UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)

OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) ABOUT APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION

 

 

 

NOTICE OF INCOMPLETE RESPONSE

 

STRICT DEADLINE TO RESPOND TO THIS LETTER

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: 8/22/2013

 

 

STRICT DEADLINE TO RESPOND TO THIS LETTER:  To avoid abandonment of applicant’s trademark application, the USPTO must receive either a properly signed response or an explanation of the signer’s legal authority to bind or represent applicant within (1) thirty (30) days of the date of issuance of this letter, or (2) the time remaining in the six-month period for responding to the previous Office action, whichever is longer.

 

The problem with applicant’s response:  Applicant filed a response on August 21, 2013 that appears to have been improperly signed by a person with no legal authority to bind or represent applicant.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(b), 2.193(e)(2).  The USPTO cannot accept an improperly signed response; therefore, the contents will not be reviewed.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(b), 2.193(e)(2); TMEP §§712, 712.03, 718.03.

 

The only parties who can properly sign responses are as follows:  (1) the individual applicant(s); (2) someone with legal authority to bind a juristic applicant (e.g., a corporate officer or general partner); or (3) an authorized attorney.  37 C.F.R. §§2.62(b), 2.193(e)(2); TMEP §§611.03(b), 712.  In the present case, the response was improperly signed by an individual with the title “Operations” which does not show that the signer is a corporate officer.  Thus, the signer did not have legal authority to bind or represent the applicant.

 

What applicant must do to fix the problem:  Applicant must resubmit the entire response, signed by a proper party, or provide an explanation of the signer’s legal authority to bind or represent applicant, as explained more fully below.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.17(b)(2), 2.62(b), 2.193(e)(2).  If submitting a newly signed response, applicant must also explicitly address and respond to all the issues raised in the outstanding Office action dated May 8. 2013.  See37 C.F.R. §2.65(a); TMEP §718.03.  The USPTO must receive a properly signed response or explanation within (1) thirty (30) days of the date of issuance of this letter, or (2) the time remaining in the six-month period for responding to the previous Office action, whichever is longer.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(a), 2.65(b); TMEP §§712.03, 718.03(b). 

 

Applicant is encouraged to respond online via the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/index.jsp.  To respond via TEAS, applicant must either (1) complete the entire response form again, responding to all issues raised in the outstanding Office action; or (2) provide an explanation as to the signer’s authority in the “miscellaneous statement” field in the TEAS response form.

 

If the outstanding Office action was a final Office action, please note that the granting of additional time to perfect a response does not extend the time for filing an appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board or a petition to the Director under 37 C.F.R. §2.63(b).  TMEP §718.03(b).  An applicant must file a notice of appeal or petition within six months of the issuance date of a final action.  15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §§2.64(b), 2.142(a).

 

What happens if the USPTO does not receive a properly signed response within the specified time period:  If applicant does not properly respond within the specified time period, this application will be abandoned because applicant filed an incomplete response.  37 C.F.R. §2.65(a); TMEP §§715.03(a)(2)(E), 718.03.  In such case, applicant may file a petition to the Director to request a reversal of the decision to abandon the application.  TMEP §§718.03(b), 1713.01-.02; see 37 C.F.R. §2.146(a)(3).  The petition must be filed within two months of the date of issuance of the notice of abandonment and may be filed online at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/petition_forms.jsp.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.66(a)(1), 2.146(d); TMEP §§1705.04, 1714.01(a), (d).  A $100 fee for such a petition is required.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(15).

 

GUIDELINES FOR SIGNING RESPONSES

 

As stated above, where an applicant is not represented by an attorney who may practice before the USPTO, the response must be signed by the individual applicant or someone with legal authority to bind a juristic applicant (e.g., a corporate officer or general partner).  See 37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(ii); TMEP §§611.03(b), 611.06(b)-(h), 712.01.  In the case of joint applicants, all must sign.  37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(ii); TMEP §611.06(a).

 

Where an applicant is initially represented by an attorney, the attorney must sign the response.  37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(i); TMEP §§611.03(b), 712.01.  The only attorneys who may sign responses and otherwise practice before the USPTO in trademark matters are (1) attorneys in good standing with a bar of the highest court of any U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other federal territories and possessions of the United States; and (2) Canadian agents/attorneys who represent applicants located in Canada and (a) are registered with the USPTO and in good standing as patent agents or (b) have been granted reciprocal recognition by the USPTO.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.17(e), 2.62(b), 11.1, 11.5(b)(2), 11.14(a), (c); TMEP §§602, 712.01.  Attorneys who fail to meet these requirements, as well as non-attorneys, are generally not permitted to represent applicants in trademark matters before the USPTO; and thus, they may not sign responses.  See 5 U.S.C. §500(b), (d); 37 C.F.R. §11.14(a)-(c), (e); TMEP §§602, 602.02, 608.01. 

 

In addition, the proper signatory must personally sign or personally enter his or her electronic signature.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.193(a), (e)(2); TMEP §§611.01(b), 611.02.  The name of the signatory must also be printed or typed immediately below or adjacent to the signature, or identified elsewhere in the filing.  37 C.F.R. §2.193(d); TMEP §611.01(b).

 

 

/April K. Roach/

April K. Roach

Trademark Examining Attorney

Law Office 115

(571) 272-1092

april.roach@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 the Trademark Electronic Application System (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 the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) system at http://tsdr.gov.uspto.report/.  Please keep a copy of the TSDR status screen.  If the status shows no change for more than six months, contact the Trademark Assistance Center by e-mail at TrademarkAssistanceCenter@uspto.gov or 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/trademarks/teas/correspondence.jsp.

 

 

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING YOUR

U.S. TRADEMARK APPLICATION

 

USPTO OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) HAS ISSUED

ON 8/22/2013 FOR U.S. APPLICATION SERIAL NO. 76711716

 

Your trademark application has been reviewed.  The trademark examining attorney assigned by the USPTO to your application has written an official letter to which you must respond.  Please follow these steps:

 

(1)  Read the LETTER by clicking on this link or going to http://tsdr.gov.uspto.report/, entering your U.S. application serial number, and clicking on “Documents.”

 

The Office action may not be immediately viewable, to allow for necessary system updates of the application, but will be available within 24 hours of this e-mail notification. 

 

(2)  Respond within 6 months (or sooner if specified in the Office action), calculated from 8/22/2013, using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) response form located at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/response_forms.jsp. 

 

Do NOT hit “Reply” to this e-mail notification, or otherwise e-mail your response because the USPTO does NOT accept e-mails as responses to Office actions. 

 

(3)  Questions about the contents of the Office action itself should be directed to the trademark examining attorney who reviewed your application, identified below. 

 

/April K. Roach/

April K. Roach

Trademark Examining Attorney

Law Office 115

(571) 272-1092

april.roach@uspto.gov

 

WARNING

 

Failure to file the required response by the applicable response deadline will result in the ABANDONMENT of your application.  For more information regarding abandonment, see http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/basics/abandon.jsp. 

 

PRIVATE COMPANY SOLICITATIONS REGARDING YOUR APPLICATION:  Private companies not associated with the USPTO are using information provided in trademark applications to mail or e-mail trademark-related solicitations.  These companies often use names that closely resemble the USPTO and their solicitations may look like an official government document.  Many solicitations require that you pay “fees.” 

 

Please carefully review all correspondence you receive regarding this application to make sure that you are responding to an official document from the USPTO rather than a private company solicitation.  All official USPTO correspondence will be mailed only from the “United States Patent and Trademark Office” in Alexandria, VA; or sent by e-mail from the domain “@uspto.gov.”  For more information on how to handle private company solicitations, see http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/solicitation_warnings.jsp.