Offc Action Outgoing

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

 

 

 

OFFICE ACTION

 

TO AVOID ABANDONMENT, THE OFFICE MUST RECEIVE A PROPER RESPONSE TO THIS OFFICE ACTION WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF THE ISSUE/MAILING DATE.

 

ISSUE/MAILING DATE:

 

THIS IS A FINAL ACTION.

 

This action is in response to the applicant’s written communication concerning the referenced mark.  The information contained in the applicant’s correspondence has been entered into the record, including applicant’s acceptable amended identification of goods and claim of ownership.

 

The applicant is advised of the following:

 

 

Disclaimer of Geographically Descriptive Wording

 

As previously stated, applicant must disclaim the geographically descriptive wording “SYDNEY” apart from the mark as shown because it is primarily geographically descriptive of the place from which applicant’s goods emanate.  Trademark Act Section 6, 15 U.S.C. §1056; TMEP §§1213 and 1213.03(a).  Please note the attached evidence from PowerHouseMuseum showing that applicant has a factory in Sydney.  In addition, the examining attorney attaches copies of third party published/registered marks recognizing Sydney as primarily geographic in nature, as opposed to a given name or surname.

 

If an applicant does not comply with a disclaimer requirement, the Office may refuse registration of the entire mark.  TMEP §1213.01(b).

 

The computerized printing format for the Office’s Trademark Official Gazette requires a standardized format for a disclaimer.  TMEP §1213.08(a)(i).  The following is the standard format used by the Office:

 

No claim is made to the exclusive right to use SYDNEY apart from the mark as shown.

 

See In re Owatonna Tool Co., 231 USPQ 493 (Comm’r Pats. 1983).

 

 

Complete Declaration Required

 

As previously stated, applicant must submit, in a signed affidavit or declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20, the following statement:  “Applicant has had a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the application as of the filing date, and the facts set forth in the application are true and correct.”  37 C.F.R. §2.193(c)(1)(iii); TMEP §804.02.

 

The declaration contained in applicant’s response is dated January 24, 2007.  Applicant’s filing date is September 20, 2006.  The referenced declaration does not contain any of the aforementioned language.

 

If applicant responds to this Office action via TEAS, applicant may satisfy this requirement by adding the required statement (specified immediately above) to the TEAS response form, checking the box for a “signed declaration,” and properly signing the form by either (1) choosing an electronic signature consisting of any combination of letters, numbers, spaces and/or punctuation marks, preceded and followed by the forward slash (/) symbol (e.g., /johndoe/), and entering this in the signature block on the response form, or (2) attaching a JPG or PDF image of a declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20 (see declaration paragraph below) together with a pen-and-ink signature.  TMEP §804.05. 

 

If applicant responds to this Office action on paper, via regular mail, applicant may satisfy this requirement by providing the following declaration at the end of the response, properly signed and dated:

 

The undersigned, being hereby warned that willful false statements and the like so made are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, under 18 U.S.C. 1001, and that such willful false statements and the like may jeopardize the validity of the application or any resulting registration, declares that he/she is properly authorized to execute this application on behalf of the applicant; he/she believes the applicant to be entitled to use such mark in commerce; that applicant has had a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the application as of the filing date; that the facts set forth in the application are true and correct; that to the best of his/her knowledge and belief no other person, firm, corporation, or association has the right to use the mark in commerce, either in the identical form thereof or in such near resemblance thereto as to be likely, when used on or in connection with the goods/services of such other person, to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive; and that all statements made of his/her own knowledge are true and all statements made on information and belief are believed to be true.

 

_____________________________

(Signature)

 

_____________________________

(Print or Type Name and Position)

 

_____________________________

(Date)

 

 

Final Refusal

 

The aforementioned requirements are hereby made final.

 

If applicant fails to respond to this final action within six months of the mailing date, the application will be abandoned.  15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a).  Applicant may respond to this final action by: 

 

(1)   submitting a response that fully satisfies all outstanding requirements, if feasible (37 C.F.R. §2.64(a)); 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) and 2.64(a); TMEP §§715.01 and 1501 et seq.; TBMP Chapter 1200).

 

In certain circumstances, a petition to the Director may be filed to review a final action that is limited to procedural issues, pursuant to 37 C.F.R. §2.63(b)(2).  37 C.F.R. §2.64(a).  See 37 C.F.R. §2.146(b), TMEP §1704, and TBMP Chapter 1201.05 for an explanation of petitionable matters.  The petition fee is $100.  37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(15).

 

 

Response Guidelines

 

There is no required format or form for responding to this Office action.  The Office recommends applicants use the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) to respond to Office actions online at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/index.html.  However, if applicant responds on paper via regular mail, the response should include the following information:  (1) the name and law office number of the examining attorney; (2) the serial number of this application; (3) the mailing date of this Office action; and (4) applicant's telephone number.

 

The response should address each refusal and/or requirement raised in the Office action.  If a refusal has issued, applicant may wish to argue against the refusal, i.e., submit arguments and/or evidence as to why the refusal should be withdrawn and why the mark should register.  To respond to requirements, applicant should simply set forth in writing the required changes or statements and request that the Office enter them into the application record. 

 

The response must be signed by applicant or someone with legal authority to bind applicant (i.e., a corporate officer of a corporate applicant, the equivalent of an officer for unincorporated organizations or limited liability company applicants, a general partner of a partnership applicant, each applicant for applications with multiple individual applicants, etc.).  TMEP §§712 et seq. 

 

 

Informational

 

Applicants may now file requests to change the correspondence address electronically on up to 20 applications at one time.  The Office encourages applicants to use this time-saving form, available online at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/index.html.

 

The following legal authorities govern the processing of trademark and service mark applications by the Office:  The Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §§1051 et seq., the Trademark Rules of Practice, 37 C.F.R. Part 2, and the Office’s Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) (4th ed., 2005), available on the United States Patent and Trademark Office web site at http://www.gov.uspto.report/main/trademarks.htm.

 

The Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) database on the USPTO website at http://tarr.uspto.gov provides detailed, up to the minute information about the status and prosecution history of trademark applications and registrations.  Please note that an application serial number or registration number is needed to be able to access this database.  TARR is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 

 

Advisory

 

NOTICE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW EDITION OF THE NICE AGREEMENT - CHANGES TO CLASSIFICATION APPLY TO APPLICATIONS FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 2, 2007:  Effective January 1, 2007, the Ninth Edition of the Nice Agreement brought about significant changes to the classification of certain goods and services.  All applications filed on or after January 2, 2007, must comply with the classification specified in the Ninth Edition.  For applications filed before January 2, 2007, compliance with the Ninth Edition is optional; and any such applicants who opt to follow the Ninth Edition must advise the assigned trademark examining attorney.  The USPTO’s online Acceptable Identifications of Goods and Services Manual, located at http://tess2.gov.uspto.report/netahtml/tidm.html, has been updated to reflect the classification changes in the ninth edition.

 

The Agreement brought about changes to goods previously classified in International Class 14.  Most goods made of precious metal are no longer classified in International Class 14 (except jewelry, jewelry boxes, watches and other horological and chronometric instruments and gold and silver in an unfinished state).  Rather, such goods are now classified in the international class relevant to their function or purpose.  For example, picture frames made of precious metal, which were classified in International Class 14 under the previous edition of Nice, are now classified in International Class 20, which is the relevant international class for picture frames regardless of material composition. 

 

The only exception to this change applies to goods whose function has no specified international class, such as sculptures or figurines, which continue to be classified based on their material composition.  Thus, for example, sculptures of metal are in International Class 6, sculptures made of precious metal remain in International Class 14, clay sculptures are in International Class 19, and plastic sculptures are in International Class 20.

 

 

/Matthew J. Pappas/

Law Office 107

HELP LINE:  571/272-9250

matthew.pappas@uspto.gov (informal)

571/272-9206 phone

571/273-9107 fax

 

 

RESPOND TO THIS ACTION: If there are any questions about the Office action, please contact the assigned examining attorney. A response to this Office Action should be filed using the Office’s Response to Office action form available at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/eTEASpageD.htm.  If notification of this Office action was received via e-mail, no response using this form may be filed for 72 hours after receipt of the notification.  Do not attempt to respond by e-mail as the USPTO does not accept e-mailed responses.

 

If responding by paper mail, please include the following information: the application serial number, the mark, the filing date and the name, title/position, telephone number and e-mail address of the person signing the response.  Please use the following address: Commissioner for Trademarks, P.O. Box 1451, Alexandria, VA 22313-1451.

 

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.