Priority 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:

DATABASE SEARCH: The trademark examining attorney has searched the USPTO’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).

ISSUES APPLICANT MUST ADDRESS: On January 10, 2014, the trademark examining attorney and Margaret Boulware discussed the issues below. Applicant must timely respond to these issues. See 15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §2.62(a); TMEP §§708, 711.

SPECIMEN REFUSAL (CLASS 9 ONLY)

Registration is refused because the Class 9 specimen consists of advertising material and thus does not show the applied-for mark in use in commerce for the identified goods. 15 U.S.C. §§1051, 1127; 37 C.F.R. §§2.34(a)(1)(iv), 2.56(a); TMEP §§904, 904.07(a). Advertising materials are generally not acceptable as specimens to show use in commerce for goods. See In re MediaShare Corp., 43 USPQ2d 1304, 1307 (TTAB 1997); In re Schiapparelli Searle, 26 USPQ2d 1520, 1522 (TTAB 1993); TMEP §§904.04(b), (c), 1301.04.

An application based on Trademark Act Section 1(a) must include a specimen showing the applied-for mark in use in commerce for each international class of goods and/or services identified in the application or amendment to allege use. 15 U.S.C. §1051(a)(1); 37 C.F.R. §§2.34(a)(1)(iv), 2.56(a); TMEP §§904, 904.07(a).

Examples of specimens for goods may include tags, labels, instruction manuals, containers, and photographs that show the mark on the actual goods or packaging, or displays associated with the actual goods at their point of sale. See TMEP §§904.03 et seq. Webpages may also be acceptable specimens for goods when they include a picture or textual description of the goods associated with the mark and the means to order the goods. TMEP §904.03(i).

Applicant may respond to this refusal by satisfying one of the following:

(1) Submit a different specimen (a verified “substitute” specimen) that (a) was in actual use in commerce at least as early as the filing date of the application or prior to the filing of an amendment to allege use and (b) shows the mark in actual use in commerce for the goods identified in the application or amendment to allege use.

(2) Amend the filing basis to intent to use under Section 1(b), for which no specimen is required. This option will later necessitate additional fee(s) and filing requirements such as providing a specimen at a subsequent date.

For an overview of both response options referenced above and instructions on how to satisfy either option online using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) form, please go to http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/law/specimen.jsp.

SPECIMEN REFUSAL RESPONSE OPTIONS

To submit a verified specimen online using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), applicant should do the following: (1) answer “yes” to the TEAS response form wizard question to “submit a new or substitute specimen,” (2) attach a jpg or pdf file of the specimen, (3) describe what the specimen consists of, and (4) select the statement that “The substitute (or new, if appropriate) specimen(s) was/were in use in commerce at least as early as the filing date of the application.” These steps appear on different pages of the TEAS response form.

ADVISORY NOTE—PARTIAL REFUSAL

If applicant does not respond to this Office action within the six-month period for response, International Class 9 will be deleted from the application. The application will then proceed with International Class 42 only. See 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a); TMEP §718.02(a).

QUESTIONS

If applicant has questions regarding this Office action, please telephone or e-mail the assigned trademark examining attorney. All relevant e-mail communications will be placed in the official application record; however, an e-mail communication will not be accepted as a response to this Office action and will not extend the deadline for filing a proper response. See 37 C.F.R. §2.191; TMEP §§304.01-.02, 709.04-.05. Further, although the trademark examining attorney may provide additional explanation pertaining to the refusals and/or requirements in this Office action, the trademark examining attorney may not provide legal advice or statements about applicant’s rights. See TMEP §§705.02, 709.06.

/John M. Gartner/

Trademark Examining Attorney

Law Office 102

(571) 272-9255

John.Gartner@uspto.gov (informal correspondence)

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.