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: 4/3/2014

 

 

This Office action is in response to applicant’s communication filed on March 9, 2014.  The examining attorney has carefully considered applicant’s arguments and/or amendments in favor of registration.  The translation is acceptable and has been entered into the application record.  As to the remaining issues, the examining attorney has determined the following.

 

IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS

 

Applicant must amend the identification of goods by clarifying the exact nature of the goods where indicated below in bold type.  See TMEP §1402.01.

 

The wording “WALL MOUNTS” in the identification of goods must be clarified because it is too broad and could include goods in other international classes. See TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.03.

 

Applicant may adopt the following identification of goods, if accurate: 

 

Audio accessories, namely, metal audio wall mounts, in INT. CLASS 6;

 

High-end luxury speakers and acoustic products, namely, audio speakers, wireless audio speakers, wireless outdoor speakers, sound bars, subwoofers, headphones and ear buds, bass shakers, digital music players, digital music controllers, remote controls for [indicate specific devices] and downloadable audio smartphone software applications for [indicate specific function or purpose of software (i.e., what does it do?)], and audio accessories, namely, travel kits comprising [indicate primary components of kits], computer tablet docking stations and holders in the nature of carrying cases for computer tablets, and battery chargers; consumer electronic products, namely, audio amplifiers, audio speakers, audio receivers, electrical audio and speaker cables and connectors, audio decoders, video decoders, speakers, power conversion devices, power converters, and power inverters, in INT. CLASS 9;

 

Audio accessories, namely, non-metal audio wall mounts, in INT. CLASS 20.

 

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

 

Identifications of goods and/or services can be amended only to clarify or limit the goods and/or services; adding to or broadening the scope of the goods and/or services 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 and/or services that are not within the scope of the goods and/or services set forth in the present identification.

 

COMBINED CLASS REQUIREMENTS

 

If applicant prosecutes this application as a combined, or multiple-class application, then applicant must comply with each of the following for those goods based on an intent to use the mark in commerce under Trademark Act Section 1(b):

 

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

 

(2)    Applicant must submit a filing fee for each international class of goods 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).

 

The filing fee for adding classes to an application is as follows:

 

         (1)    $325 per class, when the fees are submitted with a response filed online via the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) at http://www.gov.uspto.report/teas/index.html; or

 

         (2)    $375 per class, when the fees are submitted with a paper response. 

 

37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(1)(i)-(a)(1)(ii); TMEP §810.

 

TELEPHONE FOR ASSISTANCE

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

/Alicia Collins Edwards/

Trademark Examining Attorney

United States Patent and Trademark Office

Law Office 115

571-272-9147

alicia.edwards@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 4/3/2014 FOR U.S. APPLICATION SERIAL NO. 85974396

 

Please follow the instructions below:

 

(1)  TO READ THE LETTER:  Click on this link or go to http://tsdr.uspto.gov,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)  TIMELY RESPONSE IS REQUIRED:  Please carefully review the Office action to determine (1) how to respond, and (2) the applicable response time period.  Your response deadline will be calculated from 4/3/2014 (or sooner if specified in the Office action).  For information regarding response time periods, see http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/process/status/responsetime.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.  Instead, the USPTO recommends that you respond online using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) response form located at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/response_forms.jsp.

 

(3)  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

 

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.