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: 6/25/2012

 

INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION NO. 1094551

 

 

The Office has reassigned this application to the undersigned trademark examining attorney.

 

 

This Office action is in response to applicant’s communication filed on May 10, 2012.  The applicant (1) amended the identification of goods and recitation of services, (2) submitted a substitute drawing, (3) disclaimed the wording “AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT” AND “AUSTRALIA,” and  (4) submitted a description of the mark.  No. 3 is acceptable.

 

The refusal to register the mark under Section 2(b) of the Trademark Act is continued.

 

The proposed amendment to the identification of goods and recitation of services is unacceptable.  (The indefinite wording in the identification of goods and recitation of services will be addressed upon applicant’s response to the instant Office action),

 

The description of the mark is unacceptable.

 

The substitute drawing is unacceptable.

 

The requirement to (1) amend the identification of goods and recitation of services, and (2) submit a concise description of the mark is continued.

 

Substitute Drawing Unacceptable

The applicant submitted a substitute black and white drawing in which the Australia’s coat of arms and the wording AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT was deleted from the drawing.

 

Applicant has requested that the drawing of the mark be amended.  However, the mark cannot be amended in an application filed under Trademark Act Section 66(a).  TMEP §§807.13(b), 1904.02(j). 

 

Accordingly, the proposed amendment to the mark is refused and will not be entered.  Thus, the previously acceptable drawing of the mark will remain operative.  TMEP §807.17.  Applicant must respond by arguing in favor of the proposed amendment and/or withdrawing the proposed amendment.  See TMEP §§714.03, 714.05(a), 807.17.

 

Mark Description

The applied-for mark is not in standard characters and applicant did not provide a description of the mark with the initial application.  Applications for marks not in standard characters must include an accurate and concise description of the entire mark that identifies literal elements as well as any design elements.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.37; TMEP §§808.01, 808.02, 808.03(b).

 

Therefore, applicant must provide a description of the applied-for mark.  Please note that a thorough color location description will obviate this requirement, but if color is not claimed as a feature of the mark, applicant must nevertheless submit a mark description.

 

The mark consists of a yellow angled line pointing to the left and a yellow and orange broken angled line pointing to the right with the black wording “AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT” in the lower right corner with a design of a black and white emblem featuring a kangaroo, a duck, the wording “AUSTRALIA” and {indicate other components of design}.”

Assistance

If applicant has questions regarding this Office action, please telephone or e-mail the assigned trademark examining attorney.  All relevant e-mail communications will be placed in the official application record; however, an e-mail communication will not be accepted as a response to this Office action and will not extend the deadline for filing a proper response.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.191; TMEP §§709.04-.05.  Further, although the trademark examining attorney may provide additional explanation pertaining to the refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) in this Office action, the trademark examining attorney may not provide legal advice or statements about applicant’s rights.  See TMEP §§705.02, 709.06.

 

 

/Alice Benmaman/

Trademark Attorney

Law Office 116

571 272-9126

alice.benmaman@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 6/25/2012 FOR

SERIAL NO. 79104050

 

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 6/25/2012 (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.