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: 9/26/2007

 

The assigned examining attorney has reviewed the referenced application and determined the following.

 

The Office records have been searched and no similar registered mark has been found that would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d), 15 U.S.C. §1052(d).  TMEP §704.02.  However, please be advised that potentially conflicting marks in prior-filed pending applications may present a bar to registration.

 

Application Not Entitled to Register - Earlier-filed Pending Applications

 

Information regarding pending Application Serial Nos. 77106052, 77195673 and 78270824 is enclosed.  The filing dates of the referenced applications precede applicant’s filing date.  There may be a likelihood of confusion under Trademark Act Section 2(d) between applicant’s mark and the referenced marks.  If one or more of the referenced applications registers, registration may be refused in this case under Section 2(d).  37 C.F.R. §2.83; TMEP §§1208 et seq.  Therefore, upon entry of a response to this Office action, action on this case may be suspended pending final disposition of the earlier-filed applications.

 

If applicant believes that there is no potential conflict between this application and the earlier-filed applications, then applicant may present arguments relevant to the issue in a response to this Office action.  The election not to submit arguments at this time in no way limits applicant’s right to address this issue at a later point.

 

Whether or not applicant chooses to present arguments relevant to the issue above at this time, applicant must file a timely response addressing the following issue.

 

Indefinite Recitation of Services

The recitation of services is unacceptable because the precise nature of the services is unclear.    The applicant must amend the recitation to specify the common commercial names of the services.  If there is no common commercial name, the applicant must describe the service and its intended uses or purpose.  TMEP §1402.11; §1402.01.  In addition, the term “sales” is generally unacceptable in an identification of services.  The applicant must replace it with wording that indicates the nature of the sales services [e.g. retail store services, . . .] and specifying the type of goods and services to be sold. TMEP §1402.11.

The applicant may adopt the following amendments, if accurate:  

 

·        “Sourcing and procurement of products and materials for others”

 

may be amended to

 

“Procurement, namely, purchasing {specify goods or services, e.g., weapons, office furniture} for others,” in International Class 035

 

·        “product development for others” (belongs in class 042)

 

·        “business marketing services,” in International Class 035 (acceptable as submitted)

 

·        “sales services for others”

 

may be amended to

 

“Retail store services featuring [indicate field of goods],” in International Class 035

 

The examining attorney highly recommends that the applicant consult the online Trademark Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual, found on the Internet at http://tess2.gov.uspto.report/netahtml/tidm.html, to ensure that any amendments made to the recitation of services comport with Office requirements. While the list is not exhaustive, the manual should give the applicant direction regarding proper international classification and information regarding the specificity required in the applicant’s recitation of services.

 

Please note that, while the identification of services may be amended to clarify or limit the services, adding to the services or broadening the scope of the services is not permitted.  37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); TMEP §1402.06.  Therefore, applicant may not amend the identification to include services that are not within the scope of the services set forth in the present identification.

 

If applicant prosecutes this application as a combined, or multiple-class application, then applicant must comply with each of the following for those goods and/or services based on an intent to use the mark in commerce under Trademark Act Section 1(b):

 

1) Applicant must list the goods and/or services by international class with the classes listed in ascending numerical order.  TMEP § 1403.01; and

 

2) Applicant must submit a filing fee for each international class of goods and/or services not covered by the fee already paid (current fee information should be confirmed at http://www.uspto.gov).  37 C.F.R. §2.86(a)(2); TMEP §§810 and 1403.01.

 

Telephone Encouraged for Clarification

If the applicant has any questions or needs assistance in responding to this Office action, please telephone the assigned examining attorney.

 

 

 

/David Elton/

Examining Attorney

Law Office 106

Tel: 571-272-9317

Fax: 571-273-9106

email: david.elton@uspto.gov

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

                                                                

IMPORTANT NOTICE

USPTO OFFICE ACTION HAS ISSUED ON 9/26/2007 FOR

APPLICATION SERIAL NO. 77207539

 

Please follow the instructions below to continue the prosecution of your application:

  

VIEW OFFICE ACTION: Click on this link http://portal.gov.uspto.report/external/portal/tow?DDA=Y&serial_number=77207539&doc_type=OOA&mail_date=20070926 (or copy and paste this URL into the address field of your browser), or visit http://portal.gov.uspto.report/external/portal/tow and enter the application serial number to access the Office action.

 

PLEASE NOTE: The Office action may not be immediately available but will be viewable within 24 hours of this notification.

 

RESPONSE MAY BE REQUIRED: You should carefully review the Office action to determine (1) if a response is required; (2) how to respond; and (3) the applicable response time period. Your response deadline will be calculated from 9/26/2007.

 

Do NOT hit “Reply” to this e-mail notification, or otherwise attempt to e-mail your response, as the USPTO does NOT accept e-mailed responses.  Instead, the USPTO recommends that you respond online using the Trademark Electronic Application System response form at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/eTEASpageD.htm.

 

HELP: For technical assistance in accessing the Office action, please e-mail

TDR@uspto.gov.  Please contact the assigned examining attorney with questions about the Office action. 

 

        WARNING

1. The USPTO will NOT send a separate e-mail with the Office action attached.

 

2. Failure to file any required response by the applicable deadline will result in the ABANDONMENT of your application.