UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

 

 

 

OFFICE ACTION

 

TO AVOID ABANDONMENT, WE MUST RECEIVE A PROPER RESPONSE TO THIS OFFICE ACTION WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF OUR MAILING OR E-MAILING DATE. 

 

 

Serial Number  78/186542

 

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

 

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. §1052(d).  TMEP §704.02.

 

Section 2(e)(1) - Descriptive Refusal

However, the examining attorney refuses registration on the Principal Register because the proposed mark merely describes the goods.  Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1), 15 U.S.C. §1052(e)(1); TMEP §§1209 et seq.

 

A mark is merely descriptive under Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1), 15 U.S.C. §1052(e)(1), if it describes an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose or use of the relevant goods.  In re Gyulay, 820 F.2d 1216, 3 USPQ2d 1009 (Fed. Cir. 1987);  In re Bed & Breakfast Registry, 791 F.2d 157, 229 USPQ 818 (Fed. Cir. 1986); In re MetPath Inc., 223 USPQ 88 (TTAB 1984); In re Bright‑Crest, Ltd., 204 USPQ 591 (TTAB 1979); TMEP §1209.01(b).  It is not necessary that a term describe all of the purposes, functions, characteristics or features of the goods/services to be merely descriptive.  It is enough if the term describes one attribute of the goods/services.  In re H.U.D.D.L.E., 216 USPQ 358 (TTAB 1982); In re MBAssociates, 180 USPQ 338 (TTAB 1973).  TMEP §1209.01(b). 

 

In this case, the applicant has applied to register FLO THRU for “trench drains comprising a fiber glass channel with a grate on top”.   Thus, FLO THRU, which is a novel spelling of the words “flow through” merely describes a feature or characteristic of the identified goods which comprise trench drain products; in that the goods are designed to enable liquids to flow through other products and drain properly.  The examining attorney refers to the excerpted articles from the examining attorney’s search in the NEXIS® computerized database in which “flow through” appeared with descriptive significances in dozens of stories about drains.  See attachments. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has held that materials obtained through computerized text searching are competent evidence to show the descriptive use of terms under Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1), 15 U.S.C. §1052(e)(1).  In re National Data Corp., 222 USPQ 515, 517 n.3 (TTAB 1984).

 

Opportunity to Respond

Although the examining attorney has refused registration, the applicant may respond to the refusal to register by submitting evidence and arguments in support of registration.

 

If the applicant chooses to respond to the refusal to register, the applicant must also respond to the following informalities.

 

Classification

The applicant has classified the goods incorrectly.  The applicant must amend the application to classify the goods in International Class 19.  37 C.F.R. §§2.32(a)(7) and 2.85; TMEP §§1401.02(a) and 1401.03(b).

 

Claim of Ownership

In addition, if the applicant is the owner of Registration No. 1838496, the applicant must submit a claim of ownership.  37 C.F.R. §2.36; TMEP §812.

 

Advisory - Distinctiveness under Section 2(f)

Finally, please note, the applicant may seek registration under the Trademark Act Section 2(f), 15 U.S.C. §1052(f), by claiming acquired distinctiveness through ownership of U.S. Registration 1838496.  To do so, the applicant must provide a statement that the mark has become distinctive of the goods/services as evidenced by ownership of U.S. Registration ^ on the Principal Register for the same mark for related goods or services.  37 C.F.R. §2.41(b); TMEP §§1212.04 et seq.

 

 

EXCERPTED ARTICLES

LEVEL 1 - 1 OF 8 STORIES                           

 

                    Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company 

                                The Boston Globe

 

                     March 10, 2002, Sunday ,THIRD EDITION

 

SECTION: GLOBE SOUTH; Pg. 1

 

LENGTH: 998 words

 

HEADLINE: GLOBE SOUTH 1 / PLYMOUTH;

NATURE RECLAIMING WATERFRONT PARK

 

BYLINE: By Robert Knox, Globe correspondent

 

 BODY:

   ... areas, raise the banks of the brook, and install new drainage pipes along

the bank and to the pool by the Pilgrim Maiden statue.  The  drainage  system

will allow excess water to  flow through  the pool, refresh it, and  drain  into

 

LEVEL 1 - 2 OF 8 STORIES                           

 

                      Copyright 2000 The Indianapolis Star

                             All Rights Reserved 

                             The Indianapolis Star

 

                  September 1, 2000 Friday City final Edition

 

SECTION: EXTRA; HERMAN; Pg. 01E

 

LENGTH: 841 words

 

HEADLINE: License to move is not up to BMV

 

BYLINE: GREG DAWSON

 

 BODY:

   ... lagoon: It's close to a maintenance facility where workers wash their

vehicles on a paved area. The water is supposed to  flow through  a  drainage

 

LEVEL 1 - 3 OF 8 STORIES                            

 

                     Copyright 2000 The Columbus Dispatch 

                            Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)

 

                              June 4, 2000, Sunday

 

SECTION: NEWS, Pg. 1D

 

LENGTH: 724 words

 

HEADLINE: LOCKBOURNE MAKING ITS MARK IN HISTORY

 

BYLINE: Shannon Beatty, Dispatch Staff Reporter

 

   ... plants fills a trench enclosed by two 90-foot-long stone walls.

 

   When rain falls, water  flows through the trench.  But it isn't just a

 drainage  ditch. And Eunice McMullen wants to make sure that no one mistakes it

 

LEVEL 1 - 6 OF 8 STORIES                           

 

                  Copyright 1996 Sentinel Communications Co. 

                           Orlando Sentinel (Florida)

 

                        November 2, 1996 Saturday, METRO

 

SECTION: HOMES; Pg. G1

 

LENGTH: 1520 words

 

HEADLINE: YOUR FLORIDA HOME

 

BYLINE: Kathleen M. Kiely

 

 BODY:

   ... consists of a large holding tank (the septic tank) followed by a network

of drainpipes in gravel-filled  trenches (the drain  field). Gravity makes waste

water  flow through  the system. If the  drain  field is higher than the septic

tank, a submersible pump is used to move the waste water from the septic tank to

the drain field.

 

 

 

 

/kbp/

Kimberly Boulware Perry

Trademark Attorney, Law Office 112

voice: 703/308-9112x251; fax: 703/746-8112

email: Ecom112@uspto.gov

email: kimberly.perry@uspto.govl: Ecom112@uspto.gov

email (questions) :kimberly.perry@uspto.gov

 

How to respond to this Office Action:

 

To respond formally using the Office’s Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), visit http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/index.html and follow the instructions.

 

To respond formally via E-mail, visit http://www.gov.uspto.report/web/trademarks/tmelecresp.htm and follow the instructions.

 

To respond formally via regular mail, your response should be sent to the mailing Return Address listed above and include the serial number, law office and examining attorney’s name on the upper right corner of each page of your response.

 

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

 

For general and other useful information about trademarks, you are encouraged to visit the Office’s web site at http://www.gov.uspto.report/main/trademarks.htm

 

FOR INQUIRIES OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS OFFICE ACTION, PLEASE CONTACT THE ASSIGNED EXAMINING ATTORNEY.