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 office action is in response to an OG query/withdrawal.

 

DECEPTIVELY MISDESCRIPTIVE REFUSAL

 

Registration is refused because the applied-for mark is deceptively misdescriptive of applicant’s goods and/or services.  Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1), 15 U.S.C. §1052(e)(1); see TMEP §1209.04.

 

A mark is deceptively misdescriptive if it describes an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function or feature of the relevant goods and/or services, and the description conveyed by the mark is both false and plausible.  In re Woodward & Lothrop Inc., 4 USPQ2d 1412 (TTAB 1987) (holding CAMEO deceptively misdescriptive of jewelry); In re Ox-Yoke Originals, Inc., 222 USPQ 352 (TTAB 1983) (holding G.I. deceptively misdescriptive of gun cleaning patches, rods, brushes, solvents and oils); TMEP §1209.04.

 

The Trademark Act does not prohibit the registration of misdescriptive terms unless consumers who encounter the mark are likely to believe the misrepresentation.  Binney & Smith Inc. v. Magic Marker Indus., Inc., 222 USPQ 1003 (TTAB 1984); TMEP §1209.04.

 

The test for deceptive misdescriptiveness has two parts:  (1) whether the mark misdescribes an ingredient, characteristic, quality, function, feature, composition or use of the goods and/or services; and if so, (2) would consumers be likely to believe the misrepresentation.  See In re Berman Bros. Harlem Furniture Inc., 26 USPQ2d 1514 (TTAB 1993); In re Woodward & Lothrop Inc., 4 USPQ2d 1412 (TTAB 1987); In re Quady Winery, Inc., 221 USPQ 1213 (TTAB 1984); TMEP §1209.04.

 

Here the mark misdescribes a feature of the applicant’s goods, fishing rods, and consumers would likely to believe the misrepresentation, namely that the fishing rods are composed of steel.

 

Marks that have been refused registration pursuant to Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1) on the ground of deceptive misdescriptiveness may be registrable on the Principal Register under Section 2(f) upon a showing of acquired distinctiveness, or on the Supplemental Register.  Trademark Act Sections 2(f) and 23, 15 U.S.C. §§1052(f), 1091; TMEP §1209.04.  Marks that are deceptive under Section 2(a) are not registrable on either the Principal Register or the Supplemental Register under any circumstances.  TMEP §1209.04.

 

 

 

 

 

/Timothy J. Finnegan/

Trademark Examining Attorney

LO 104

timothy.finnegan@uspto.gov

571-272-9710

 

 

 

RESPOND TO THIS ACTION: Applicant should file a response to this Office action online using the form at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/eTEASpageD.htm, waiting 48-72 hours if applicant received notification of the Office action via e-mail.  For technical assistance with the form, please e-mail TEAS@uspto.gov.  For questions about the Office action itself, please contact the assigned examining attorney.  Do not respond to this Office action by e-mail; 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.