Offc Action Outgoing

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application

 

 

 

NONFINAL OFFICE ACTION

 

The USPTO must receive applicant’s response to this letter within six months of the issue date below or the application will be abandoned.  Respond using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).  A link to the appropriate TEAS response form appears at the end of this Office action. 

 

 

Issue date:  February 17, 2021

 

International Registration No. 1527258

 

This application was approved for publication on January 26, 2021.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.80.  However, approval of the application has been withdrawn to address the issue(s) below.  See TMEP §706.01.  The trademark examining attorney apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause applicant.

 

SUMMARY OF ISSUES:

• Identification of Services in International Class 35

 

IDENTIFICATION OF SERVICES IN INTERNATIONAL CLASS 35

 

The wording in the identification of services in International Class 35 is unacceptable as written because it fails to indicate the nature of the applied-for services with sufficient specificity. See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1402.01.

 

The wording “retail or wholesale services for pharmaceutical, veterinary and sanitary preparations and medical supplies; retail or wholesale services for medicines; retail or wholesale services for veterinary medicines” is indefinite. Specifically, applicant must specify the format of wholesale and retail services, e.g., “retail and wholesale store services featuring [specify goods],” “wholesale distributorships featuring [specify goods],” or “retail store services featuring [specify goods].”  Without such indication, the ID as written includes a wide variety of services related to retailing, such as accounting, product supply, advertising, etc. See TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.03.

 

Applicant may adopt the following identification, if accurate (changes highlighted in bold italic):

 

International Class 35:

 

Accounting; sponsorship search; rental of sales stands; retail and wholesale store services featuring pharmaceutical, veterinary and sanitary preparations and medical supplies; retail and wholesale store services featuring medicines; retail and wholesale store services featuring veterinary medicines

 

SCOPE ADVISORY

 

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. 

 

Applicant may amend the identification to clarify or limit the goods and/or services, but not to broaden or expand the goods and/or services beyond those in the original application or as acceptably amended.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); TMEP §1402.06.  Generally, any deleted goods and/or services may not later be reinserted.  See TMEP §1402.07(e).  Additionally, for applications filed under Trademark Act Section 66(a), the scope of the identification for purposes of permissible amendments is limited by the international class assigned by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (International Bureau); and the classification of goods and/or services may not be changed from that assigned by the International Bureau.  37 C.F.R. §2.85(d); TMEP §§1401.03(d), 1904.02(b).  Further, in a multiple-class Section 66(a) application, classes may not be added or goods and/or services transferred from one existing class to another.  37 C.F.R. §2.85(d); TMEP §1401.03(d).

 

 

Partial Abandonment Advisory. For this application to proceed, applicant must explicitly address each refusal and/or requirement in this Office action.  For a refusal, applicant may provide written arguments and evidence against the refusal, and may have other response options if specified above.  For a requirement, applicant should set forth the changes or statements.  Please see “Responding to Office Actions” and the informational video “Response to Office Action” for more information and tips on responding.

 

If applicant does not timely respond to this Office action, the following services will be deleted from the application: 

 

Accounting; sponsorship search; rental of sales stands

 

See 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a); TMEP §718.02(a). 

 

In such case, the application will then proceed with the following services only: 

 

Retail or wholesale services for pharmaceutical, veterinary and sanitary preparations and medical supplies; retail or wholesale services for medicines; retail or wholesale services for veterinary medicines

 

See TMEP §718.02(a). 

 

How to respond.  Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action.    

 

 

Alexandra Foster

/Alexandra Foster/

Trademark Examining Attorney

Law Office 117

(571) 272-5111

alexandra.foster1@uspto.gov

 

 

RESPONSE GUIDANCE

• Missing the response deadline to this letter will cause the application to abandon.  A response or notice of appeal must be received by the USPTO before midnight Eastern Time of the last day of the response period.  TEAS and ESTTA maintenance or unforeseen circumstances could affect an applicant’s ability to timely respond.  

 

• Responses signed by an unauthorized party are not accepted and can cause the application to abandon.  If applicant does not have an attorney, the response must be signed by the individual applicant, all joint applicants, or someone with legal authority to bind a juristic applicant.  If applicant has an attorney, the response must be signed by the attorney.

 

• If needed, find contact information for the supervisor of the office or unit listed in the signature block.

 

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

 

USPTO OFFICIAL NOTICE

 

Office Action (Official Letter) has issued

on February 17, 2021 for

U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 79284114

 

Your trademark application has been reviewed by a trademark examining attorney.  As part of that review, the assigned attorney has issued an official letter that you must respond to by the specified deadline or your application will be abandoned.  Please follow the steps below.

 

(1)  Read the official letter.

 

(2)  Direct questions about the contents of the Office action to the assigned attorney below. 

 

 

Alexandra Foster

/Alexandra Foster/

Trademark Examining Attorney

Law Office 117

(571) 272-5111

alexandra.foster1@uspto.gov

 

Direct questions about navigating USPTO electronic forms, the USPTO website, the application process, the status of your application, and/or whether there are outstanding deadlines or documents related to your file to the Trademark Assistance Center (TAC).

 

(3)  Respond within 6 months (or earlier, if required in the Office action) from February 17, 2021, using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).  The response must be received by the USPTO before midnight Eastern Time of the last day of the response period.  See the Office action for more information about how to respond

 

 

 

GENERAL GUIDANCE

·         Check the status of your application periodically in the Trademark Status & Document Retrieval (TSDR) database to avoid missing critical deadlines.

 

·         Update your correspondence email address, if needed, to ensure you receive important USPTO notices about your application.

 

·         Beware of misleading notices sent by private companies about your application.  Private companies not associated with the USPTO use public information available in trademark registrations to mail and email trademark-related offers and notices – most of which require fees.  All official USPTO correspondence will only be emailed from the domain “@uspto.gov.”