Offc Action Outgoing

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

Office Action (Official Letter) About Owner’s Trademark Registration

OFFICE ACTION

The USPTO must receive the owner’s response to this letter within the time period specified below.  Respond using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).  A link to the appropriate TEAS response form appears below.

Issue date:  January 5, 2022

This Office Action Supersedes the Notice of Acceptance issued on January 4, 2022.  The USPTO apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused.  A response to the following Office Action is required.

The Sections 8 & 15 Combined Affidavit was received on September 29, 2021.  The Section 15 portion of the Combined Affidavit can be acknowledged.  However, the Section 8 portion is not accepted for the reason(s) set forth below.

ISSUES PERTAINING TO SECTION 8 PORTION ONLY

I.                   SPECIMEN OMITS URL AND DATE ACCESSED (For Both Classes)

The specimen submitted to support your Section 8 Affidavit is not acceptable as a webpage specimen; it does not include the required URL and date accessed or printed.  37 C.F.R. §2.56(c).  Because the webpage specimen lacks the associated URL and/or access or print date, it is unclear whether it shows current use of the mark in commerce.  15 U.S.C. §§1058(b)(1)(C), 1127; 37 C.F.R. §§ 2.56(c), 2.161(a)(7). 

The owner may respond by:

(1)   Submitting a verified statement, in a signed affidavit or supported by a declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20, specifying the URL of the original webpage specimen and the date it was accessed or printed; no deficiency fee is necessary; or

(2)   Submitting a substitute specimen(s), that includes the URL and date accessed or printed, and that shows current use of the registered mark in commerce accompanied by the following statement, verified with an affidavit or signed declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20:  “The substitute specimen was in use in commerce during the relevant period for filing the 6-year Section 8.”  37 C.F.R. §2.161(a)(7); TMEP §1604.12(c).  A deficiency fee may be required, depending on when a response is received.  37 C.F.R. §2.164; TMEP §§1604.12(c), 1604.17. 

****As noted above, a deficiency fee may be due if the owner submits a substitute specimen.  If the owner responds by submitting the URL and access date under declaration for a specimen already of record, no deficiency fee is due to address this issue.

Examples of specimens.  Electronic specimens may be an image, such as a photograph or scanned copy, of the physical specimen. Specimens for goods include an image of (1) the actual goods bearing the mark; (2) labels or tags shown attached to the goods or including informational matter that typically appears on a tag or label in use in commerce for these types of goods; (3) an actual container or packaging for the goods bearing the mark; or (4) a point-of-sale display showing the mark directly associated with the goods.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.56(b)(1), (c); TMEP §904.03(a)-(m).  A webpage specimen submitted as a display associated with the goods must show the mark in association with a picture or textual description of the goods and include information necessary for ordering the goods.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.56(b)(1), (c); TMEP §904.03(i). 

Specimens for services must show a direct association between the mark and the services and include:  (1) copies of advertising and marketing material, (2) a photograph of business signage or billboards, or (3) materials showing the mark in the sale, rendering, or advertising of the services.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.56(b)(2), (c); TMEP §1301.04(a), (h)(iv)(C). 

Any webpage printout or screenshot submitted as a specimen, whether for goods or services, must include the webpage’s URL and the date it was accessed or printed.  37 C.F.R. §2.56(c).

I.                   SAMPLE USE DECLARATION

The following statement and declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20 can be used to verify the Section 8 Affidavit, if properly signed and dated:

The owner was using the mark in commerce on or in connection with the goods and/or services identified in the registration for which use of the mark in commerce is claimed, as evidenced by the submitted specimen, during the relevant period for filing the 6-year Section 8.

The undersigned, being hereby warned that willful false statements and the like so made are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, under 18 U.S.C. §1001, and that such willful false statement may jeopardize the validity of this document, declares that s/he is properly authorized to execute this document on behalf of the owner, and all statements made of his/her own knowledge are true and that all statements made on information and belief are believed to be true.

__________________________

Signature of Authorized Person

__________________________

Type or Print Name

__________________________

Date

The following persons are properly authorized to sign a Section 8 Affidavit on behalf of the owner:

(1) A person with legal authority to bind the owner (e.g., a corporate officer or general partner);

(2) A person with firsthand knowledge of the facts and actual or implied authority to act on behalf of the owner; or

(3)  An authorized attorney who has an actual written or verbal power of attorney or an implied power of attorney from the owner.

37 C.F.R. §§2.161(a)(2), 2.193(e)(1); TMEP §1604.08(a).

II.                RESPONSE GUIDELINES

RESPONSE TIME DEADLINE:  A complete response must be received within 6 months from the issuance date of this Office action.  The owner must respond to all inquiries set forth in this Office action to avoid cancellation of the registration.  If a response is not received, the registration will be cancelled in its entirety.  37 C.F.R. §2.163(b)-(c); TMEP §§1604.16, 1604.17(b).

DEFICIENCY SURCHARGE REQUIRED:  The owner must submit a $100 deficiency surcharge with its response to this Office action.  .  37 C.F.R. §§2.6, 2.164(a)(2); TMEP §1604.17(b).

How to respond.  Click to file a Response to Post-Registration Office action. 

Direct questions about this Office action to the Post Registration staff member below.

/Williams-White, Sheline/

Trademark Specialist

Post Registration Division

(571) 272-6220

Sheline.Williams-White@uspto.gov

RESPONSE GUIDANCE

• Response must be received by the USPTO before midnight Eastern Time of the last day of the response period.  TEAS maintenance or unforeseen circumstances could affect an owner’s ability to timely respond.  

• Responses signed by an unauthorized party are not accepted or processed.  If the owner does not have an attorney, the response must be signed by the individual owner, all joint owners, or someone with legal authority to bind a juristic owner.  If the owner has an attorney, the response must be signed by the attorney.

• If needed, find contact information for the supervisor of the office or unit listed in the signature block.