To: | PUNKYGIRL, INC. (ip@drwelchlaw.com) |
Subject: | U.S. TRADEMARK APPLICATION NO. 86805756 - HONEY - N/A |
Sent: | 7/7/2016 7:10:27 PM |
Sent As: | ECOM104@USPTO.GOV |
Attachments: |
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)
OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) ABOUT APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION
U.S. APPLICATION SERIAL NO. 86805756
MARK: HONEY
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CORRESPONDENT ADDRESS: |
CLICK HERE TO RESPOND TO THIS LETTER: http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/response_forms.jsp
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APPLICANT: PUNKYGIRL, INC.
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CORRESPONDENT’S REFERENCE/DOCKET NO: CORRESPONDENT E-MAIL ADDRESS: |
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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: 7/7/2016
This Office action supersedes the previous Office action issued on July 7, 2016 in connection with this application.
Applicant must address all issue(s) raised in this Office action, in addition to the issues raised in the Office action dated July 7, 2016. The issue(s) raised in the previous July 7, 2016 Office action is/are as follow and is/are maintained: Clarification regarding if the mark is a certification mark or a service mark.
Further, the following refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) has/have been satisfied: Requirement to address the Trademark Act Section 2(d) refusal to register, which has allowed this refusal to be withdrawn. See TMEP §713.02. However, the applicant’s arguments regarding the Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1) refusal to register are unpersuasive and this refusal to register is continued and maintained.
Applicant must respond to all issues raised in this Office action and the previous July 7, 2016 Office action, within six (6) months of the date of issuance of this Office action. 37 C.F.R. §2.62(a). If applicant does not respond within this time limit, the application will be abandoned. 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a).
This Office action is in response to applicant’s communication filed on June 2, 1016.
Upon further consideration of this application, a new issue was discovered regarding whether the mark is intended to be a certification or service mark. Please see the details below.
Unclear if Certification Mark or Service Mark Intended
The record is unclear as to whether applicant is seeking registration of a certification mark or a service mark in regard to the services in Class 42. To permit proper examination of the application, applicant must submit additional information about the applied-for mark and specify which type of mark is intended. See 37 C.F.R. §2.61(b); TMEP §1306.06. The requested information must make clear what the services are and how they are rendered, their salient features, and their prospective customers and channels of trade. Conclusory statements will not satisfy this requirement for information.
In addition, applicant must submit a written statement explaining the activities in which the mark is or will be used, and how the applicant is or will be involved with the mark and goods or services. See TMEP §1306.06.
A trademark or service mark is used by the mark’s owner to indicate the source of his or her goods and/or services. See 15 U.S.C. §1127. A certification mark, however, is used by a person other than its owner and does not identify the source of goods or services but rather signifies that goods or services meet certain qualifications or standards. See id. Generally, there are three types of certification marks:
(1) Certification marks that certify goods and/or services originate in a specific geographic region;
(2) Certification marks that certify goods and/or services meet certain standards in relation to quality, materials, or mode of manufacture; and
(3) Certification marks that certify members of a union or other organization performed the work or labor on the goods and/or services, or a performer meets certain standards.
TMEP §1306.01; see 15 U.S.C. §1127.
Failure to comply with a request for information can be grounds for refusing registration. In re AOP LLC, 107 USPQ2d 1644, 1651 (TTAB 2013); In re DTI P’ship LLP, 67 USPQ2d 1699, 1701-02 (TTAB 2003); TMEP §814. Merely stating that information about the goods and services is available on applicant’s website is an inappropriate response to a request for additional information and is insufficient to make the relevant information of record. See In re Planalytics, Inc., 70 USPQ2d 1453, 1457-58 (TTAB 2004).
Contact Information
/Katina S. Jackson/
Katina S. Jackson
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 104
571-272-8889 (Office)
571-273-8889 (Fax)
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.