UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)

OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) ABOUT APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION

 

 

 

OFFICE ACTION

 

STRICT DEADLINE TO RESPOND TO THIS LETTER

TO AVOID ABANDONMENT OF APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION, THE USPTO MUST RECEIVE APPLICANT’S COMPLETE RESPONSE TO THIS LETTER WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF THE ISSUE/MAILING DATE BELOW.

 

ISSUE/MAILING DATE: 7/12/2011

 

THIS IS A FINAL ACTION.

 

INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION NO. 0992130

 

 

This Office action is in response to applicant’s communication filed on June 8, 2011.

 

The potential Section 2(d) likelihood of confusion refusal based on Serial No. 85/072322 is withdrawn (this application has abandoned).  Also, the applicant’s substitute drawing, color claim, color location statement, and description of the mark have been entered.

 

However, the applicant must respond to the following FINAL requirement:

 

Identification of Goods – Clarification Required - FINAL

 

In its response, the applicant’s proposed wording “cigarette lighters” in the identification of goods is indefinite and must be clarified because it is overly broad and ambiguous.  See TMEP §1402.01.  The specific type(s) of goods must be indicated.

 

Applicant must amend the identification to specify the common commercial name of the goods.  If there is no common commercial name, applicant must describe the product and its intended uses.  See id.

 

Applicant may adopt the following identification of goods, if accurate: 

 

“Tobacco goods, in particular cigarettes and filter-tip cigarettes; smokers' articles, namely, ashtrays, [insert type of “cigarette lighters,” e.g., cigarette lighters of precious metal, cigarette lighters not of precious metal], cigarette cases and cigarette holders not of precious metal; matches, in International Class 034.” 

 

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.

 

Although identifications of goods and/or services may be amended to clarify or limit the goods and/or services, adding to or broadening the scope of the goods and/or services is not permitted.  37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); see TMEP §§1402.06 et seq., 1402.07.  Therefore, applicant may not amend the identification to include goods and/or services that are not within the scope of the goods and/or services set forth in the present identification.

 

This requirement is made FINAL.

 

Claimed Prior Registration is Cancelled - Advisory

 

Applicant’s claim of ownership of U.S. Registration No. 2877029 will not be printed on any registration which may issue from this application because Office records show that the claimed registration is now cancelled.  Only claims of ownership of active registrations are printed.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.36; TMEP §812.

 

See attached copy of cancelled U.S. Registration No. 2877029.

 

Proper Response to Final Office Action

 

If applicant does not respond within six months of the mailing date of this final Office action, the following goods to which the final refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) apply will be deleted from the application by Examiner’s Amendment:  “cigarette lighters”.  The application will then proceed forward for the remaining goods.  15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a).

 

Applicant may respond to this final Office action by: 

 

(1)   Submitting a response that fully satisfies all outstanding requirements, if feasible; and/or

 

(2)   Filing an appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, with an appeal fee of $100 per class.

 

37 C.F.R. §§2.6(a)(18), 2.64(a); TBMP ch. 1200; TMEP §714.04.

 

In certain rare circumstances, a petition to the Director may be filed pursuant to 37 C.F.R. §2.63(b)(2) to review a final Office action that is limited to procedural issues.  37 C.F.R. §2.64(a); TMEP §714.04; see 37 C.F.R. §2.146(b), TBMP §1201.05; TMEP §1704 (explaining petitionable matters).  The petition fee is $100.  37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(15).

 

 

Applicant is encouraged to telephone the assigned trademark examining attorney to resolve the issue raised in this Office action.

 

 

 

/Andrew Rhim/

Examining Attorney

Law Office 101

phone (571) 272-9711

fax (571) 273-9101

andrew.rhim@uspto.gov

 

TO RESPOND TO THIS LETTER:  Go to http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/response_forms.jsp.  Please wait 48-72 hours from the issue/mailing date before using TEAS, to allow for necessary system updates of the application.  For technical assistance with online forms, e-mail TEAS@uspto.gov.  For questions about the Office action itself, please contact the assigned trademark examining attorney.  E-mail communications will not be accepted as responses to Office actions; therefore, do not respond to this Office action by e-mail.

 

All informal e-mail communications relevant to this application will be placed in the official application record.

 

WHO MUST SIGN THE RESPONSE:  It must be personally signed by an individual applicant or someone with legal authority to bind an applicant (i.e., a corporate officer, a general partner, all joint applicants).  If an applicant is represented by an attorney, the attorney must sign the response. 

 

PERIODICALLY CHECK THE STATUS OF THE APPLICATION:  To ensure that applicant does not miss crucial deadlines or official notices, check the status of the application every three to four months using Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (TARR) at http://tarr.gov.uspto.report/.  Please keep a copy of the complete TARR screen.  If TARR shows no change for more than six months, call 1-800-786-9199.  For more information on checking status, see http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/process/status/.

 

TO UPDATE CORRESPONDENCE/E-MAIL ADDRESS:  Use the TEAS form at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/eTEASpageE.htm.

 

 

 

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING YOUR

U.S. TRADEMARK APPLICATION

 

USPTO OFFICE ACTION HAS ISSUED ON 7/12/2011 FOR

SERIAL NO. 79086806

 

Please follow the instructions below to continue the prosecution of your application:

 

 

TO READ OFFICE ACTION: Click on this link or go to http://portal.gov.uspto.report/external/portal/tow and enter the application serial number to access the Office action.

 

PLEASE NOTE: The Office action may not be immediately available but will be viewable within 24 hours of this e-mail notification.

 

RESPONSE IS REQUIRED: You should carefully review the Office action to determine (1) how to respond; and (2) the applicable response time period. Your response deadline will be calculated from 7/12/2011 (or sooner if specified in the office action).

 

Do NOT hit “Reply” to this e-mail notification, or otherwise attempt to e-mail your response, as the USPTO does NOT accept e-mailed responses.  Instead, the USPTO recommends that you respond online using the Trademark Electronic Application System Response Form.

 

HELP: For technical assistance in accessing the Office action, please e-mail

TDR@uspto.gov.  Please contact the assigned examining attorney with questions about the Office action. 

 

        WARNING

 

Failure to file the required response by the applicable deadline will result in the ABANDONMENT of your application.