To: | Alliance Trading, Inc. (micol.cecchi@arlaw.com) |
Subject: | TRADEMARK APPLICATION NO. 78533138 - SUNMARK - 009337-23 |
Sent: | 6/29/2006 8:28:42 AM |
Sent As: | ECOM116@USPTO.GOV |
Attachments: |
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
SERIAL NO: 78/533138
APPLICANT: Alliance Trading, Inc.
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CORRESPONDENT ADDRESS: |
RETURN ADDRESS: Commissioner for Trademarks P.O. Box 1451 Alexandria, VA 22313-1451
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MARK: SUNMARK
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CORRESPONDENT’S REFERENCE/DOCKET NO: 009337-23
CORRESPONDENT EMAIL ADDRESS: |
Please provide in all correspondence:
1. Filing date, serial number, mark and applicant's name. 2. Date of this Office Action. 3. Examining Attorney's name and Law Office number. 4. Your telephone number and e-mail address.
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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.
Serial Number 78/533138
The assigned examining attorney has reviewed the applicant’s statement of use received on June 2, 2006 in the referenced application and determined the following.
Applicant must submit (1) a substitute specimen showing the mark as it is used in commerce on the goods or on packaging for the goods, and (2) a statement that “the substitute specimen was in use in commerce prior to the expiration of the time allowed applicant for filing a statement of use,” verified with a notarized affidavit or a signed declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20. 37 C.F.R. §§2.56, 2.59(b)(2) and 2.88(b)(2); TMEP §§904.09 and 1109.09(b).
The current specimen of record comprises an advertising brochure and is unacceptable as evidence of actual trademark use because it does not show use of the mark on the relevant goods. Invoices, announcements, order forms, bills of lading, leaflets, brochures, publicity releases and other printed advertising material, while normally acceptable for showing use in connection with services, generally are not acceptable specimens for showing trademark use in connection with goods. In re Bright of America, Inc., 205 USPQ 63 (TTAB 1979); See In re Ultraflight Inc., 221 USPQ 903 (TTAB 1984); TMEP §§904.05 and 904.07.
Examples of acceptable specimens for goods are tags, labels, instruction manuals, containers, photographs that show the mark on the goods or packaging, or displays associated with the goods at their point of sale. TMEP §§904.04 et seq.
The statement supporting use of the substitute specimen must read as follows:
The substitute specimen was in use in commerce prior to the expiration of the time allowed to the applicant for filing a statement of use.
The applicant must sign this statement either in affidavit form or with a declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20; TMEP §§904.09 and 1109.09(b).
The following is a properly worded declaration under 37 C.F.R. Section 2.20. A person who is properly authorized to sign on behalf of the applicant is: (1) a person with legal authority to bind the applicant; or (2) a person with firsthand knowledge of the facts and actual or implied authority to act on behalf of the applicant; or (3) an attorney as defined in 37 C.F.R. Section 10.1(c) who has an actual or implied written or verbal power of attorney from the applicant. 37 C.F.R. Section 2.33.
The undersigned, being hereby warned that willful false statements and the like so made are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, under 18 U.S.C. 1001, and that such willful false statements may jeopardize the validity of the application or any resulting registration, declares that the facts set forth in this application are true; all statements made of his/her own knowledge are true; and all statements made on information and belief are believed to be true.
_____________________________
(Signature)
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(Print or Type Name and Position)
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(Date)
Applicant may respond to this Office action using the Office’s Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) at <http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/index.html>. When using TEAS the data the applicant submits is directly uploaded into the Office’s database, which reduces processing time and eliminates the possibility of data entry errors by the Office. Applicants are strongly encouraged to use TEAS to respond to Office actions. Applicants using TEAS should not submit a duplicate paper copy of the response.
The Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) database on the USPTO website at http://tarr.uspto.gov provides detailed, up to the minute information about the status and prosecution history of trademark applications and registrations. The TARR database is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Status and status date information is also available via push-button telephone at (703) 305‑8747 from 6:30 a.m. until midnight, Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.
Tina L. Snapp
/Tina L. Snapp/
Examining Attorney
Law Office 116
(571) 272-9224
Rightfax (571) 273-9116
HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS OFFICE ACTION:
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
FOR INQUIRIES OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS OFFICE ACTION, PLEASE CONTACT THE ASSIGNED EXAMINING ATTORNEY SPECIFIED ABOVE.