Offc Action Outgoing

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

 

 

 

OFFICE ACTION

 

RESPONSE TIME LIMIT:  TO AVOID ABANDONMENT, THE OFFICE MUST RECEIVE A PROPER RESPONSE TO THIS OFFICE ACTION WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF THE MAILING OR E-MAILING DATE. 

 

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  79/015643

 

INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION NO. 0863077  

 

This is a PROVISIONAL FULL REFUSAL of the trademark and/or service mark in the above-referenced U.S. application.  15 U.S.C. §1141h(c).

 

APPLICANT OR ATTORNEY CAN RESPOND TO PROVISIONAL REFUSAL:

 

Applicant may respond directly to this provisional refusal Office action, or applicant’s attorney may respond on applicant’s behalf. 

 

NOTE:  Attorneys hired to represent an applicant in a trademark matter before the Office must be eligible under 37 C.F.R. §10.14:

 

(1)     Attorneys who are in good standing with the bar of any United States court or the highest court of any state may practice before the Office in trademark matters.

(2)     A foreign attorney not residing in the United States who is in good standing before the patent or trademark office of the country in which he or she resides, may practice before the Office in trademark matters only in cases where the patent and trademark office of that foreign country allows substantially reciprocal privileges to those permitted to practice before the Office.  Currently, Canadian attorneys are the only foreign attorneys recognized as meeting this criterion.  A foreign attorney who meets the requirements of 37 C.F.R. §10.14(c) can only represent parties located in the country in which the foreign attorney resides and practices.  TMEP §602.

 

The Office cannot aid in the selection of an attorney.  37 C.F.R. §2.11.

 

If applicant is not represented by an attorney, applicant may appoint a domestic representative who would receive correspondence from the Office and be served process or notice of proceedings affecting the application.  15 U.S.C. §1141h(d); 37 C.F.R. §2.24.

 

THE APPLICATION HAS BEEN PROVISIONALLY REFUSED AS FOLLOWS:

 

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

 

Search Results – No Likelihood of Confusion

 

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.

 

However, applicant must respond to the following requirements.

 

Identification of Goods

 

Applicant must remove any parentheses from the identification of goods and/or services and incorporate the parenthetical information into the description.  Generally, parentheses and brackets should not be used in identifications.  Parenthetical information is only permitted in identifications if it serves to explain or translate the matter immediately preceding the parenthetical phrase in such a way that it does not affect the clarity of the identification, e.g., “obi (Japanese sash).”  TMEP §1402.12.

 

Applicant may adopt the following identification of goods, if accurate:  “gymnastic and sporting articles, namely snow skis, ski bindings, ski poles,” in International Class 28.  TMEP §1402.01.

 

For assistance with identifying 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.

 

Please note that, while the identification of goods may be amended to clarify or limit the goods, adding to the goods or broadening the scope of the goods is not permitted.  37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); TMEP §1402.06.  Therefore, applicant may not amend the identification to include goods that are not within the scope of the goods set forth in the present identification.

 

Please note that the international classification of goods and/or services in applications filed under Trademark Act Section 66(a) cannot be changed from the classification given to the goods and/or services by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization in the corresponding international registration.  TMEP §§1401.03(d), 1401.04 and 1904.02(b).

 

 

Entity

 

Applicant must specify its entity type and citizenship.  For example, an applicant can apply as an individual, a partnership, a corporation or a joint venture.  37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(3); TMEP §§803.03 et seq.  If applicant is an individual, then applicant must indicate his or her national citizenship for the record.  37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(3)(i).  If applicant is a corporation or association, then applicant must set forth the U.S. state or country (for foreign applicants only) under whose laws applicant is organized.  37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(3)(ii).  If applicant is a partnership or joint venture, then applicant must list the names and the national citizenship or the U.S. state or country (for foreign applicants only) of organization or incorporation of all the general partners or joint venturers, as well as specify the state or country under whose laws the partnership or joint venture is organized.  37 C.F.R. §§2.32(a)(3)(ii) and (iii).

 

 

 

 

 

/Pamela N. Hirschman/

Trademark Examining Attorney

Law Office 105

571-272-8272

 

 

 

HOW TO RESPOND TO THIS OFFICE ACTION:

• ONLINE RESPONSE:  You may respond using the Office’s Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) Response to Office action form available on our website at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/index.html.  If the Office action issued via e-mail, you must wait 72 hours after receipt of the Office action to respond via TEAS.  NOTE:  Do not respond by e-mail.  THE USPTO WILL NOT ACCEPT AN E-MAILED RESPONSE.
• REGULAR MAIL RESPONSE:  To respond by regular mail, your response should be sent to the mailing return address above, and include the serial number, law office number, and examining attorney’s name.  NOTE:  The filing date of the response will be the date of receipt in the Office, not the postmarked date.  To ensure your response is timely, use a certificate of mailing.  37 C.F.R. §2.197.

 

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.