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. 79303451
Mark: MICROCELL
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Correspondence Address: Dr. Eikelau, Masberg & Kollegen
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Applicant: Jugendis Kosmetik GmbH & Co. KG
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Reference/Docket No. N/A
Correspondence Email Address: |
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NONFINAL OFFICE ACTION
International Registration No. 1573532
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 (see http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks-application-process/abandoned-applications for information on abandonment). To confirm the mailing date, go to the USPTO’s Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) database at http://tsdr.gov.uspto.report/, 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
The trademark examining attorney searched the USPTO database of registered and pending marks and found no conflicting marks that would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d). 15 U.S.C. §1052(d); TMEP §704.02.
SUMMARY OF ISSUES
ENTITY INFORMATION OMITTED
The application does not indicate applicant’s legal entity and citizenship, or state or country of organization or incorporation. Accordingly, applicant must specify its legal entity and its national citizenship or foreign country of organization or incorporation. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.32(a)(3)(i)-(ii), 2.61(b); TMEP §§803.03, 803.04. This information is required for all U.S. trademark applications, including those filed under Trademark Act Section 66(a). See 37 C.F.R. §7.25(a)-(b); TMEP §1904.02(a).
Acceptable legal entities include an individual, a partnership, a corporation, a joint venture, or the foreign equivalent. See TMEP §§803.03 et seq. If applicant’s legal entity is an individual, applicant must so specify and provide his or her national citizenship. TMEP §803.03(a). If applicant is a corporation, association, partnership, joint venture, or the foreign equivalent, applicant must so specify and provide the foreign country under whose laws applicant is organized or incorporated. TMEP §803.03(b)-(c). For an association, applicant must also specify whether the association is incorporated or unincorporated, unless the foreign country and the designation or description “association/associazione” appear in Appendix D of the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP). TMEP §803.03(c).
If applicant is organized under the laws of a foreign province or geographical region, applicant should specify both the foreign province or geographical region and the foreign country in which the province or region is located. See TMEP §803.04. To provide this information online via the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) Response to Office Action form, applicant must open the response form, answer “Yes” to wizard question number 5, find the “Owner Information” page, and do the following: (1) locate the “Entity Type” heading on that page and select “Other;” (2) locate the “Specify Entity Type” heading and select “Other” under the Foreign Entity option, and enter in the free-text field below both applicant’s entity type and the foreign province or geographical region of its organization (e.g., partnership of Victoria); and (3) locate the “State or Country Where Legally Organized” heading and select the appropriate foreign country (e.g., Australia) under the Non-U.S. Entity option.
If applicant’s entity type is an individual, applicant must indicate his or her national citizenship for the record. 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(3)(i); TMEP §803.04.
If applicant’s entity type is a corporation, association, partnership, joint venture, or the foreign equivalent, applicant must set forth the U.S. state or foreign country under whose laws applicant is organized or incorporated. 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(3)(ii); TMEP §§803.03(b)-(c), 803.04. In addition, if applicant is a U.S. partnership or joint venture, applicant must list the names, legal entities and national citizenship or the U.S. state or foreign country of organization or incorporation of all the general partners or joint venturers. 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(3)(ii)-(iv); TMEP §§803.03(b), 803.04. For an association, applicant must also specify whether the association is incorporated or unincorporated. TMEP §803.03(c).
Applicant should note the following additional requirement.
EXPLANATION OF MARK’S SIGNIFICANCE REQUIRED
Applicant must explain whether “MICROCELL” has any meaning or significance in the industry in which the goods and/or services are manufactured/provided, or if such wording is a “term of art” within applicant’s industry. See 37 C.F.R. §2.61(b); TMEP §814. Applicant must also explain whether this wording identifies a geographic place or has any meaning in a foreign language. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.32(a)(9), (a)(10), 2.61(b); TMEP §§809, 814. An applicant must submit an English translation of all foreign wording in a mark and a transliteration (the phonetic spelling, in Latin characters, of terms in the mark in non-Latin characters) of all non-Latin characters in a mark. 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(9), (a)(10); TMEP §809. If the wording does not have meaning in a foreign language, applicant should so specify. See 37 C.F.R. §2.61(b); TMEP §809.03.
Failure to respond to a request for information is an additional ground for refusing registration. See In re Cheezwhse.com, Inc., 85 USPQ2d 1917, 1919 (TTAB 2008); In re DTI P’ship LLP, 67 USPQ2d 1699, 1701 (TTAB 2003); TMEP §814.
REQUIREMENT FOR U.S. COUNSEL
Applicant must be represented by a U.S.-licensed attorney 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 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 at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks-getting-started/why-hire-private-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.
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 at http://teas.gov.uspto.report/wna/ccr/car. The newly-appointed attorney must submit a TEAS Response to Examining Attorney Office Action form at http://teas.gov.uspto.report/office/roa/ 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).
RESPONDING TO OFFICE ACTIONS
Response guidelines. 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.
Please call or email the assigned trademark examining attorney with questions about this Office action. Although an examining attorney cannot provide legal advice, the examining attorney can provide additional explanation about the refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) in this Office action. See TMEP §§705.02, 709.06.
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.
Email address required. Applicant must provide applicant’s email address, which is a requirement for a complete application. See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(2); Mandatory Electronic Filing & Specimen Requirements, Examination Guide 1-20, at III.A. (Rev. Feb. 2020). Applicant’s email address cannot be identical to the listed primary correspondence email address of any attorney retained to represent applicant in this application. See Examination Guide 1-20, at III.A.
How to respond. Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action.
/Michael Ebaugh/
Examining Attorney
Law Office 108
(571) 270-3341
michael.ebaugh@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE