UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

 

 

EXAMINER’S AMENDMENT/PRIORITY ACTION

 

 

RESPONSE TIME LIMIT:  To avoid abandonment, the Office must receive a proper response to this Office action within 6 months of the mailing or e-mailing date.  If applicant responds to the issues below within two months of the above mailing or e-mailing date, this case will be given priority handling. 

 

MAILING/E-MAILING DATE INFORMATION:  If the mailing or e-mailing date of this Office action does not appear above, this information can be obtained by visiting the USPTO website at http://tarr.gov.uspto.report/, inserting the application serial number, and viewing the prosecution history for the mailing date of the most recently issued Office communication.

 

OFFICE RECORDS SEARCH:  The Office records have been searched and no similar registered or pending mark has been found that would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d), 15 U.S.C. §1052(d).  TMEP §704.02.

 

ADVISORY – AMENDMENTS TO GOODS/SERVICES:  If the identification of goods and/or services has been amended below, any future amendments must be in accordance with 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a) and TMEP §1402.07(e).

 

QUESTIONS:  Please contact the assigned trademark examining attorney with any questions.

 

 

Serial Number 77/110733

 

EXAMINER'S AMENDMENT

 

AMENDMENT(S) AUTHORIZED:  As authorized by RICHARD FLEISCHER on June 5, 2007, the application is amended as noted below.  If applicant disagrees with or objects to any of the amendments below, please notify the undersigned trademark examining attorney immediately.  Otherwise, no response is necessary.  TMEP §707.

 

DRAWING AMENDMENT

Applicant’s drawing amendment of March 7, 2007 is withdrawn.

 

 

PRIORITY ACTION

 

Applicant must respond to each refusal and/or requirement raised below.  If applicant responds to the issues below within two months of the above mailing or e-mailing date, this case will be given priority handling.  TMEP §§708.01 and 708.05.

 

TEAS PLUS APPLICANTS MUST SUBMIT DOCUMENTS ELECTRONICALLY OR SUBMIT FEE:  TEAS Plus applicants should submit the following documents using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/index.html:  (1) written responses to Office actions; (2) preliminary amendments; (3) changes of correspondence address; (4) changes of owner’s address; (5) appointments and revocations of attorney; (6) amendments to allege use; (7) statements of use; (8) requests for extension of time to file a statement of use, and (9) requests to delete a §1(b) basis.  If any of these documents are filed on paper, they must be accompanied by a $50 per class fee.  37 C.F.R. §§2.6(a)(1)(iv) and 2.23(a)(i).  Telephone responses will not incur an additional fee.  NOTE:  In addition to the above, applicant must also continue to accept correspondence from the Office via e-mail throughout the examination process in order to avoid the additional fee.  37 C.F.R. §2.23(a)(2).

 

MATERIAL ALTERATION

Applicant’s submission of an amended drawing of the mark from a type written mark to a stylized design mark is unacceptable because the amendment constitutes a material alteration of the mark.  The proposed amendment of the drawing is unacceptable because it would materially alter the essence or character of the mark.  37 C.F.R. §2.72; TMEP §§807.14 et seq.  See In re Who? Vision Systems, Inc., 57 USPQ2d 1211 (TTAB 2000) (amendment from TACILESENSE to TACTILESENSE found to be material alteration); In re CTB Inc., 52 USPQ2d 1471 (TTAB 1999) (proposed amendment of “TURBO AND DESIGN” to typed word “TURBO” is material alteration); In re Meditech International Corp., 25 USPQ2d 1159, 1160 (TTAB 1990) (“[a] drawing consisting of a single blue star, as well as a drawing consisting of a number of blue stars, would both be considered material alterations vis-à-vis a drawing consisting of the typed words ‘DESIGN OF BLUE STAR’”); In re Wine Society of America Inc., 12 USPQ2d 1139 (TTAB 1989) (proposed amendment to replace typed drawing of “THE WINE SOCIETY OF AMERICA” with a special form drawing including those words with a crown design and a banner design bearing the words “IN VINO VERITAS” held to be a material alteration); In re Nationwide Industries Inc., 6 USPQ2d 1882 (TTAB 1988) (addition of house mark “SNAP” to product mark “RUST BUSTER” held a material alteration).

 

Applicant is invited to file a new application with the stylized mark. 

 

RESPONSE REQUIRED

Applicant must advise the office whether it wishes to continue prosecution of the original typewritten mark.

 

 

/John Hwang/

Trademark Attorney

LAW OFFICE 114

571-272-9452

571-273-9114 FAX

 

 

 

NOTICE OF NEW PROCEDURE FOR E-MAILED OFFICE ACTIONS:  In late spring 2007, for any applicant who authorizes e-mail communication with the USPTO, the USPTO will no longer directly e-mail the actual Office action to the applicant.  Instead, upon issuance of an Office action, the USPTO will e-mail the applicant a notice with a link/web address to access the Office action using Trademark Document Retrieval (TDR), which is located on the USPTO website at http://portal.gov.uspto.report/external/portal/tow.  The Office action will not be attached to the e-mail notice.  Upon receipt of the notice, the applicant can then view and print the actual Office action and any evidentiary attachments using the provided link/web address.  TDR is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays and weekends.  This new process is intended to eliminate problems associated with e-mailed Office actions that contain numerous attachments.

 

 

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS OFFICE ACTION:

·            ONLINE RESPONSE:  You may respond using the Office’s Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) Response to Office action form available on our website at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/index.html.  If the Office action issued via e-mail, you must wait 72 hours after receipt of the Office action to respond via TEAS.  NOTE:  Do not respond by e-mail.  THE USPTO WILL NOT ACCEPT AN E-MAILED RESPONSE.

·            REGULAR MAIL RESPONSE:  To respond by regular mail, your response should be sent to the mailing return address above, and include the serial number, law office number, and examining attorney’s name.  NOTE:  The filing date of the response will be the date of receipt in the Office, not the postmarked date.  To ensure your response is timely, use a certificate of mailing.  37 C.F.R. §2.197.

 

STATUS OF APPLICATION: To check the status of your application, visit the Office’s Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) system at http://tarr.uspto.gov.

 

VIEW APPLICATION DOCUMENTS ONLINE: Documents in the electronic file for pending applications can be viewed and downloaded online at http://portal.gov.uspto.report/external/portal/tow.

 

GENERAL TRADEMARK INFORMATION: For general information about trademarks, please visit the Office’s website at http://www.gov.uspto.report/main/trademarks.htm