To: | Inventors Row, Inc. (bheisler@heislerlaw.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88235540 - HANGOVER - 18297.002 |
Sent: | October 30, 2019 05:28:11 PM |
Sent As: | ecom101@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 Attachment - 18 Attachment - 19 Attachment - 20 Attachment - 21 Attachment - 22 Attachment - 23 Attachment - 24 Attachment - 25 Attachment - 26 Attachment - 27 Attachment - 28 Attachment - 29 Attachment - 30 Attachment - 31 Attachment - 32 Attachment - 33 Attachment - 34 Attachment - 35 |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88235540
Mark: HANGOVER
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Correspondence Address:
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Applicant: Inventors Row, Inc.
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Reference/Docket No. 18297.002
Correspondence Email Address: |
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The USPTO must receive applicant’s response to this letter within six months of the issue date below or the application will be abandoned. Respond using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS). A link to the appropriate TEAS response form appears at the end of this Office action.
Issue date: October 30, 2019
On 3/2/2019, action on this application was suspended pending the disposition of U.S. Application Serial No. 87657875. The referenced pending application has abandoned and is no longer a potential bar to the registration of applicant’s mark.
This Office action, however, is supplemental to and supersedes the previous Office action issued on 3/2/2019 in connection with this application. The assigned trademark examining attorney inadvertently omitted a refusal of registration and a requirement relevant to the mark in the subject application. See TMEP §§706, 711.02. Specifically, the applied-for mark is refused under Trademark Action 2(e)(1) and information regarding the goods is required.
The trademark examining attorney apologizes for any inconvenience caused by the delay in raising this issue(s).
The following is a SUMMARY OF ISSUES that applicant must address:
• NEW ISSUE: SECTION 2(e)(1) REFUSAL - MERELY DESCRIPTIVE
• INFORMATION ABOUT GOODS REQUIRED
SECTION 2(e)(1) REFUSAL - MERELY DESCRIPTIVE
In the present case, applicant seeks to register the applied-for mark HANGOVER for “Sleep masks and sleep masks capable of being attached to a pillow case.”
The attached evidence from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hangover shows the wording HANGOVER may refer to “disagreeable physical effects following heavy consumption of alcohol or the use of drugs.” Additionally, the trademark examining attorney refers to the excerpted materials from the Google search engine in which HANGOVER appeared in reference to a feature or function of sleep masks. See attachments. Thus, HANGOVER merely describes sleep masks that function to prevent or help with the “disagreeable physical effects following heavy consumption of alcohol or the use of drugs.”
INFORMATION ABOUT GOODS REQUIRED
(1) Fact sheets, instruction manuals, brochures, advertisements and pertinent screenshots of applicant’s website as it relates to the goods and/or services in the application, including any materials using the terms in the applied-for mark. Merely stating that information about the goods and/or services is available on applicant’s website is insufficient to make the information of record.;
(2) If these materials are unavailable, applicant should submit similar documentation for goods and services of the same type, explaining how its own product or services will differ. If the goods and/or services feature new technology and information regarding competing goods and/or services is not available, applicant must provide a detailed factual description of the goods and/or services. Factual information about the goods must make clear how they operate, salient features, and prospective customers and channels of trade. For services, the factual information must make clear what the services are and how they are rendered, salient features, and prospective customers and channels of trade. Conclusory statements will not satisfy this requirement.; and
(3) Applicant must respond to the following questions:
Will applicant’s goods function to prevent hangovers?
Do applicant’s competitors use hangover to advertise similar goods?
Who is the typical consumer of applicant’s goods?
Where are applicant’s goods typically purchased, e.g., online and/or brick-and-mortar store venues?.
See 37 C.F.R. §2.61(b); TMEP §§814, 1402.01(e).
Failure to comply with a request for information is grounds for refusing registration. In re Harley, 119 USPQ2d 1755, 1757-58 (TTAB 2016); TMEP §814.
Please call or email the assigned trademark examining attorney with questions about this Office action. Although the trademark examining attorney cannot provide legal advice or statements about applicant’s rights, the trademark examining attorney can provide applicant with additional explanation about the refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) in this Office action. See TMEP §§705.02, 709.06. Although the USPTO does not accept emails as responses to Office actions, emails can be used for informal communications and will be included in the application record. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(c), 2.191; TMEP §§304.01-.02, 709.04-.05.
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.
How to respond. Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action
\Barbara Rutland\
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 101
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
571-272-9311
barbara.rutland@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE