To: | Education Northwest (tm-pdx@stoel.com) |
Subject: | U.S. TRADEMARK APPLICATION NO. 86005635 - SPUR - 55725/13:8 |
Sent: | 10/22/2013 4:21:27 PM |
Sent As: | ECOM102@USPTO.GOV |
Attachments: |
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)
OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) ABOUT APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION
U.S. APPLICATION SERIAL NO. 86005635
MARK: SPUR
|
|
CORRESPONDENT ADDRESS: |
CLICK HERE TO RESPOND TO THIS LETTER: http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/response_forms.jsp
|
APPLICANT: Education Northwest
|
|
CORRESPONDENT’S REFERENCE/DOCKET NO: CORRESPONDENT E-MAIL ADDRESS: |
|
OFFICE ACTION
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: 10/22/2013
Search
The trademark examining attorney has searched the Office’s database of registered and pending marks and has found no conflicting marks that would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d). TMEP §704.02; see 15 U.S.C. §1052(d).
Trademark Act Sections 1, 2, 3 & 45 Refusal – Mark Identifies a Process
A process or system is only a way of doing something, and is not generally a service. TMEP §1301.02(e). Thus, to be registrable, the evidence of record must show use of the name of a process or system to identify and distinguish applicant’s services from those of others and to indicate the source of applicant’s services. In re Hughes Aircraft Co., 222 USPQ 263, 264 (TTAB 1984); Liqwacon Corp. v. Browning-Ferris Indus., Inc., 203 USPQ 305, 318 (TTAB 1979); TMEP §§904.07(b), 1301.02(e).
In this case, the specimen shows the applied-for mark used solely to identify a process or system. Applicant’s mark is mentioned in embedded text in marketing material promoting Education Northwest’s services, which appear to include professional development, technical assistance, evaluation and research services. Applicant’s specimen first discusses its Rapid Inquiry-driven Change Cycle, and under this method, applicant’s specimen describes how it “guide[s] schools through a four-sage SPUR process for rapid and sustainable change. The specimen describes four stages, with the first letter of each stage coming together to spell SPUR. Repeatedly, applicant describes the stages as a process, which is a part of a larger methodology. At no point in applicant’s specimen of use does SPUR appear as an indicator of course for the specific services described in the application. Applicant does not appear to promote educational consulting services under the SPUR market, nor does the specimen show applicant providing continuing educational training under the SPUR market. Rather, SPUR is only used to identify applicant’s four stage data driven process.
Consequently, registration on the Principal Register must be refused.
Applicant must respond to the requirement(s) set forth below.
Identification of Services Unacceptable
Class 41: “Education services, namely, providing continuing education training for teachers, principals, administrators and other education professionals in the field of educational data analysis; educational services, namely, consulting in the field of education, particularly {e.g., providing educational training to instructors in respect to educational training that specializes in data-driven strategies for making positive changes to teaching and learning}”
An applicant may amend an identification of goods and services only to clarify or limit the goods and 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 et seq.
For assistance with identifying and classifying goods and/or services 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.
Assistance
/Jordan A. Baker/
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 102
571-272-8844
jordan.baker@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.