Offc Action Outgoing

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application

 

 

 

NONFINAL OFFICE ACTION

 

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:  May 05, 2020

 

Action on this application was suspended pending receipt of a copy of the trademark registration certificate from applicant’s country of origin.  TMEP §§716.02(b), 1003.04(a)-(b).  The referenced registration certificate has been received by the Office, thus the requirement for a copy of the foreign registration certification has been satisfied.  15 U.S.C. §1126(e); 37 C.F.R. §2.34(a)(3)(ii); TMEP §§1004, 1004.01, 1016.  However, upon further review of this application the following informality/issue has come to the attention of the examining attorney. The examining attorney regrets any inconvenience  caused by the untimely manner in which this issue was raised.

 

Under Nice 11-2019, computer software must be specified as “downloadable” and/or “recorded” to clarify the nature of the goods. Therefore all references to software in the goods and services must reference either “downloadable” and/or “recorded” for class 9 goods, or “Non-downloadable” for services. See TMEP §1402.03(d).

 

Therefore, the class 9 goods must read as follows: “Recorded software plug in used to play virtual instruments on audio workstations; Recorded computer software for processing digital music files; Recorded computer software for creating and editing music and sounds; computer memory devices, namely, blank USB cards, Secure Digital (SD) Memory Cards; protective covers and cases for cell phones; straps for mobile phones; computer mice; mouse pads; electric and electronic effects units for musical instruments; phonograph records featuring music; downloadable musical sound recordings; musical video recordings” in International Class 9

 

Applicant’s goods and/or services may be clarified or limited, but may not be expanded beyond those originally itemized in the application or as acceptably amended.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); TMEP §1402.06.  Applicant may clarify or limit the identification by inserting qualifying language or deleting items to result in a more specific identification; however, applicant may not substitute different goods and/or services or add goods and/or services not found or encompassed by those in the original application or as acceptably amended.  See TMEP §1402.06(a)-(b).  The scope of the goods and/or services sets the outer limit for any changes to the identification and is generally determined by the ordinary meaning of the wording in the identification.  TMEP §§1402.06(b), 1402.07(a)-(b).  Any acceptable changes to the goods and/or services will further limit scope, and once goods and/or services are deleted, they are not permitted to 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.

 

NOTE: ALL ISSUES ABOVE MAY BE EXPEDITED BY EXAMINER AMENDMENT. THE APPLICANT MAY E-MAIL OR TELEPHONE THE EXAMINING ATTORNEY AS SET OUT BELOW, AND THE EXAMINING ATTORNEY WILL MAKE THE REQUIRED CHANGES SO THAT THE APPLICATION WILL BE EXPEDITED TO PUBLICATION.

 

 

How to respond.  Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action.    

 

 

/Linda Mickleburgh/

Linda Mickleburgh

Examining Attorney Law Office 106

571-272-9198

linda.mickleburgh@uspto.gov

 

 

 

RESPONSE GUIDANCE

• Missing the response deadline to this letter will cause the application to abandon.  A response or notice of appeal must be received by the USPTO before midnight Eastern Time of the last day of the response period.  TEAS and ESTTA maintenance or unforeseen circumstances could affect an applicant’s ability to timely respond.  

 

• Responses signed by an unauthorized party are not accepted and can cause the application to abandon.  If applicant does not have an attorney, the response must be signed by the individual applicant, all joint applicants, or someone with legal authority to bind a juristic applicant.  If applicant has an attorney, the response must be signed by the attorney.

 

• If needed, find contact information for the supervisor of the office or unit listed in the signature block.

 

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

 

USPTO OFFICIAL NOTICE

 

Office Action (Official Letter) has issued

on May 05, 2020 for

U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88319777

 

Your trademark application has been reviewed by a trademark examining attorney.  As part of that review, the assigned attorney has issued an official letter that you must respond to by the specified deadline or your application will be abandoned.  Please follow the steps below.

 

(1)  Read the official letter.

 

(2)  Direct questions about the contents of the Office action to the assigned attorney below. 

 

 

/Linda Mickleburgh/

Linda Mickleburgh

Examining Attorney Law Office 106

571-272-9198

linda.mickleburgh@uspto.gov

 

 

Direct questions about navigating USPTO electronic forms, the USPTO website, the application process, the status of your application, and/or whether there are outstanding deadlines or documents related to your file to the Trademark Assistance Center (TAC).

 

(3)  Respond within 6 months (or earlier, if required in the Office action) from May 05, 2020, using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).  The response must be received by the USPTO before midnight Eastern Time of the last day of the response period.  See the Office action for more information about how to respond

 

 

 

GENERAL GUIDANCE

·         Check the status of your application periodically in the Trademark Status & Document Retrieval (TSDR) database to avoid missing critical deadlines.

 

·         Update your correspondence email address, if needed, to ensure you receive important USPTO notices about your application.

 

·         Beware of misleading notices sent by private companies about your application.  Private companies not associated with the USPTO use public information available in trademark registrations to mail and email trademark-related offers and notices – most of which require fees.  All official USPTO correspondence will only be emailed from the domain “@uspto.gov.”