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: 5/3/2013

 

THIS IS A FINAL ACTION.

 

This letter responds to applicant’s communication filed on April 17, 2013. 

 

Applicant’s amended identification of goods is unacceptable.  The requirement for an acceptable identification of goods is herein made FINAL.

 

The proposed amendment to the identification cannot be accepted because the following wording refers to goods and/or services that are not within the scope of the identification that was set forth in the application at the time of filing:  “Digital film scanners; Digital input and output scanners.”  See 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a).  This wording is beyond the scope of the original wording because the original identification of goods had no reference to any type of scanners.

 

Applicant may adopt the following identification of goods, if accurate: Carrying cases, holders, protective cases and stands featuring power supply connectors, adaptors, speakers and battery charging devices, specially adapted for use with handheld digital electronic devices, namely, cell phones, mobile phones, tablets computers, computers; Cases for mobile phones; Cell phone battery chargers; Cell phone battery chargers for use in vehicles; Cell phone cases; Cell phone covers; Cell phone faceplates; Cell phone straps; Cellular phone accessory charms; Headsets for cellular or mobile phones; Mobile phone straps; Protective covers and cases for cell phones, laptops and portable media players

 

 

While an applicant may clarify or limit the identification of goods and/or services, adding to or broadening the scope is not permitted.  37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); see TMEP §§1402.06 et seq., 1402.07(a).  Therefore, this wording should be deleted from the identification.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); TMEP §1402.07(d).

 

Applicant must respond within six months of the date of issuance of this final Office action or the following goods to which the final refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) apply will be deleted from the application by Examiner’s Amendment:  Digital film scanners; Digital input and output scanners.  37 C.F.R. §2.65(a); see 15 U.S.C. §1062(b).

 

The application will then proceed for the following goods:  Carrying cases, holders, protective cases and stands featuring power supply connectors, adaptors, speakers and battery charging devices, specially adapted for use with handheld digital electronic devices, namely, cell phones, mobile phones, tablets computers, computers; Cases for mobile phones; Cell phone battery chargers; Cell phone battery chargers for use in vehicles; Cell phone cases; Cell phone covers; Cell phone faceplates; Cell phone straps; Cellular phone accessory charms; Headsets for cellular or mobile phones; Mobile phone straps; Protective covers and cases for cell phones, laptops and portable media players. 

 

Applicant may respond by providing one or both of the following:

 

(1)    A response that fully satisfies all outstanding requirements;

 

(2)  An appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, with the appeal fee of $100 per class.

 

37 C.F.R. §2.64(a); TMEP §714.04; see 37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(18); TBMP ch. 1200.

 

In certain rare circumstances, an applicant may respond by filing a petition to the Director pursuant to 37 C.F.R. §2.63(b)(2) to review procedural issues.  37 C.F.R. §2.64(a); TMEP §714.04; see 37 C.F.R. §2.146(b); TBMP §1201.05; TMEP §1704 (explaining petitionable matters).  The petition fee is $100.  37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(15).

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

/Won T. Oh/

Law Office 114

(571)272-9204

won.oh@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.

 

 

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING YOUR

U.S. TRADEMARK APPLICATION

 

USPTO OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) HAS ISSUED

ON 5/3/2013 FOR U.S. APPLICATION SERIAL NO. 85810802

 

Your trademark application has been reviewed.  The trademark examining attorney assigned by the USPTO to your application has written an official letter to which you must respond.  Please follow these steps:

 

(1)  Read the LETTER by clicking on this link or going to http://tsdr.gov.uspto.report/, entering your U.S. application serial number, and clicking 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)  Respond within 6 months (or sooner if specified in the Office action), calculated from 5/3/2013, using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) response form located at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/response_forms.jsp. 

 

Do NOT hit “Reply” to this e-mail notification, or otherwise e-mail your response because the USPTO does NOT accept e-mails as responses to Office actions. 

 

(3)  Questions about the contents of the Office action itself should be directed to the trademark examining attorney who reviewed your application, identified below. 

 

/Won T. Oh/

Law Office 114

(571)272-9204

won.oh@uspto.gov

 

WARNING

 

Failure to file the required response by the applicable response deadline will result in the ABANDONMENT of your application.  For more information regarding abandonment, see http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/basics/abandon.jsp. 

 

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.