Offc Action Outgoing

STRICT DEADLINE TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTIFICATION: TO AVOID PARTIAL ABANDONMENT OF THE REQUEST FOR EXTENSION OF PROTECTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION ABOVE, THE USPTO MUST RECEIVE A COMPLETE RESPONSE TO THIS REFUSAL WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF THE “DATE ON WHICH THE NOTIFICATION WAS SENT TO WIPO (MAILING DATE)” LOCATED ON THE WIPO COVER LETTER ACCOMPANYING THIS NOTIFICATION.

The “Mailing Date” appearing on the WIPO cover letter may also be found through the USPTO’s Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) system at http://tsdr.gov.uspto.report/. Please enter the U.S. Application Serial Number for this application and select “Documents.” The “Mailing Date” is the “Create/Mail Date” of the “IB-1rst Refusal Note.”

This is a PROVISIONAL PARTIAL REFUSAL of the request for extension of protection of the mark in the above-referenced U.S. application that applies to only the following goods in the application: Unprocessed plastics (plastics in primary form). 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 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 United States 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 PARTIALLY REFUSED AS SPECIFIED BELOW.

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(a), 2.65(a); TMEP §§711, 718.03.

SEARCH OF OFFICE’S DATABASE OF MARKS

The trademark examining attorney has searched the Office’s database of registered and pending marks and has found no conflicting marks that would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d). TMEP §704.02; see 15 U.S.C. §1052(d).

IDENTIFICATION OF GOODS

The identification of goods is indefinite and must be clarified because the identification includes parenthetical wording. See TMEP §1402.01.

The identification of goods contains parentheses. Generally, parentheses and brackets should not be used in identifications. Parenthetical information is permitted in identifications only if it serves to explain or translate the matter immediately preceding the parenthetical phrase in such a way that it does not affect the clarity of the identification, e.g., “obi (Japanese sash).” TMEP §1402.12.

Therefore, applicant must remove the parentheses from the identification of goods and/or services and incorporate the parenthetical information into the description.

For assistance with identifying and classifying goods and/or services in trademark applications, please see the USPTO’s online searchable U.S. Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual at http://tess2.gov.uspto.report/netahtml/tidm.html. See TMEP §1402.04.

Applicant may adopt the following identification, if accurate:

International Class 1: Unprocessed plastics namely, plastics in primary form; unprocessed artificial resins; unprocessed synthetic resins; polyolefin resins; polyethylene resins; polyolefin resins for use in the manufacture of molded plastic articles and plastic films; polyolefin resins used as resin modifying agents; polyolefin resins produced using a metallocene catalyst in the form of liquids, pastes, powders and pellets.

An applicant may amend an identification of goods only to clarify or limit the goods; adding to or broadening the scope of the goods is not permitted. 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); see TMEP §§1402.06 et seq., 1402.07 et seq.

Please note that in an application filed under Trademark Act Section 66(a), an applicant may not change the classification of goods and/or services from that assigned by the International Bureau in the corresponding international registration. 37 C.F.R. §2.85(d); TMEP §§1401.03(d), 1904.02(b). Further, in a multiple-class Section 66(a) application, an applicant may not transfer goods and/or services from one existing international class to another. 37 C.F.R. §2.85(d); see TMEP §§1402.07(a), 1904.02(c). Therefore, all amendments must fall within the international class as originally filed.

PARTIAL ABANDONMENT ADVISORY

If applicant does not respond to this Office action within the six-month period for response, then the following goods and/or services will be deleted from the application: Unprocessed plastics (plastics in primary form). The application will then proceed with the following goods and/or services only: unprocessed artificial resins; unprocessed synthetic resins; polyolefin resins; polyethylene resins; polyolefin resins for use in the manufacture of molded plastic articles and plastic films; polyolefin resins used as resin modifying agents; polyolefin resins produced using a metallocene catalyst in the form of liquids, pastes, powders and pellets. 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a).

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 §§304.01-.02, 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.

/Eugenia K. Martin/

Eugenia K. Martin

Examining Attorney

Law Office 114

571-272-9458

eugenia.martin@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.