Offc Action Outgoing

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:

The referenced application and voluntary amendment of June 29, 2015 has been reviewed by the assigned trademark examining attorney. Applicant must respond timely and completely to the issues below. 15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(a), 2.65(a); TMEP §§711, 718.03.

SUMMARY OF ISSUES that applicant must address:

Identification and classification of services
Multiple-class application - advisory

SEARCH OF OFFICE’S DATABASE OF MARKS

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).

IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS AND SERVICES

The applicant has applied to register its mark in connection with the following:

Class 45: providing an online compilation and verification service that enables psychology professionals to apply for licensure, certification and/or registration in an initial, second or subsequent U.S. and/or Canadian state, province and/or territory, whereby a psychology professional enters licensure application data which is compiled, verified and forwarded to the designated psychology licensing board or boards

For the reasons discussed below, the identification must be clarified because it is too broad and could include services in other international classes. See TMEP §§ 1402.01, 1402.03.

The wording “online compilation” of data suggests an online database. An online database must be classified by subject matter.

The wording “verification” suggests a business or professional credential verification service, which is appropriately classified in Class 35. However, if the wording verification is analogous to credentialing/authentication of personal information (unrelated to one’s professional credentials) or for security purposes, then Class 45 is the correct classification. This ambiguity must be resolved.

Applicant may adopt any or all of the following identification suggestions, if accurate:

CLASS 35 – Professional credentialing verification services in the field of psychology, namely, verifying the skills and knowledge of licensed professionals to enable psychology professionals to apply for licensure, certification and/or registration in an initial, second or subsequent U.S. and/or Canadian state, province and/or territory via the compilation, verification, and forwarding of information to designated psychology licensing board or boards

CLASS 45 – providing an online computer database compilation in the field of enabling

psychology professionals to apply for licensure, certification and/or registration in an initial, second or subsequent U.S. and/or Canadian state, province and/or territory, whereby a psychology professional enters licensure application data which is compiled and forwarded to the designated psychology licensing board or boards; providing a verification service that enables psychology professionals to enter personal background credential and licensure information that will be forwarded to the designated psychology licensing board or boards in order to apply for licensure, certification and/or registration in an initial, second or subsequent U.S. and/or Canadian state, province and/or territory,

An applicant may only amend an identification to clarify or limit the services, but not to add to or broaden the scope of the goods and/or services. 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); see TMEP §§1402.06 et seq., 1402.07.

For assistance with identifying and classifying goods and 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.

MULTIPLE – CLASS APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

The application identifies services in more than one international class; therefore, applicant must satisfy all the requirements below for each international class based on use in commerce under Section 1(a):

(1) List the or services by their international class number in consecutive numerical order, starting with the lowest numbered class.

(2) Submit a filing fee for each international class not covered by the fee(s) already paid (view the USPTO’s current fee schedule at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/tm_fee_info.jsp). The application identifies services that are classified in at least two (2) classes; however, applicant submitted a fee sufficient for only one (1) class. Applicant must either submit the filing fees for the classes not covered by the submitted fees or restrict the application to the number of classes covered by the fees already paid.

(3) Submit verified dates of first use of the mark anywhere and in commerce for each international class.

(4) Submit a specimen for each international class. The current specimen is acceptable for classes 35 and 45.

Examples of specimens for services include advertising and marketing materials, brochures, photographs of business signage and billboards, and website printouts that show the mark used in the actual sale, rendering, or advertising of the services.

(5) Submit a verified statement that “The specimen was in use in commerce on or in connection with the services listed in the application at least as early as the filing date of the application.”

See 15 U.S.C. §§1051(a), 1112; 37 C.F.R. §§ 2.32(a)(6)-(7), 2.34(a)(1), 2.86(a); TMEP §§904, 1403.01, 1403.02(c).

For an overview of the requirements for a Section 1(a) multiple-class application and how to satisfy the requirements online using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) form, please go to http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/law/multiclass.jsp.

The fees for adding classes to a regular TEAS application are $325 per class when the fee is paid using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) and $375 per class when the fee is paid in a paper submission. See 37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(1)(i)-(ii); TMEP §§810, 1403.02(c).

RESPONSE GUIDELINES

For this application to proceed toward registration, applicant must explicitly address each refusal and/or requirement raised in this Office action. If the action includes a refusal, applicant may provide arguments and/or evidence as to why the refusal should be withdrawn and the mark should register. Applicant may also have other options for responding to a refusal and should consider such options carefully. To respond to requirements and certain refusal response options, applicant should set forth in writing the required changes or statements.

If applicant does not respond to this Office action within six months of the issue/mailing date, or responds by expressly abandoning the application, the application process will end, the trademark will fail to register, and the application fee will not be refunded. See 15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §§2.65(a), 2.68(a), 2.209(a); TMEP §§405.04, 718.01, 718.02. Where the application has been abandoned for failure to respond to an Office action, applicant’s only option would be to file a timely petition to revive the application, which, if granted, would allow the application to return to active status. See 37 C.F.R. §2.66; TMEP §1714. There is a $100 fee for such petitions. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.6, 2.66(b)(1).

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. §§2.62(c), 2.191; TMEP §§304.01-.02, 709.04-.05. Further, although the trademark examining attorney may provide additional explanation pertaining to the refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) 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.

To expedite prosecution of the application, applicant is encouraged to file its response to this Office action online via the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), which is available at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/index.jsp. If applicant has technical questions about the TEAS response to Office action form, applicant can review the electronic filing tips available online at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/e_filing_tips.jsp and e-mail technical questions to TEAS@uspto.gov.

/Annie M. Noble/

Examining Attorney

Law Office 109

(571) 272-3272

annie.noble@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.