Offc Action Outgoing

This is a PROVISIONAL PARTIAL REFUSAL of the trademark and/or service mark in the above-referenced U.S. application that applies to only the following goods in the application: “sanitary preparations; dietetic preparations for medical use; food additives for medical use”. See 15 U.S.C. §1141h(c).

WHO IS PERMITTED TO RESPOND TO THIS PROVISIONAL PARTIAL REFUSAL:

Applicant may respond directly to this provisional refusal Office action, or applicant’s attorney may respond on applicant’s behalf. However, the only attorneys who can practice before the USPTO in trademark matters are as follows:

(1) Attorneys in good standing with a bar of the highest court of any U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other federal territories and possessions of the United States; and

(2) Canadian agents/attorneys whorepresent applicants residing in Canada and who have received reciprocal recognition by the USPTO under 37 C.F.R. §10.14(c).

37 C.F.R. §§10.1(c), 10.14; TMEP §602.

Foreign attorneys are not permitted to practice before the USPTO, other than properly authorized Canadian attorneys. TMEP §602.06(b). Filing written communications, authorizing an amendment to an application, or submitting legal arguments in response to a requirement or refusal constitutes representation of a party in a trademark matter. A response signed by an unauthorized foreign attorney is considered an incomplete response. See TMEP §§602.03, 712.03.

THE APPLICATION HAS BEEN PROVISIONALLY PARTIALLY REFUSED AS FOLLOWS:

NOTE: This is a partial refusal Office action. The refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) in this Office action apply only to specified goods in the U.S. application.

The referenced application has been reviewed by the assigned trademark examining attorney. Applicant must respond timely and completely to the issue(s) below. 15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §§2.62, 2.65(a); TMEP §§711, 718.03.

SEARCH FOR CONFLICTING MARKS

The Office records have been searched and there are no similar registered or pending marks that would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d), 15 U.S.C. §1052(d). TMEP §704.02.

IDENTIFICATION OF GOODS

The wording, “sanitary preparations; dietetic preparations for medical use; food additives for medical use”, in the identification of goods is indefinite and must be clarified. See TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.03.

The international classification of goods and/or services in applications filed under Trademark Act Section 66(a) cannot be changed from the classification the International Bureau assigned to the goods and/or services in the corresponding international registration. TMEP §§1401.03(d), 1904.02(b).

Therefore, any modification to this wording must identify goods and/or services in International Class 5, the classification specified in the application for these goods and/or services.

The following substitute wording is suggested, if appropriate: sanitary preparations for medical use; sanitary sterilizing preparations; dietetic preparations, namely, {specify common name for goods}, adapted for medical use; dietetic food for medical use; nutritional additives for medical purposes for use in foods and dietary supplements for human consumption”.

For assistance with identifying and classifying 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. See TMEP §1402.04.

ADVISORY – PARTIAL ABANDONMENT

If applicant should fail to respond to this Office action within the six-month period for response, then the following goods will be deleted from the application: sanitary preparations; dietetic preparations for medical use; food additives for medical use. The application will then proceed with the following goods and/or services only: dietetic food for medical use. 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a).

/Julie M. Guttadauro/

Trademark Examining Attorney

Law Office 106

(571) 272-5875

(571) 273-9106 (Fax)

RESPOND TO THIS ACTION: Applicant should file a response to this Office action online using the form at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/eTEASpageD.htm, waiting 48-72 hours if applicant received notification of the Office action via e-mail. For technical assistance with the form, please e-mail TEAS@uspto.gov. For questions about the Office action itself, please contact the assigned examining attorney. Do not respond to this Office action by e-mail; 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.