Offc Action Outgoing

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

 

 

 

OFFICE 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:

 

This Office Action is in response to the applicant’s communication filed on 2/22/2008.

 

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

 

NOTICE OF INCOMPLETE RESPONSE

 

The response filed on 2/22/2008 was signed by a party identified as an attorney with no address specified.  Responses to Office actions must be properly signed.  TMEP §712.  Because the response does not make it clear that the signatory is an attorney in good standing with a bar of the highest court of any U.S. state, it cannot be determined if the response was properly signed.  Therefore, the response is not accepted and the contents will not be reviewed.

 

To avoid abandonment of the application, applicant must submit (1) a properly signed response or (2) an explanation that the signer is an attorney in good standing with a bar of the highest court of a U.S. state, specifying the U.S. state bar to which the attorney is admitted, and providing contact information as needed to complete the application record.  The response or explanation must be received in the Office within thirty days of the mailing date of this letter or within the time remaining in the six month period for responding to the previous Office action, whichever is longer.  37 C.F.R. §§2.65(b) and 10.18; TMEP §§712, 712.02 and 718.03(b).  Applicant is encouraged to to submit it via the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) online at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/index.html.

 

GUIDELINES FOR SIGNING RESPONSES

 

Responses to Office actions must be properly signed.  TMEP §712.  If applicant has appointed an attorney, the attorney must sign the response; applicant cannot sign the response.  37 C.F.R. §10.18(a); TMEP §§602 and 712.01.  However, the only attorneys who can practice before the USPTO in trademark matters are (1) attorneys in good standing with a bar of the highest court of any U.S. state or (2) Canadian agents/attorneys who have received reciprocal recognition by the USPTO under 37 C.F.R. §10.14(c).  And Canadian attorneys can only represent Canadian applicants.  Foreign attorneys (other than duly authorized Canadian attorneys) cannot sign responses or otherwise represent applicants before the USPTO.  37 C.F.R. §§10.1(c) and 10.14.  Paralegals and secretaries cannot sign responses for attorneys.

 

If applicant is not represented by an attorney, the response must be signed by applicant or by someone with legal authority to bind applicant (i.e., a corporate officer of a corporate applicant, the equivalent of an officer for unincorporated organizations or limited liability company applicants, a general partner of a partnership applicant, each applicant for applications with multiple individual applicants, etc.).  TMEP §§712 et seq.

 

A non-attorney who is authorized to verify facts on behalf of an applicant under 37 C.F.R. §2.33(a)(2) (such as trademark administrators, accountants, business managers, administrative assistants, and personal assistants) is not entitled to sign responses to Office actions or to authorize examiner’s amendments and priority actions, unless he or she also has legal authority to bind the applicant, as specified in the paragraph immediately above.  See TMEP §§712.03 and 804.04.

 

 

 

 

/Napoleon K. Sharma/

Trademark Examining Attorney

Law Office 107

571-272-3387

 

 

RESPOND TO THIS ACTION: If there are any questions about the Office action, please contact the assigned examining attorney. A response to this Office action should be filed using the form available at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/eTEASpageD.htm. If notification of this Office action was received via e-mail, no response using this form may be filed for 72 hours after receipt of the notification. Do not attempt to respond by e-mail as 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.