To: | Amal Mahmoud & Raed Khaleel Co. (tm@sughrue.com) |
Subject: | U.S. TRADEMARK APPLICATION NO. 88294008 - PASS - S24065 |
Sent: | 4/24/2019 1:26:27 PM |
Sent As: | ECOM113@USPTO.GOV |
Attachments: |
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE (USPTO)
OFFICE ACTION (OFFICIAL LETTER) ABOUT APPLICANT’S TRADEMARK APPLICATION
U.S. APPLICATION SERIAL NO. 88294008
MARK: PASS
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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: Amal Mahmoud & Raed Khaleel Co.
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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: 4/24/2019
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.
The term “TMEP” refers to the USPTO’s Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure, a manual written by USPTO trademark attorneys that explains the laws and procedures applicable to the trademark application, registration, and post-registration processes. The USPTO updates the TMEP periodically to reflect changes in law, policy, and procedure.
Applicant’s Preliminary Amendments filed on 2/5/2019 and 04/03/2019 are noted and the foreign registration accepted.
NO CONFLICTING MARK FOUND
REQUIREMENTS
Before the application can be considered further, the following requirement(s) must be addressed.
IDENTIFICATION OF THE GOODS
As set forth below, the identification of goods for International Class 3 must be clarified because it is, in part, indefinite and misclassified, and, in part, too broad and could include goods in other international classes. See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.03. The indefinite and/or broad wording has been underlined with comments and suggestions in brackets.
Aromatic essential oils; laundry bleaching preparations; cleaning preparations;
disinfectant soap [misclassified; properly in International Class 5];
preparations for clearing blocked drains;
furbishing preparations [further specify the nature of the goods, namely, the common commercial name or generic name of the goods; for example, if accurate, may amend to “furbishing preparations, namely, cleaning and polishing preparations”];
laundry preparations [further specify the nature of the goods, namely, the common commercial name or generic name of the goods; for example, if accurate, may amend to "laundry bleaching preparations" or “laundry detergent”];
polish for furniture and flooring; shampoos;
soap [too broad because medicated soaps are properly in International Class 5; must further specify the type of soaps; for example, if accurate, may amend to “bath soaps” in International Class 3 or “medicated soaps” properly in International Class 5];
stain removers
In the identification of goods, applicant must use the common commercial or generic names for the goods, be as complete and specific as possible, and avoid the use of indefinite words and phrases. TMEP §1402.03(a). If applicant uses indefinite words such as “accessories,” “apparatus,” “components,” “devices,” “equipment,” “materials,” “parts,” “systems,” or “products,” such words must be followed by “namely,” followed by a list of the specific goods identified by their common commercial or generic names. See TMEP §§1401.05(d), 1402.03(a).
An applicant may only amend an identification to clarify or limit the goods and/or services, but may not broaden or expand the goods and/or services beyond those in the original application and as acceptably amended. See 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); TMEP §1402.06. Any deleted goods and/or services may not later be reinserted. TMEP §1402.07(e).
For assistance with identifying and classifying goods and services in trademark applications, please see the USPTO’s online searchable U.S. Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual. See TMEP §1402.04.
CLASSIFICATION
MULTIPLE CLASS REQUIREMENTS
Therefore, applicant must either (1) restrict the application to the number of classes covered by the fees already paid, or (2) submit the fees for each additional class.
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.
(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).
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 Sections 1(b) and 44 multiple-class application and how to satisfy the requirements online using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) form.
COLOR CLAIM AND DESCRIPTION
To clarify whether color is a feature of the mark, applicant may respond by satisfying one of the following:
(1) If color is not a feature of the mark, applicant must submit a new drawing showing the mark only in black and white. In this case, amending the mark to delete color would not be considered a material alteration; however, any other amendments to the drawing will not be accepted if they would materially alter the mark. 37 C.F.R. §2.72; see TMEP §§807.07(c), 807.14 et seq. Note that if color is not a feature of the mark, the mark description would need to be amended to delete the translation. See 37 C.F.R. §2.37; TMEP §§808 et seq. The mark description should only describe the mark. Applicant may amend to the following: “The mark consists of the stylized word “PASS” and Arabic characters, both with shadowing.”
(2) If color is a feature of the mark, applicant must provide a complete list of all the colors claimed as a feature of the mark and a description of the literal and design elements that specifies where all the colors appear in those elements. 37 C.F.R. §§2.37, 2.52(b)(1); see TMEP §807.07(a)-(a)(ii). Generic color names must be used to describe the colors in the mark, e.g., red, yellow, blue. TMEP §807.07(a)(i)-(ii). If black, white, and/or gray are not being claimed as a color feature of the mark, applicant must exclude them from the color claim and include in the description a statement that the colors black, white, and/or gray represent background, outlining, shading, and/or transparent areas and are not part of the mark. See TMEP §807.07(d).
The following color claim and description are suggested, if accurate:
Color claim: “The colors blue, black and white are claimed as a feature of the mark.”
Description: “The mark consists of the stylized word “PASS” in black within a white border with blue, black and white shadowing and Arabic characters in black within a white border with blue, black and white shadowing”.
See TMEP §807.07(a)(i)-(b).
CLOSING
/Douglas M. Lee/
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 113
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
571-272-9343
douglas.lee4@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.