Response to Office Action

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. PTO Form 1957 (Rev 10/2011)

OMB No. 0651-0050 (Exp 09/20/2020)

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Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. PTO Form 1957 (Rev 10/2011)

OMB No. 0651-0050 (Exp 09/20/2020)

Response to Office Action

To the Commissioner for Trademarks:

Application serial no. 88209851 MEGA-SAMPLER(Standard Characters, see http://uspto.report/TM/88209851/mark.png) has been amended as follows:

ARGUMENT(S)
In response to the substantive refusal(s), please note the following:

A power of attorney was submitted on April 2, 2019. The Examining Attorney has found that the mark MEGA-SAMPLER is primarily descriptive. Applicant draws the Examiner?s attention to this history of this mark. In 2011, Applicant filed Serial No 77262426 for the same mark, same goods, and faced the same rejection (Cigars International later changed its name to M&D Wholesale?it is the same Applicant as set forth in the change of name at Reel/frame 5355/0122.) Upon a fully briefed and argued appeal, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board found that the mark was suggestive and allowed registration on the Principal Register without any claim of acquired distinctiveness. A copy of that fully reasoned decision is provided as an Exhibit. The Board found that the term MEGA is laudatory, as well as too ambiguous to cause consumers to associate the phrase MEGA-SAMPLER with a feature or characteristic of Applicant?s cigars. Given that the Board has already ruled that this exact mark for the same goods is suggestive, Applicant requests that the Examiner honor consistency and approve the application for publication. If not, it would surely be the Examiner?s burden to explain how the English language has changed from 2011 to now such that the Board would no longer be likely to rule this way.

EVIDENCE
Evidence in the nature of Copy of TTAB decision relevant to this matter has been attached.
Original PDF file:
evi_1001517321-20190402133028149366_._MEGA-SAMPLER_TTAB_decision.pdf
Converted PDF file(s) ( 16 pages)
Evidence-1
Evidence-2
Evidence-3
Evidence-4
Evidence-5
Evidence-6
Evidence-7
Evidence-8
Evidence-9
Evidence-10
Evidence-11
Evidence-12
Evidence-13
Evidence-14
Evidence-15
Evidence-16

ATTORNEY ADDRESS
Applicant proposes to amend the following:
Proposed:
Janet Satterthwaite of Potomac Law Group, having an address of
Suite 700 1300 Pennsylvania Ave Nw Washington, District of Columbia 20004
United States
tm@potomaclaw.com
202-486-1578
202-318-7707
The attorney docket/reference number is 1385-11 .
The Other Appointed Attorney(s): Bonny Plosker; Todd Bontemps.

CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS CHANGE
Applicant proposes to amend the following:
Current:
HANNE MALLING
SCANDINAVIAN TOBACCO GROUP A/S
SYDMARKEN 42
SOEBORG
DK
2860

Proposed:
Janet Satterthwaite of Potomac Law Group, having an address of
Suite 700 1300 Pennsylvania Ave Nw Washington, District of Columbia 20004
United States
tm@potomaclaw.com;jsatterthwaite@potomaclaw.com
202-486-1578
202-318-7707
The docket/reference number is 1385-11 .



SIGNATURE(S)
Response Signature
Signature: /Janet Satterthwaite/     Date: 04/02/2019
Signatory's Name: Janet Satterthwaite
Signatory's Position: Attorney of Record DC/Va bar

Signatory's Phone Number: 202-486-1578

The signatory has confirmed that he/she is an attorney who is a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a U.S. state, which includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and other federal territories and possessions; and he/she is currently the owner's/holder's attorney or an associate thereof; and to the best of his/her knowledge, if prior to his/her appointment another U.S. attorney or a Canadian attorney/agent not currently associated with his/her company/firm previously represented the owner/holder in this matter: (1) the owner/holder has filed or is concurrently filing a signed revocation of or substitute power of attorney with the USPTO; (2) the USPTO has granted the request of the prior representative to withdraw; (3) the owner/holder has filed a power of attorney appointing him/her in this matter; or (4) the owner's/holder's appointed U.S. attorney or Canadian attorney/agent has filed a power of attorney appointing him/her as an associate attorney in this matter.

Mailing Address:    Janet Satterthwaite
   Potomac Law Group
   Suite 700
   1300 Pennsylvania Ave Nw
   Washington, District of Columbia 20004
        
Serial Number: 88209851
Internet Transmission Date: Tue Apr 02 13:36:46 EDT 2019
TEAS Stamp: USPTO/ROA-XXX.XX.XXX.XX-2019040213364642
6072-88209851-620711c1f24769a5b3df23dd74
a6c1c8779715c855c5ed696b9d73ca3e3a296f5-
N/A-N/A-20190402133028149366