UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)
OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) ABOUT APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION
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APPLICATION SERIAL NO. 79106824
MARK: ARCTIC
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CORRESPONDENT ADDRESS: |
CLICK HERE TO RESPOND TO THIS LETTER: http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/response_forms.jsp
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APPLICANT: Greenland Springwater AG
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CORRESPONDENT’S REFERENCE/DOCKET NO: CORRESPONDENT E-MAIL ADDRESS: |
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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.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION NO. 1100802
This is a PROVISIONAL FULL REFUSAL of the trademark and/or service mark in the above-referenced U.S. application. See 15 U.S.C. §1141h(c).
WHO IS PERMITTED TO RESPOND TO THIS PROVISIONAL FULL REFUSAL:
Applicant may respond directly to this provisional refusal Office action if applicant is not represented by an authorized attorney. See 37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(ii). Otherwise, applicant’s authorized attorney must respond on applicant’s behalf. See 37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(i). However, the only attorneys who are authorized to sign responses and 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.
(2) Canadian agents/attorneys who represent applicants located in Canada and (a) are registered with the USPTO and in good standing as patent agents or (b) have been granted reciprocal recognition by the USPTO.
See 37 C.F.R. §§2.17(e), 2.62(b), 11.1, 11.5(b)(2), 11.14(a), (c); TMEP §§602, 712.03.
Foreign attorneys, other than authorized Canadian attorneys, are not permitted to represent applicants before the USPTO. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.17(e), 11.14(c), (e); TMEP §602.03-.03(b). That is, foreign attorneys may not file written communications, authorize an amendment to an application, or submit legal arguments in response to a requirement or refusal, among other things. See 37 C.F.R. §11.5(b)(2); TMEP §§602.03(c), 608.01. If applicant is represented by such a foreign attorney, applicant must respond directly to this provisional refusal Office action. See 37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(ii).
DESIGNATION OF DOMESTIC REPRESENTATIVE:
The USPTO encourages applicants who do not reside in the U.S. to designate a domestic representative upon whom notices or process may be served. 15 U.S.C. §§1051(e), 1141h(d); 37 C.F.R. §2.24(a)(1)-(2); see TMEP §610. Such designations may be filed online at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/index.jsp.
THE APPLICATION HAS BEEN PROVISIONALLY REFUSED AS FOLLOWS:
In this case, the following factors are the most relevant: similarity of the marks, similarity of the goods and/or services, and similarity of trade channels of the goods and/or services. See In re Dakin’s Miniatures Inc., 59 USPQ2d 1593 (TTAB 1999); TMEP §§1207.01 et seq.
Similarity of the Marks
The applicant’s mark, ARCTIC and design, is similar to the registered marks, ARCTIC EXPERIENCE and ARCTIC LITE, in that the dominant element in each mark is ARCTIC.
Similarity of the Goods
The applicant’s goods include beer, which is identical to one of the goods in each of the cited registrations. The applicant’s goods also include mineral and aerated waters, which are identical to one of the goods in the second cited registration. The remainder of the applicant’s goods are related to the registered goods because they are all beverages.
Mark Description
Therefore, applicant must provide a description of the applied-for mark. The following is suggested:
The mark consists of the word “ARCTIC” and a snow flake design.
Identification of Goods
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.
/James A. Rauen/
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 109
571-272-9211
james.rauen@uspto.gov (e-mail for informal communications only)
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.