UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)

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

 

 

 

OFFICE ACTION

 

STRICT DEADLINE TO RESPOND TO THIS LETTER

TO AVOID ABANDONMENT OF APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION, THE USPTO MUST RECEIVE APPLICANT’S COMPLETE RESPONSE TO THIS LETTER WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF THE ISSUE/MAILING DATE BELOW.

 

ISSUE/MAILING DATE:

 

The referenced application has been reviewed by the assigned trademark examining attorney.  Applicant must respond timely and completely to the issue(s) below.  15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §§2.62, 2.65(a); TMEP §§711, 718.03.

 

 

SEARCH OF OFFICE RECORDS

 

The Office records have been searched and there are no similar registered or pending marks that would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d), 15 U.S.C. §1052(d). TMEP §704.02.

 

 

IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS

 

The wording “mold counters” in the Class 7 identification of goods must be clarified because it is too broad.  See TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.03.  If these are electronic, they should be so identified and are properly classified in Class 9.  Otherwise, these should be described with specificity and classified accordingly.

 

Applicant has classified “electronic mold monitors for counting mold cycles and/or tracking mold activity” in International Class 7; however, the proper classification is International Class 9.  Therefore, applicant transfer these goods to its Class 9 identification of goods. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.86, 6.1; TMEP §§1403 et seq.

 

The wording “monitoring systems for extracting, communicating, and viewing data of an injection molding tool, namely cycle counter information and mold performance data, and software for injection tooling design and production” in the Class 9 identification of goods must be amended because “systems” is too broad.  See TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.03.  This identification must be amended to (1) list the primary parts or components of the systems and (2) describe the nature, purpose, or use of the systems.  TMEP §1401.05(d).  Applicant should use common generic terms to specify the parts or components of the systems.  See TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.03(a).  Applicant should also classify the systems in the same international class as its primary parts or components.  TMEP §1401.05(d). 

 

The Office requires a degree of particularity necessary to identify clearly goods and/or services covered by a mark.  See In re Omega SA, 494 F.3d 1362, 1365, 83 USPQ2d 1541, 1543-44 (Fed. Cir. 2007).  Descriptions of goods and services in applications must be specific, explicit, clear and concise.  TMEP §1402.01; see Cal. Spray-Chem. Corp. v. Osmose Wood Pres. Co. of Am., 102 USPQ 321, 322 (Comm’r Pats. 1954); In re Cardinal Labs., Inc., 149 USPQ 709, 711 (TTAB 1966). 

 

For assistance with identifying and classifying goods and/or services in trademark applications, please see the online searchable Manual of Acceptable Identifications of Goods and Services at http://tess2.gov.uspto.report/netahtml/tidm.html.  See TMEP §1402.04.

 

Although identifications of goods may be amended to clarify or limit the goods, adding to or broadening the scope of the goods is not permitted.  37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); see TMEP §§1402.06 et seq., 1402.07.  Therefore, applicant may not amend the identification to include goods that are not within the scope of the goods set forth in the present identification.

 

If applicant adds any classes to this application, then applicant must comply with each of the following for those goods/services based on an intent to use the mark in commerce under Trademark Act Section 1(b):

 

(1)    Applicant must list the goods and/or services by international class; and

 

(2)       Applicant must submit a filing fee for each international class of goods and/or 

services not covered by the fee already paid (current fee information should be confirmed at http://www.uspto.gov).

 

See 37 C.F.R. §§2.34(a)(2)-(3), 2.86(a); TMEP §§1403.01, 1403.02(c).

 

 

 

/Paul Fahrenkopf/

Trademark Examining Attorney

Law Office 101

571-272-8264

paul.fahrenkopf@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.