Examiners Amendment

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)

OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) ABOUT APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION

 

 

 

EXAMINER’S AMENDMENT

 

ISSUE/MAILING DATE: 1/27/2014

 

 

APPLICATION HAS BEEN AMENDED:  In accordance with the authorization granted by David Lowe on January 27, 2014, the trademark examining attorney has amended the application as indicated below.  Please advise the undersigned immediately of any objections.  Otherwise, no response is necessary.  TMEP §707.  Any amendments to the identification of goods and/or services may clarify or limit the goods and/or services, but may not add to or broaden the scope of the goods and/or services.  37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); see TMEP §§1402.06 et seq.

 

PLEASE NOTE:  The Office has received the applicant’s response filed on January 2, 2014.  The applicant’s foreign registration is accepted and made part of the application.  Accordingly, the prior requirement to submit a foreign registration to satisfy the requirements of Section 44(e) are hereby deemed SATISFIED. 

 

Mark Description Statement

The application is amended as follows:

 

The mark consists of a three-dimensional design on a bottle cap appearing as a stack of poker chips having the stylized wording “ACES” surrounded by a circle which appears on the face of the poker chip stack and located on the top of the bottle cap.  The stylized wording “ACES” is comprised of playing card suits such that the letter "A" contains a spade, the letter "C" contains a diamond, the letter "E" contains a club and the letter "S" contains a heart.  The dotted lines appearing on the bottle cap design are intended to show the position of the mark and are not part of the mark.

 

See 37 C.F.R. §2.52(b)(1); TMEP §807.07(a)(i), (a)(ii).

 

Claim of Ownership of Prior Registration

The application is amended to read as follows:

 

Applicant is the owner of U.S. Registration No. 3849289.

 

See 37 C.F.R. §2.36; TMEP §812.

 

Advisory—Applicant Filed Pursuant to Section 1(b) and Section 44(e)—Applicant May Delete Section 1(b) Filing Basis

The application specifies both an intent to use basis under Trademark Act Section 1(b) and reliance on a foreign registration(s) under Section 44(e).  See 15 U.S.C. §§1051(b), 1126(e); 37 C.F.R. §2.34(a)(2)-(3).  However, the foreign registration alone may serve as a basis for obtaining a U.S. registration.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.34(a)(3); TMEP §806.01(d).  If applicant wants to rely solely on the foreign registration under Section 44(e) as the basis, applicant can request deletion of the Section 1(b) basis.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.35(b)(1); TMEP §806.04. 

 

Unless applicant indicates otherwise, the USPTO will presume that applicant is relying on both Sections 1(b) and 44(e).  Thus, although the mark may be approved for publication, it will not register until an acceptable allegation of use has been filed for the goods and/or services based on Section 1(b).

 

PLEASE NOTE:  As previously required, the applicant has not submitted a clear and legible rendition of the applied for mark.  As such, the prior requirement to submit a clear copy of the proposed mark shown in the drawing page of the application is MAINTAINED and CONTINUED.  In addition, because the applicant has not yet submitted a clear copy of the proposed drawing, the Section 2(d) refusal concerning U.S. Registration No. 3423040 is MAINTAINED and CONTINUED.  The examining attorney notes that a determination as to the continued validity of the Section 2(d) refusal will be made once the applicant has provided a clear copy of the drawing.

 

Applicants, registration owners, attorneys and other Trademark customers are strongly encouraged to correspond with the USPTO online via the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), at www.uspto.gov.

 

TEAS PLUS APPLICANTS MUST SUBMIT DOCUMENTS ELECTRONICALLY OR SUBMIT FEE:  Applicants who filed their application online using the reduced-fee TEAS Plus application must continue to submit certain documents online using TEAS, including responses to Office actions.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.23(a)(1).  For a complete list of these documents, see TMEP §819.02(b).  In addition, such applicants must accept correspondence from the Office via e-mail throughout the examination process and must maintain a valid e-mail address.  37 C.F.R. §2.23(a)(2); TMEP §§819, 819.02(a).  TEAS Plus applicants who do not meet these requirements must submit an additional fee of $50 per international class of goods and/or services.  37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(1)(iv); TMEP §819.04.  In appropriate situations and where all issues can be resolved by amendment, responding by telephone to authorize an examiner’s amendment will not incur this additional fee.

 

If the applicant has any questions or needs assistance in responding to this Office action, please telephone the assigned examining attorney.

 

/Michael Tanner/

Michael Tanner

Trademark Attorney

Law Office 119

Telephone: 571-272-9706

Email:  Michael.Tanner@uspto.gov

 

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 Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) form at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/correspondence.jsp.

 

 

 

 

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING YOUR

U.S. TRADEMARK APPLICATION

 

USPTO OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) HAS ISSUED

ON 1/27/2014 FOR U.S. APPLICATION SERIAL NO.85537126

 

Please follow the instructions below:

 

(1)  TO READ THE LETTER:  Click on this link or go to http://tsdr.gov.uspto.report/, enter the U.S. application serial number, and click on “Documents.”

 

The Office action may not be immediately viewable, to allow for necessary system updates of the application, but will be available within 24 hours of this e-mail notification.

 

(2)  QUESTIONS:  For questions about the contents of the Office action itself, please contact the assigned trademark examining attorney.  For technical assistance in accessing or viewing the Office action in the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) system, please e-mail TSDR@uspto.gov.

 

WARNING

 

PRIVATE COMPANY SOLICITATIONS REGARDING YOUR APPLICATION:  Private companies not associated with the USPTO are using information provided in trademark applications to mail or e-mail trademark-related solicitations.  These companies often use names that closely resemble the USPTO and their solicitations may look like an official government document.  Many solicitations require that you pay “fees.” 

 

Please carefully review all correspondence you receive regarding this application to make sure that you are responding to an official document from the USPTO rather than a private company solicitation.  All official USPTO correspondence will be mailed only from the “United States Patent and Trademark Office” in Alexandria, VA; or sent by e-mail from the domain “@uspto.gov.”  For more information on how to handle private company solicitations, see http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/solicitation_warnings.jsp.