Examiners Amendment

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)

OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) ABOUT APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION

 

 

 

EXAMINER’S AMENDMENT

 

ISSUE/MAILING DATE: 12/11/2015

 

 

APPLICATION HAS BEEN AMENDED:  In accordance with the authorization granted by Garrett M. Weber on December 1, 2015, the trademark examining attorney has amended the application as indicated below.  Please advise the undersigned immediately of any objections.  Otherwise, no response is necessary.  TMEP §707.  Any amendments to the identification of goods may clarify or limit the goods, but may not add to or broaden the scope of the goods.  37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); see TMEP §§1402.06 et seq.

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The below amendments OBVIATE the outstanding refusals and SATISFY the outstanding requirements.

 

CLASSIFICATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF GOODS AMENDED

 

First, Class 26 is deleted from the application.  Second, the application is amended to classify "fitted boat motor covers" in Class 7 and "fitted downrigger covers" in Class 28.  TMEP §1401.03(b); see 37 C.F.R. §2.85.  Third, the identification of goods only in Classes 8 and 9 is amended to read as follows:

 

Class 8: "Hand tools for use in tying artificial fishing flies, namely, fishing line cutters, pliers; fishing knives; hand-powered ice augers used for ice fishing; bags specially adapted for holding and carrying hand-powered ice augers used for ice fishing, hand tools in the nature of ice skimmers."

 

Class 9: "Pre-recorded DVDs featuring fishing, radios, radio antennas, carrying cases for radios; fish weighing scales; underwater cameras; batteries and battery chargers for boat motors; sonar fish finders."

 

See TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.01(e).

 

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

 

After issuance of an examiner’s amendment, the trademark examining attorney will usually approve the mark for publication in the Official Gazette, a weekly publication of the USPTO.  The USPTO will then send a “Notice of Publication” to the applicant specifying the date of publication. 

 

The purpose of publishing applicant’s mark in the Official Gazette is to provide an opportunity to third parties who believe they may be damaged by registration of applicant’s mark to oppose its registration within thirty (30) days from the publication date.  An “opposition” is similar to a federal court proceeding, but this proceeding is held before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, a USPTO administrative tribunal of administrative judges who issue decisions on such matters.  If an opposition proceeding is instituted to oppose registration of applicant’s mark, applicant will receive notice.  In such cases, due to the complexity of such matters, applicant may wish to hire an attorney.

 

If the mark is published based upon the applicant’s bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce, the USPTO will issue a “Notice of Allowance” within approximately eight (8) weeks after the date the mark was published, if no party files an opposition.  Applicant then has six (6) months from the date of the Notice of Allowance to timely file a “Statement of Use” or to file a request for a six-month “Extension of Time to file a Statement of Use.”  Extension requests are granted for six-month increments and a maximum of five extension requests can be filed after the issuance of the Notice of Allowance.  If not filed within the six months after the Notice of Allowance issued, a Statement of Use must be filed within the time period of a previously granted extension of time.

 

Forms for extension requests and Statements of Use are available online at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/intent_to_use.jsp.  For more information about the additional requirements for intent to use applications, visit the USPTO website.  Only after a Statement of Use is approved by the trademark examining attorney will the USPTO issue a registration certificate.

 

ASSISTANCE

 

If the applicant has questions regarding this Examiner's Amendment, please contact the undersigned attorney at the below telephone number or e-mail address.

 

/Kevin G. Crennan/

Trademark Examining Attorney

Law Office 113

(571) 272-7949

kevin.crennan@uspto.gov

 

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 Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) form at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/correspondence.jsp.