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.

After review of applicant’s response received on 06/25/2012, the following is determined: the requirement to submit an acceptable identification of services is maintained and made FINAL; the refusal to register on the ground of likelihood of confusion is withdrawn.

FINAL REQUIREMENT – ACCPETABLE IDENTIFICATION OF SERVICES

The proposed amendment to the identification cannot be accepted because it refers to goods and/or services that are not within the scope of the identification that was set forth in the application at the time of filing. See 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a).

The amendment identifies the following goods and/or services: “Promotional sponsorship of professional hockey teams and games.” The original wording identifies the following services: “publicity and sales promotion of Applicant’s candy products.”

The amended wording is beyond the scope of the original wording because it does not include any mention of candy products. Applicant contends that the amendment is acceptable on the ground that the publicity and sales promotion of candy products take place as a part of the promotion of hockey games. But, the amendment to the identification of services does not reflect this and therefore cannot be accepted.

Identifications can be amended only to clarify or limit the goods and/or services; adding to or broadening the scope of the goods and/or services is not permitted. Id.; see TMEP §§1402.06 et seq., 1402.07. Applicant may adopt the following wording if accurate:

Publicity services, namely, promotional sponsorship of professional hockey teams and games via sales promotions of candy products

(Advisory: the specimen of use submitted with applicant’s allegation of use, which must eventually be filed to receive a registration, must show that applicant is promoting hockey teams and games rather than merely advertising its own candy products)

For assistance with identifying 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.

Response To Final Action

If applicant does not respond within six months of the mailing date of this final Office action, the application will be abandoned. 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).

/Mark Sparacino/

Trademark Attorney

Law Office 103

US Patent and Trademark Office

571-272-9708

Mark.Sparacino@uspto.gov

TO RESPOND TO THIS LETTER: Go to http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/response_forms.jsp. 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. For questions about the Office action itself, please contact the assigned trademark examining attorney. E-mail communications will not be accepted as responses to Office actions; therefore, do not respond to this Office action by e-mail.

All informal e-mail communications relevant to this application will be placed in the official application record.

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.