To: | Hanover Company Store, LLC (trademark@leydig.com) |
Subject: | TRADEMARK APPLICATION NO. 78903130 - COMPANY TWEENS - 252417 |
Sent: | 11/8/2006 11:02:50 AM |
Sent As: | ECOM107@USPTO.GOV |
Attachments: | Attachment - 1 Attachment - 2 Attachment - 3 Attachment - 4 Attachment - 5 Attachment - 6 Attachment - 7 Attachment - 8 Attachment - 9 Attachment - 10 Attachment - 11 |
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
SERIAL NO: 78/903130
APPLICANT: Hanover Company Store, LLC
|
|
CORRESPONDENT ADDRESS: |
RETURN ADDRESS: Commissioner for Trademarks P.O. Box 1451 Alexandria, VA 22313-1451
|
MARK: COMPANY TWEENS
|
|
CORRESPONDENT’S REFERENCE/DOCKET NO: 252417
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.
|
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 78/903130
PLEASE NOTE: All of the issues raised can be resolved by telephone. The applicant may telephone the examining attorney, instead of submitting a written response, to expedite the application.
The assigned trademark examining attorney has reviewed the referenced application and has determined the following:
Search Results
The Office records have been searched and no similar registered or pending mark has been found that would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d), 15 U.S.C. §1052(d). TMEP §704.02.
THIS REQUIREMENT APPLIES ONLY TO THE GOODS SPECIFIED THEREIN
The wording “blankets” in the identification of goods needs clarification because the exact nature or type of goods is unclear. Applicant may change this wording to “bed blankets,” if accurate. TMEP §1402.01.
For assistance regarding an acceptable listing of goods and/or services, please see the on‑line searchable Manual of Acceptable Identifications of Goods and Services, at http://tess2.gov.uspto.report/netahtml/tidm.html.
Please note that, while the identification of goods/services may be amended to clarify or limit the goods/services, adding to the goods/services or broadening the scope of the goods/services is not permitted. 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); TMEP §1402.06. Therefore, applicant may not amend the identification to include goods or services that are not within the scope of the goods and services set forth in the present identification.
Combined Applications
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.
Disclaimers
Applicant must disclaim the descriptive wording “TWEENS” apart from the mark as shown because it merely describes the intended consumers or users of the identified goods and services. (See attached entry from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.) Trademark Act Section 6, 15 U.S.C. §1056; TMEP §§1213 and 1213.03(a).
The Office can require an applicant to disclaim exclusive rights to an unregistrable part of a mark, rather than refuse registration of the entire mark. Trademark Act Section 6(a), 15 U.S.C. §1056(a). Under Trademark Act Section 2(e), 15 U.S.C. §1052(e), the Office can refuse registration of the entire mark where it is determined that the entire mark is merely descriptive, deceptively misdescriptive, or primarily geographically descriptive of the goods. Thus, the Office may require the disclaimer of a portion of a mark which, when used in connection with the goods or services, is merely descriptive, deceptively misdescriptive, primarily geographically descriptive, or otherwise unregistrable (e.g., generic). TMEP §1213.03(a). If an applicant does not comply with a disclaimer requirement, the Office may refuse registration of the entire mark. TMEP §1213.01(b).
Wording that describes an intended user of a product or service is merely descriptive within the meaning of Section 2(e)(1). Hunter Publishing Co. v. Caulfield Publishing Ltd., 1 USPQ2d 1996 (TTAB 1986); In re Camel Mfg. Co., Inc., 222 USPQ 1031 (TTAB 1984); In re Gentex Corp., 151 USPQ 435 (TTAB 1966).
A “disclaimer” is thus a written statement that an applicant adds to the application record that states that applicant does not have exclusive rights, separate and apart from the entire mark, to particular wording and/or to a design aspect. The appearance of the applied-for mark does not change.
The computerized printing format for the Office’s Trademark Official Gazette requires a standardized format for a disclaimer. TMEP §1213.08(a)(i). The following is the standard format used by the Office:
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “TWEENS” apart from the mark as shown.
See In re Owatonna Tool Co., 231 USPQ 493 (Comm’r Pats. 1983).
Claim of Ownership
If applicant is the owner of U.S. Registration Nos. 2323186, 2380374 and 2648687, then applicant must submit a claim of ownership. 37 C.F.R. §2.36; TMEP §812. The following standard format is suggested:
Applicant is the owner of U.S. Registration Nos. 2323186, 2380374 and 2648687.
/Nelson B. Snyder III/
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 107
(571) 272-9284
(571) 273-9107 (fax)
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.