Offc Action Outgoing

STRICT DEADLINE TO RESPOND TO THIS LETTER: To avoid abandonment of applicant’s trademark application, the USPTO must receive either a properly signed response or an explanation of the signer’s legal authority to bind or represent applicant within (1) thirty (30) days of the date of issuance of this letter, or (2) the time remaining in the six-month period for responding to the previous Office action, whichever is longer.

NOTICE OF INCOMPLETE RESPONSE

The problem with applicant’s response: Applicant filed a response on July 20, 2017 that appears to have been improperly signed by a person with no legal authority to bind or represent applicant. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(b), 2.193(e)(2). The USPTO cannot accept an improperly signed response; therefore, the contents will not be reviewed. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(b), 2.193(e)(2); TMEP §§712, 712.03, 718.03.

The only parties who can properly sign responses are as follows: (1) the individual applicant(s); (2) someone with legal authority to bind a juristic applicant (e.g., a corporate officer or general partner); or (3) an authorized attorney. 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(b), 2.193(e)(2); TMEP §§611.03(b), 712. In the present case, the response was improperly signed by Clive Knight with the title “Senior Consultant”. Thus, it is not apparent whether the signer has legal authority to bind or represent the applicant.

What applicant must do to fix the problem: Applicant must resubmit the entire response, signed by a proper party, or provide an explanation of the signer’s legal authority to bind or represent applicant, as explained more fully below. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.17(b)(2), 2.62(b), 2.193(e)(2). If submitting a newly signed response, applicant must also explicitly address and respond to all the issues raised in the outstanding Office action dated July 2017. See37 C.F.R. §2.65(a); TMEP §718.03. The USPTO must receive a properly signed response or explanation within (1) thirty (30) days of the date of issuance of this letter, or (2) the time remaining in the six-month period for responding to the previous Office action, whichever is longer. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(a), 2.65(a)(2); TMEP §§712.03, 718.03(b).

Applicant is encouraged to respond online via the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS). To respond via TEAS, applicant must either (1) complete the entire response form again, responding to all issues raised in the outstanding Office action; or (2) provide an explanation as to the signer’s authority in the “miscellaneous statement” field in the TEAS response form. In the alternative, applicant may respond by fax at 571-273-1875.

If the outstanding Office action was a final Office action, please note that the granting of additional time to perfect a response does not extend the time for filing an appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board under 37 C.F.R. §§2.141, 2.142 or a petition to the Director under 37 C.F.R. §2.146. 37 C.F.R. §2.63(b)(3); TMEP §718.03(b). An applicant must file a notice of appeal or petition within six months of the issuance date of a final action. 37 C.F.R. §§2.142(a), 2.146(d); see 15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §2.63(b)(2)(ii)-(iii).

What happens if the USPTO does not receive a properly signed response within the specified time period: If applicant does not properly respond within the specified time period, this application will be abandoned because applicant filed an incomplete response. 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a); TMEP §§715.03(a)(ii)(E), 718.03. In such case, applicant may file a petition to the Director to request a reversal of the decision to abandon the application. TMEP §§718.03(b), 1713.01-.02; see 37 C.F.R. §2.146(a)(3). The petition must be filed within two months of the date of issuance of the notice of abandonment and may be filed online with a $100 fee. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.6(a)(15)(ii), 2.66(a)(1), 2.146(d); TMEP §§1705.04, 1714.01(a), (d).

GUIDELINES FOR SIGNING RESPONSES

As stated above, where an applicant is not represented by an attorney who may practice before the USPTO, the response must be signed by the individual applicant or someone with legal authority to bind a juristic applicant (e.g., a corporate officer or general partner). See 37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(ii); TMEP §§611.03(b), 611.06(b)-(h), 712.01. In the case of joint applicants, all must sign. 37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(ii); TMEP §611.06(a).

Where an applicant is initially represented by an attorney, the attorney must sign the response. 37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(i); TMEP §§611.03(b), 712.01. The only attorneys who may sign responses and otherwise practice before the USPTO in trademark matters are (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 U.S. commonwealths or U.S. territories; and (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, 712.01. Attorneys who fail to meet these requirements, as well as non-attorneys, are generally not permitted to represent applicants in trademark matters before the USPTO; and thus, they may not sign responses. See 5 U.S.C. §500(b), (d); 37 C.F.R. §11.14(a)-(c), (e); TMEP §§602, 602.02, 608.01.

In addition, the proper signatory must personally sign or personally enter his or her electronic signature. See 37 C.F.R. §2.193(a), (e)(2); TMEP §§611.01(b), 611.02. The name of the signatory must also be printed or typed immediately below or adjacent to the signature, or identified elsewhere in the filing. 37 C.F.R. §2.193(d); TMEP §611.01(b).

/Seth Willig Chadab/

Seth Willig Chadab

Trademark Examining Attonrey

Law Office 104

(571) 270-1875

seth.chadab@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 the Trademark Electronic Application System (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 the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) system at http://tsdr.gov.uspto.report/. Please keep a copy of the TSDR status screen. If the status shows no change for more than six months, contact the Trademark Assistance Center by e-mail at TrademarkAssistanceCenter@uspto.gov or 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/trademarks/teas/correspondence.jsp.