a knife, as in pastry cutters. Therefore, applicant must amend the Class 21 identification to clearly and unambiguously identify Class 21 goods only.

Applicant may adopt the following identification of goods, if accurate:

Class 08 –	“Hand-operated kitchen tool for cutting dough for pasta, pizza, croissants, namely, hand-operated cutters.”

Class 21 –	“Hand-operated kitchen tool for cutting dough for pasta, pizza, croissants, namely, *[applicant to specify Class 21 cutters only, i.e., pastry cutters, etc.]*.”

TMEP §1402.01.

Additions to Identification Not Permitted

An applicant may amend an identification of goods only to clarify or limit the goods; adding to or broadening the scope of the goods is not permitted. 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); see TMEP §§1402.06 et seq., 1402.07 et seq.

For assistance with identifying and classifying goods and/or services in trademark applications, please see the online searchable Manual of Acceptable Identifications of Goods and Services at http://tess2.gov.uspto.report/netahtml/tidm.html. See TMEP §1402.04.

ADVISORY – FAILURE TO RESPOND WILL RESULT IN ABANDONMENT OF SPECIFIC CLASS

If applicant does not respond to this Office action within the six-month period for response, then the following class will be deleted from the application: Class 21. The application will then proceed with the following goods in Class 08 only:

Class 08 –

“Hand-operated kitchen tool for cutting dough for pasta, pizza, croissants, namely, hand-operated cutters.”

37 C.F.R. §2.65(a).

Responding to this Office Action

If applicant does not respond within six months of the date of issuance of this final Office action, the class to which the final requirement applies will be deleted from the application by Examiner’s Amendment. The application will then proceed for the remaining class ONLY. 15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a).

Applicant may respond to this final Office action by:

(1) Submitting a response that fully satisfies all outstanding requirements, if feasible; and/or

(2) Filing an appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, with an appeal fee of $100 per class.

37 C.F.R. §§2.6(a)(18), 2.64(a); TBMP ch. 1200; TMEP §714.04.

In certain rare circumstances, a petition to the Director may be filed pursuant to 37 C.F.R. §2.63(b)(2) to review a final Office action that is limited to procedural issues. 37 C.F.R. §2.64(a); TMEP §714.04; see 37 C.F.R. §2.146(b); TBMP §1201.05; TMEP §1704 (explaining petitionable matters). The petition fee is $100. 37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(15).

If the applicant has any questions or needs further assistance, please telephone the assigned examining attorney.

/Myriah A. Habeeb/

Myriah A. Habeeb

Trademark Examining Attorney

Law Office 105

Phone: 571.272.8909

Informal Email: Myriah.Habeeb@uspto.gov

TO RESPOND TO THIS LETTER: Use the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) response form at http://teasroa.gov.uspto.report/roa/. Please wait 48-72 hours from the issue/mailing date before using TEAS, to allow for necessary system updates of the application. For technical assistance with online forms, e-mail TEAS@uspto.gov.

WHO MUST SIGN THE RESPONSE: It must be personally signed by an individual applicant or someone with legal authority to bind an applicant (i.e., a corporate officer, a general partner, all joint applicants). If an applicant is represented by an attorney, the attorney must sign the response.

PERIODICALLY CHECK THE STATUS OF THE APPLICATION: To ensure that applicant does not miss crucial deadlines or official notices, check the status of the application every three to four months using Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) at http://tarr.gov.uspto.report/. Please keep a copy of the complete TARR screen. If TARR shows no change for more than six months, call 1-800-786-9199. For more information on checking status, see http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/process/status/.

TO UPDATE CORRESPONDENCE/E-MAIL ADDRESS: Use the TEAS form at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/eTEASpageE.htm.