To: | New England Youth Theatre, Inc. (tmip@drm.com) |
Subject: | U.S. TRADEMARK APPLICATION NO. 88293660 - NEYT NEW ENGLAND YOUTH THEATRE - 10149006UST1 |
Sent: | 5/2/2019 3:05:09 PM |
Sent As: | ECOM128@USPTO.GOV |
Attachments: | Attachment - 1 Attachment - 2 Attachment - 3 Attachment - 4 Attachment - 5 Attachment - 6 |
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)
OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) ABOUT APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION
U.S. APPLICATION SERIAL NO. 88293660
MARK: NEYT NEW ENGLAND YOUTH THEATRE
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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: New England Youth Theatre, 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: 5/2/2019
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 April 29, 2019, the trademark examining attorney and Cathleen E. Stadecker 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.
REQUIREMENT – DISCLAIMER
In this case, applicant must disclaim the wording “NEW ENGLAND YOUTH THEATRE” because it is not inherently distinctive. These unregistrable terms at best are merely descriptive of an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose, or use of applicant’s services. See 15 U.S.C. §1052(e)(1); DuoProSS Meditech Corp. v. Inviro Med. Devices, Ltd., 695 F.3d 1247, 1251, 103 USPQ2d 1753, 1755 (Fed. Cir. 2012); TMEP §§1213, 1213.03(a).
The attached evidence from applicant’s website shows that it “was founded with the vision of a theater ‘for kids, by kids, under expert mentorship,’” meaning that “our young people do and our adults guide - Every aspect of the theater making is created in tandem with or by our students.” Further, it is “for youth and by youth,” it is “a place where youth experience and express the joy of creativity with others,” and the contact information on applicant’s website is listed as “100 Flat Street Brattleboro, VT, 05301” (emphasis added). Moreover, applicant lists its services “Entertainment in the nature of theater productions; providing educational programs in the field of acting, directing, playwriting, and theatre production, namely, set and scene design, lighting, costuming, and choreography” (emphasis added), and applicant specifies Vermont as its place of incorporation and the state for its address. According to the attached evidence from Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica, New England is a region within the northeastern part of the United States that is composed of six states, among them Vermont. Thus, the wording merely describes applicant’s services because consumers will immediately understand that the terms NEW ENGLAND YOUTH THEATER describe that applicant’s services are related to theater and the youth, and that the services are performed or located in the New England region of the United States.
Applicant may respond to this issue by submitting a disclaimer in the following format:
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “NEW ENGLAND YOUTH THEATRE” apart from the mark as shown.
For an overview of disclaimers and instructions on how to satisfy this issue using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), see the Disclaimer webpage.
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.
The following description of the mark is added to the record:
The mark consists of the stylized letters “NEYT” in large all capital letters, with the stylized words “NEW ENGLAND” in smaller all capital letters under the letters “NEYT”, and the stylized words “YOUTH THEATRE” also in smaller all capital letters under the words “NEW ENGLAND”, and the color black represents background and/or transparent area and is not part of the mark.
See 37 C.F.R. §2.37; TMEP §§808 et seq.
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.
Solano, Carlita
/Carlita Jaye Solano/
Examining Attorney
Law Office 128
(571)273-6513
carlita.solano@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.