UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

 

 

 

PRIORITY 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: 8/16/2008

 

 

OFFICE SEARCH:  The examining attorney has searched the Office records and has found no similar registered or pending mark which would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d), 15 U.S.C. Section 1052(d).  TMEP section 704.02. 

 

The following issues were explained in communication with James R. Meyer on August 16, 2008.

 

Applicant is encouraged to telephone the assigned trademark examining attorney to resolve the issues raised in this Office action.

 

1.     IDENTIFICATION OF SERVICES

 

The identification of services is indefinite and must be clarified because applicant’s web site services are unclear as are the nature of its referrals.  See TMEP §1402.01.

 

Applicant may adopt the following identification, if accurate:  “Business services, namely, providing a web site featuring online access to merchants providing goods and services to businesses, namely, {specify nature of services, e.g. “Ppoviding a web site which features advertisements for the goods and services of others on a global computer network”, “providing a searchable online advertising guide featuring the goods and services of other on-line vendors on the internet” OR “promoting the goods and services of others by providing hypertext links to the web sites of others”}; business networking services; providing business advice; referral services to business owners, namely, {specify nature of the services, e.g. “referrals in the field of [indicate field with more specificity than business]” OR “general business networking referral services, namely, promoting the goods and services of others by passing business leads and referrals among group members”}.”  In Class 035.

 

Identifications of services can be amended only to clarify or limit the services; adding to or broadening the scope of the services is not permitted.  37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); see TMEP §§1402.06 et seq., 1402.07.  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.

 

For assistance with identifying and classifying goods and/or services in trademark applications, please see the online searchable Manual of Acceptable Identifications of Goods and Services at http://tess2.gov.uspto.report/netahtml/tidm.html.  See TMEP §1402.04.

 

2.     APPLICANT MUST SUBMIT DESCRIPTION OF MARK

 

 

Applicant must submit a concise description of the mark.  37 C.F.R. §2.37; see TMEP §§808 et seq.  The following is suggested:

 

The mark consists of the wording “ADVANTA” with the middle “A” forming the legs of a human design with outstretched arms formed by a v-shaped design and a head formed by an oval.

 

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

 

 

 

 

/Matthew J. McDowell/

Examining Attorney

Law Office 101

United States Patent and Trademark Office

(571) 272-8263

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                

IMPORTANT NOTICE

USPTO OFFICE ACTION HAS ISSUED ON 8/16/2008 FOR

APPLICATION SERIAL NO. 77469542

 

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

  

VIEW OFFICE ACTION: Click on this link http://tmportal.gov.uspto.report/external/portal/tow?DDA=Y&serial_number=77469542&doc_type=PAT&mail_date=20080816 (or copy and paste this URL into the address field of your browser), or visit http://tmportal.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 8/16/2008.

 

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.