To: | Renewable Energy Aggregators, Inc. (trademarks@mcneeslaw.com) |
Subject: | U.S. TRADEMARK APPLICATION NO. 88034913 - RENEWABLE ENERGY AGGREGATORS - 39607-0001 |
Sent: | 11/5/2018 10:30:54 AM |
Sent As: | ECOM111@USPTO.GOV |
Attachments: | Attachment - 1 Attachment - 2 Attachment - 3 Attachment - 4 Attachment - 5 Attachment - 6 Attachment - 7 Attachment - 8 Attachment - 9 Attachment - 10 Attachment - 11 Attachment - 12 Attachment - 13 Attachment - 14 Attachment - 15 Attachment - 16 Attachment - 17 |
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)
OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) ABOUT APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION
U.S. APPLICATION SERIAL NO. 88034913
MARK: RENEWABLE ENERGY AGGREGATORS
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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: Renewable Energy Aggregators, 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. 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.
ISSUE/MAILING DATE: 11/5/2018
The referenced application has been reviewed by the assigned trademark examining attorney. Applicant must respond timely and completely to the issue below. 15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(a), 2.65(a); TMEP §§711, 718.03.
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).
SECTION 2(e)(1) REFUSAL – MERELY DESCRIPTIVE
Applicant applied to register the mark “RENEWABLE ENERGY AGGREGATORS” for use in connection with the following goods and services:
Class 4: electrical energy
Class 35: Retail electricity provider services that allow customers to purchase energy generated from renewable sources
Class 39: Electricity distribution
Class 40: Electricity generation
Only where the combination of descriptive terms creates a unitary mark with a unique, incongruous, or otherwise nondescriptive meaning in relation to the goods and/or services is the combined mark registrable. See In re Colonial Stores, Inc., 394 F.2d 549, 551, 157 USPQ 382, 384 (C.C.P.A. 1968); In re Positec Grp. Ltd., 108 USPQ2d 1161, 1162-63 (TTAB 2013).
In this case, both the individual components and the composite result are descriptive of applicant’s goods and services and do not create a unique, incongruous, or nondescriptive meaning in relation to the goods and services. In this context, the wording comprising the mark is defined as follows:
RENEWABLE ENERGY is defined as “energy that is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat.” See attached evidence from Wikipedia.
AGGREGATORS is defined as “someone or something that gathers together materials from a variety of sources.” See attached dictionary evidence from Merriam-Webster. Moreover, “aggregator” is also defined as “A company that negotiates with producers of a utility service such as electricity on behalf of groups of consumers.” See attached dictionary evidence from Oxford Dictionaries.
Here, the combination of “RENEWABLE ENERGY AGGREGATORS” is merely descriptive because the phrase conveys to consumers that applicant’s goods and
services relate to aggregating, or gathering, energy from renewable sources. As seen in the application’s identification of goods and services and the attached
screenshots from applicant’s website, applicant’s services are in the nature of generating, distributing, and selling electrical energy from renewable sources. For
example, applicant’s website states “We aggregate intermittent renewable energy and transform those resources into Baseload Renewable Energy.” Applicant’s website
further states
“Our aggregation facilities allow companies to commit fully to renewable energy.” See attached screenshot from applicant’s website. As such, applicant is able to provide the goods and services identified in the application by being an aggregator of renewable energy.
Moreover, in a broader sense, the attached screenshots from third party websites demonstrates that the wording in the mark is often used in the context of the goods and services described in the application to denote a particular way of purchasing renewable energy. For example, the attached evidence from Level 10 Energy describes energy aggregation as “when a group of companies or local institutions partner together to buy energy from a single developer, or multiple developers, at smaller volumes while retaining the economic advantages of a high-volume purchase” and further indicates the term is “widely used to describe bulk purchases of renewables from wind, solar and hydro-power projects.” The evidence from Customer First Renewables shows an infographic titled “Sharing the Load: Aggregating Renewable Energy Purchases With Others”, and discusses how small to mid-size organizations can purchase renewable energy by “aggregating your demand with another party.” The website further indicates that such pooling of resources, or aggregating, to increase bargaining power “is being newly applied to large renewable energy purchases.” Lastly, an article from Renewable Energy World discusses the largest renewable energy project built in the U.S. and notes that other businesses and institutions should “consider replicating this innovative [aggregated] approach to accessing large-scale renewable energy.” See attached website screenshots.
Ultimately, when consumers encounter applicant’s goods and services using the mark “RENEWABLE ENERGY AGGREGATORS”, they will immediately understand the mark as an indication of a characteristic and purpose of applicant’s goods and services, namely, that applicant’s goods and services involve the gathering, or aggregation, of renewable energy. Therefore, the mark is merely descriptive of applicant’s goods and services, and registration is refused pursuant to Section 2(e)(1) of the Trademark Act.
Although applicant’s mark has been refused registration, applicant may respond to the refusal by submitting evidence and arguments in support of registration.
RESPONDING TO THIS OFFICE ACTION
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.
ADVISORY – TEAS PLUS AND TEAS RF REQUIREMENTS
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.
/Luz Adorno/
Luz Adorno
Trademark Examining Attorney, Law Office 111
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Phone: (571) 272-4902
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.