United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
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U.S. Application Serial No. 79282001
Mark: MÉRIEUX NUTRISCIENCES
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Correspondence Address:
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Applicant: MERIEUX NUTRISCIENCES CORPORATION
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Reference/Docket No. N/A
Correspondence Email Address: |
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NONFINAL OFFICE ACTION
International Registration No. 1522479
Notice of Provisional Full Refusal
Deadline for responding. The USPTO must receive applicant’s response within six months of the “date on which the notification was sent to WIPO (mailing date)” located on the WIPO cover letter, or the U.S. application will be abandoned. To confirm the mailing date, go to the USPTO’s Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) database, select “US Serial, Registration, or Reference No.,” enter the U.S. application serial number in the blank text box, and click on “Documents.” The mailing date used to calculate the response deadline is the “Create/Mail Date” of the “IB-1rst Refusal Note.”
Respond to this Office action using the USPTO’s Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS). A link to the appropriate TEAS response form appears at the end of this Office action.
Discussion of provisional full refusal. This is a provisional full refusal of the request for extension of protection to the United States of the international registration, known in the United States as a U.S. application based on Trademark Act Section 66(a). See 15 U.S.C. §§1141f(a), 1141h(c).
SEARCH OF USPTO DATABASE OF MARKS
REQUIREMENTS
Before this application can proceed in the registration process, the following issues must be addressed.
To permit proper examination of the application, applicant must provide the following information:
(1) Explain whether the wording “MERIEUX” in the mark has any meaning or significance in the industry in which the services are manufactured/provided, any meaning or significance as applied to applicant’s services, or if such wording is a term of art within applicant’s industry.
(2) Explain whether this wording identifies a geographic place or has any meaning in a foreign language.
(3) Submit an English translation of all foreign wording in a mark. If the wording does not have meaning in a foreign language, applicant should so specify.
The format for an English translation: “The English translation of “MERIEUX” is “[specify English translation, if applicable].”
The format for when there is no English translation: “The wording “MERIEUX” has no meaning in a foreign language.
See 37 C.F.R. §§2.32(a)(9)-(a)(10), 2.61(b); TMEP §§809-809.03, 814.
Failure to comply with a request for information is grounds for refusing registration. In re Harley, 119 USPQ2d 1755, 1757-58 (TTAB 2016); TMEP §814.
Applicant may adopt the following wording, if accurate:
Commercial Business management assistance to commercial companies in business management;
advertising services, namely, assistance to companies in the field of advertising, in particular, carrying out conducting viability marketing studies
on advertising of products; conducting market studies; marketing research services, namely, analyzing the analysis of the impact of new products on a panel of consumers (marketing services); marketing research services, namely, sensory analysis and assessment of
the impact of new products on a panel of consumers (marketing services); qualitative and quantitative commercial feasibility studies; monitoring and conducting of
qualitative and sensory marketing research studies on the impact of products and brand names on consumers; public opinion polling; provision of online
information in the field of management and aggregation of data and environmental data management in computer databases; in International Class 35;
Training services, namely, providing online training courses and seminars and via online non-downloadable videos in the fields of food
microbiology, facility hygiene, environmental monitoring, product safety, shelf life, quality assurance and procedures for training food industry personnel in the application of good manufacturing
practices; in International Class 41;
Laboratory services, namely, provision of food microbiology laboratory analysis services for food and feed; providing analytical chemistry laboratory
services for human and animal consumption, food supplements, nutrition, cosmetics and environment; consulting services in the field of scientific and technological accreditation, including the
development and provision of standards and practices to the specification and order of others in the field of manufacture of food and feed by the food and feed processing
industries to ensure compliance with laws and government regulations and industrial practices, including quality control and quality assurance practices; consulting services in the field of
scientific and technological accreditation, including the development and provision of standards and practices to the specification and order of others in the field of food and
feed preparation by food and feed processing industries to ensure compliance with laws and government regulations and industrial practices, including quality control and quality assurance practices;
consulting services in the field of scientific and technological accreditation, including the development and provision of standards and practices to the specification and order of
others in the field of food and feed storage by food and feed processing industries to ensure compliance with government laws and regulations and industrial practices, including quality control
and quality assurance practices; quality control for third parties, namely, provision of verification services for ensuring that laboratories comply with good laboratory practices; scientific and
technical research services relating to the sensory impact of products and brands on consumers; industrial design studies and consulting relating to the design of packaging;
research and development of new products for others; quality studies and controls, namely, [clarify the nature of the services, e.g., scientific research in the
field of quality control]; design and conducting of genetic tests relating to animals and projects for research purposes; design of quality assurance and quality control
prevention plans in the field of food and feed manufacturing, food and feed preparation, food and feed storage, of food and feed processing industries intended for professional scientists; conducting
scientific investigations for medical purposes for determining the origin of food-borne illnesses, food deterioration incidents and similar events; scientific advisory and research services, namely,
design, conducting and management of research projects related to microbiological nutrition, the food industry and testing on animals; software as a service [SaaS] (SaaS)
services featuring [specify function, e.g., database, etc.] software for use and computer software development [design] to provide digital solutions to customers in
the fields of food production, food preparation, preservation and testing thereof to ensure regulatory compliance, industry laws and practices, including quality control; computer
software design and development for others in the fields of food production, food preparation, preservation and testing thereof to ensure regulatory compliance, industry laws and practices, including
quality control; provision of online information in the field of food quality control; design and development of software for quality control information management, cloud computing including
software for quality control information management, and external data backup; in International Class 42.
For assistance with identifying and classifying goods and services in trademark applications, please see the USPTO’s online searchable U.S. Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual. See TMEP §1402.04.
Assistance
The USPTO does not accept emails as responses to Office actions; however, emails can be used for informal communications and are included in the application record. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(c), 2.191; TMEP §§304.01-.02, 709.04-.05.
Applicant must be represented by a U.S.-licensed attorney at the USPTO to respond to or appeal the provisional refusal. An applicant whose domicile is located outside of the United States or its territories is foreign-domiciled and must be represented at the USPTO by an attorney who is an active member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a U.S. state or territory. 37 C.F.R. §§2.11(a), 11.14; Requirement of U.S.-Licensed Attorney for Foreign-Domiciled Trademark Applicants & Registrants, Examination Guide 4-19, at I.A. (Rev. Sept. 2019). An individual applicant’s domicile is the place a person resides and intends to be the person’s principal home. 37 C.F.R. §2.2(o); Examination Guide 4-19, at I.A. A juristic entity’s domicile is the principal place of business; i.e., headquarters, where a juristic entity applicant’s senior executives or officers ordinarily direct and control the entity’s activities. 37 C.F.R. §2.2(o); Examination Guide 4-19, at I.A. Because applicant is foreign-domiciled, applicant must appoint such a U.S.-licensed attorney qualified to practice under 37 C.F.R. §11.14 as its representative before the application may proceed to registration. 37 C.F.R. §2.11(a). See Hiring a U.S.-licensed trademark attorney for more information.
Only a U.S.-licensed attorney can take action on an application on behalf of a foreign-domiciled applicant. 37 C.F.R. §2.11(a). Accordingly, the USPTO will not communicate further with applicant about the application beyond this Office action or permit applicant to make future submissions in this application. And applicant is not authorized to make amendments to the application.
To appoint or designate a U.S.-licensed attorney. To appoint an attorney, applicant should submit a completed Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) Change Address or Representation form. The newly-appointed attorney must submit a TEAS Response to Examining Attorney Office Action form indicating that an appointment of attorney has been made and address all other refusals or requirements in this action, if any. Alternatively, if applicant retains an attorney before filing the response, the attorney can respond to this Office action by using the appropriate TEAS response form and provide his or her attorney information in the form and sign it as applicant’s attorney. See 37 C.F.R. §2.17(b)(1)(ii).
How to respond. Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action.
Jeri Fickes
/Jeri Fickes/
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 107, USPTO
571/272-9157
jeri.fickes@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE