Offc Action Outgoing

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)

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

 

 

 

OFFICE ACTION

 

 

 

ISSUE/MAILING DATE: 9/15/2017

 

 

 

STRICT DEADLINE TO RESPOND TO THIS LETTER:  To avoid abandonment of applicant’s trademark application, the USPTO must receive a properly signed response within thirty (30) days of the date of issuance of this letter, or further action will be taken with respect to the application without any consideration of applicant’s response, as the prior pending mark has now registered.

 

NOTICE OF INCOMPLETE RESPONSE

 

The problem with applicant’s response:  Applicant filed a response on August 28, 2017, that appears to have been improperly signed by applicant instead of applicant’s attorney.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(i).  Where an applicant is represented by an attorney who may practice before the USPTO, the attorney must sign the response.  37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(i); TMEP §§611.03(b), 712.01.  The USPTO cannot accept an improperly signed response; therefore, the contents will not be reviewed.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(b), 2.193(e)(2); TMEP §§712, 712.03, 718.03. 

 

What applicant must do to fix the problem:  Applicant must satisfy one of the following: 

 

(1)       Submit a response properly signed by applicant’s attorney.

 

(2)       File a revocation of attorney signed by applicant and then resubmit a response properly signed by applicant.  Revocations may be filed online using TEAS at http://teas.gov.uspto.report/ccr/raa.

 

(3)       File a new power of attorney signed by applicant and then resubmit a response properly signed by applicant’s new attorney.

 

See 37 C.F.R. §§2.17(b)(1)(i), (c), 2.19(a)(2), 2.62(b), 2.193(e)(2)(i). 

 

The resubmitted response should explicitly address and respond to all the issues raised in the outstanding suspension letter dated February 8, 2017.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a); TMEP §718.03.  The USPTO must receive a properly signed response per the above within (1) thirty (30) days of the date of issuance of this letter or further action will be taken with respect to the application without any consideration of applicant's response, as the prior pending mark has now registered.

 

Applicant is encouraged to respond online via the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).  To respond via TEAS, applicant must complete the entire response form again, responding to all issues raised in the outstanding Office action.  Revocations and powers of attorney forms can also be filed online via TEAS. 

 

If the outstanding Office action was a final Office action, please note that the granting of additional time to perfect a response does not extend the time for filing an appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board under 37 C.F.R. §§2.141, 2.142 or a petition to the Director under 37 C.F.R. §2.146.  37 C.F.R. §2.63(b)(3); TMEP §718.03(b).  An applicant must file a notice of appeal or petition within six months of the issuance date of a final action.  37 C.F.R. §§2.142(a), 2.146(d); see 15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §2.63(b)(2)(ii)-(iii).

 

GUIDELINES FOR SIGNING RESPONSES

 

As stated above, where an applicant is represented by an attorney who may practice before the USPTO, the attorney must sign the response.  37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(i); TMEP §§611.03(b), 712.01.  In that situation, an applicant may not sign the response, unless the applicant has filed a revocation of attorney with the USPTO before submitting the response.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.19(a)(2); TMEP §§606, 611.03(b).

 

Where an applicant is not represented by an attorney, the response must be signed by the individual applicant or someone with legal authority to bind a juristic applicant (e.g., a corporate officer or general partner).  See 37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(ii); TMEP §§611.03(b), 611.06(b)-(h), 712.01.  In the case of joint applicants, all must sign.  37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(ii); TMEP §611.06(a).

 

In addition, the proper signatory must personally sign or personally enter his or her electronic signature.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.193(a), (e)(2); TMEP §§611.01(b), 611.02.  The name of the signatory must also be printed or typed immediately below or adjacent to the signature, or identified elsewhere in the filing.  37 C.F.R. §2.193(d); TMEP §611.01(b).

 

CHANGE OF CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS NOT ACCEPTED: A request to change the correspondence address was received for this application on August 28, 2017; however, it does not appear to have been signed by the attorney(s) whom the USPTO recognizes as applicant’s representative.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.17(b)(1), 2.18(b)(2); TMEP §§609.02(b), 611.02, 611.03(i). 

 

In the present case, the applicants changed the correspondence address.  However, there is no revocation of attorney of record.  Therefore, the correspondence address will not be changed.  TMEP §712.03.

 

TEAS PLUS OR TEAS REDUCED FEE (TEAS RF) APPLICANTS – TO MAINTAIN LOWER FEE, ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS MUST BE MET, INCLUDING SUBMITTING DOCUMENTS ONLINE:  Applicants who filed their application online using the lower-fee TEAS Plus or TEAS RF application form must (1) file certain documents online using TEAS, including responses to Office actions (see TMEP §§819.02(b), 820.02(b) for a complete list of these documents); (2) maintain a valid e-mail correspondence address; and (3) agree to receive correspondence from the USPTO by e-mail throughout the prosecution of the application.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.22(b), 2.23(b); TMEP §§819, 820.  TEAS Plus or TEAS RF applicants who do not meet these requirements must submit an additional processing fee of $125 per class of goods and/or services.  37 C.F.R. §§2.6(a)(1)(v), 2.22(c), 2.23(c); TMEP §§819.04, 820.04.  However, in certain situations, TEAS Plus or TEAS RF applicants may respond to an Office action by authorizing an examiner’s amendment by telephone or e-mail without incurring this additional fee.  

 

 

 

/Marcie R. Frum Milone/

Trademark Examining Attorney

Law Office 116

571-272-9726

Marcie.Milone@uspto.gov

(email for informal communications only)

 

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.

 

 

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)

 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING YOUR

U.S. TRADEMARK APPLICATION

 

USPTO OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) HAS ISSUED

ON 9/15/2017 FOR U.S. APPLICATION SERIAL NO. 87212124

 

Please follow the instructions below:

 

(1)  TO READ THE LETTER:  Click on this link or go to http://tsdr.uspto.gov,enter the U.S. application serial number, and click on “Documents.”

 

The Office action may not be immediately viewable, to allow for necessary system updates of the application, but will be available within 24 hours of this e-mail notification.

 

(2)  TIMELY RESPONSE IS REQUIRED:  Please carefully review the Office action to determine (1) how to respond, and (2) the applicable response time period.  Your response deadline will be calculated from 9/15/2017 (or sooner if specified in the Office action).  A response transmitted through the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) must be received before midnight Eastern Time of the last day of the response period.  For information regarding response time periods, see http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/process/status/responsetime.jsp.

 

Do NOT hit “Reply” to this e-mail notification, or otherwise e-mail your response because the USPTO does NOT accept e-mails as responses to Office actions.  Instead, the USPTO recommends that you respond online using the TEAS response form located at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/response_forms.jsp.

 

(3)  QUESTIONS:  For questions about the contents of the Office action itself, please contact the assigned trademark examining attorney.  For technical assistance in accessing or viewing the Office action in the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) system, please e-mail TSDR@uspto.gov.

 

WARNING

 

Failure to file the required response by the applicable response deadline will result in the ABANDONMENT of your application.  For more information regarding abandonment, see http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/basics/abandon.jsp.

 

PRIVATE COMPANY SOLICITATIONS REGARDING YOUR APPLICATION:  Private companies not associated with the USPTO are using information provided in trademark applications to mail or e-mail trademark-related solicitations.  These companies often use names that closely resemble the USPTO and their solicitations may look like an official government document.  Many solicitations require that you pay “fees.” 

 

Please carefully review all correspondence you receive regarding this application to make sure that you are responding to an official document from the USPTO rather than a private company solicitation.  All official USPTO correspondence will be mailed only from the “United States Patent and Trademark Office” in Alexandria, VA; or sent by e-mail from the domain “@uspto.gov.”  For more information on how to handle private company solicitations, see http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/solicitation_warnings.jsp.