To: | Fori Automation, Inc. (trademarks@wnj.com) |
Subject: | U.S. TRADEMARK APPLICATION NO. 88106983 - FLEX FLOOR - 88684.New |
Sent: | 12/28/2018 3:04:55 PM |
Sent As: | ECOM118@USPTO.GOV |
Attachments: |
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)
OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) ABOUT APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION
U.S. APPLICATION SERIAL NO. 88106983
MARK: FLEX FLOOR
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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: Fori Automation, Inc.
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CORRESPONDENT’S REFERENCE/DOCKET NO: CORRESPONDENT E-MAIL ADDRESS: |
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EXAMINER’S AMENDMENT/PRIORITY ACTION
STRICT DEADLINE TO RESPOND TO THIS LETTER
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: 12/28/2018
DATABASE SEARCH: The trademark examining attorney has searched the USPTO’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).
ISSUES APPLICANT MUST ADDRESS: On December 27, 2018, the trademark examining attorney and Scott Keller discussed the issues below. Applicant must timely respond to these issues. See 15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §2.62(a); TMEP §§708, 711.
Identification of Goods and Services
The wording “machines to move, assemble, test, inspect, and fasten automotive, defense and industrial parts” in Class 7 and “power-operated assembly line, material handling and logistics automation equipment” in Classes 40 and 42 in the identification of goods and services is indefinite and must be amended to clarify the nature of the goods and services intended to be associated with the applied-for mark, as noted below. TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.03.
The applicant may adopt any or all of the following descriptions, if accurate:
“Power-operated assembly line, material handling and logistics automation equipment, namely, [indicate Class 7 goods, e.g., industrial robots for moving, assembling and fastening parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry and also testing and inspecting the foregoing parts and assembly lines in the nature of a series of machines for assembling and fastening parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry in successive stages and also testing and inspecting the foregoing parts]”, in International Class 7;
“Power-operated assembly line, material handling and logistics automation equipment, namely, [indicate Class 9 goods, e.g., machines for testing parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry, not for medical purposes and inspection machines for the physical inspection of parts for automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry]”, in Class 9;
“Power-operated assembly line, material handling and logistics automation equipment, namely, [indicate Class 12 goods, e.g., automated guided carts for moving parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry]”, in Class 12;
“Custom manufacture of power-operated assembly line, material handling and logistics automation equipment, namely, [indicate type of equipment, e.g., industrial robots for moving, assembling and fastening parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry and also testing and inspecting the foregoing parts, assembly lines in the nature of a series of machines for assembling and fastening parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry in successive stages and also testing and inspecting the foregoing parts, machines for testing parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry not for medical purposes, inspection machines for the physical inspection of parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry and automated guided carts for moving parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry]”, in Class 40; and/or
“Custom design of power-operated assembly line, material handling and logistics automation equipment, namely, [indicate type of equipment, e.g., industrial robots for moving, assembling and fastening parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry and also testing and inspecting the foregoing parts, assembly lines in the nature of a series of machines for assembling and fastening parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry in successive stages and also testing and inspecting the foregoing parts, machines for testing parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry not for medical purposes, inspection machines for the physical inspection of parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry and automated guided carts for moving parts of automobiles, military defense weapons, weapon defense systems and vehicles for the aerospace industry], all based on personal selections made by the customer”, in Class 42.
TMEP §1402.11.
For assistance with identifying and classifying goods and services in trademark applications, please see the online searchable Manual of Acceptable Identifications of Goods and Services at http://tess2.gov.uspto.report/netahtml/tidm.html. See TMEP §1402.04.
An applicant may only amend an identification to clarify or limit the goods and services, but not to add to or broaden the scope of the goods and services. 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); see TMEP §§1402.06 et seq., 1402.07. Furthermore, any goods and services deleted by amendment may not be reinserted at a later point in prosecution. TMEP §1402.01(e).
(1) List the goods and/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). The application identifies goods and services that are classified in at least five classes; however, applicant submitted a fee(s) sufficient for only three classes. 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.
See 15 U.S.C. §§1051(b), 1112, 1126(e); 37 C.F.R. §§2.32(a)(6)-(7), 2.34(a)(2)-(3), 2.86(a); TMEP §§1403.01, 1403.02(c).
See an overview of the requirements for a Section 1(b) multiple-class application and how to satisfy the requirements online using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) form.
The fee for adding classes to a TEAS Reduced Fee (RF) application is $275 per class. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.6(a)(1)(iii), 2.23(a). See more information regarding the requirements for maintaining the lower TEAS RF fee and, if these requirements are not satisfied, for adding classes at a higher fee using regular TEAS.
APPLICATION HAS BEEN AMENDED: In accordance with the authorization granted by the individual identified in the Priority Action section above, the trademark examining attorney has amended the application as indicated below. Please advise the undersigned immediately of any objections. TMEP §707. Any amendments to the identification of goods and/or services may clarify or limit the goods and/or services, but may not 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.
Disclaimer
The following disclaimer statement is added to the record: No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “FLEX” apart from the mark as shown. 15 U.S.C. §1056; TMEP §§1213, 1213.03(a) and 1213.08(a)(i).
Miscellaneous
If applicant has questions about its application or needs further assistance, please telephone the assigned trademark examining attorney directly at the number below.
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.
/David Yontef/
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 118
(571) 272-8274
david.yontef@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.