To: | Watershed Innovations (info@hydrabarrier.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88322332 - HYDRASENSE - N/A |
Sent: | February 18, 2020 11:34:35 AM |
Sent As: | ecom105@uspto.gov |
Attachments: |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88322332
Mark: HYDRASENSE
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Correspondence Address:
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Applicant: Watershed Innovations
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Reference/Docket No. N/A
Correspondence Email Address: |
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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: February 18, 2020
The examining attorney has reviewed applicant’s statement of use and determined the following.
SPECIMEN REFUSALS
Registration is refused because the specimen does not show the applied-for mark as actually used in commerce in connection with any of the goods. Trademark Act Sections 1 and 45, 15 U.S.C. §§1051, 1127; 37 C.F.R. §§2.34(a)(1)(iv), 2.56(a); In re Keep A Breast Found., 123 USPQ2d 1869, 1876-79 (TTAB 2017); TMEP §§904, 904.07(a), 1301.04(d), (g)(i). An application based on Trademark Act Section 1(a) must include a specimen showing the applied-for mark as actually used in commerce for each international class of goods and/or services identified in the statement of use. 15 U.S.C. §1051(a)(1); 37 C.F.R. §§2.34(a)(1)(iv), 2.56(a); TMEP §§904, 904.07(a); see In re Gulf Coast Nutritionals, Inc., 106 USPQ2d 1243, 1247 (TTAB 2013).
Specimens for goods include a photograph of (1) the actual goods bearing the mark; (2) an actual container, packaging, tag or label for the goods bearing the mark; or (3) a point-of-sale display showing the mark directly associated with the goods. See 37 C.F.R. §2.56(b)(1), (c); TMEP §904.03(a)-(m). A webpage specimen submitted as a display associated with the goods must show the mark in association with a picture or textual description of the goods and include information necessary for ordering the goods. TMEP §904.03(i); see 37 C.F.R. §2.56(b)(1), (c). Any webpage printout or screenshot submitted as a specimen, whether for goods or services, will now be required to include the webpage’s URL and the date it was accessed or printed. 37 C.F.R. §2.56(c).
In this case, applicant’s goods are as follows: electric pumps; sewage pumps; submersible pumps; sump pumps. The specimen (a website screen shot), however, shows the applied for mark “HYDRASENSE” used only in identifying certain technology and/or a certain sensor that may be used in pumps. In this regard, the specimen says, in part:
SMART SENSING TECHNOLOGY FOR TODAY’S MODERN PUMP MANUFACTURERS
HydraSense technology offers the opportunity to add automation to a wide variety of pumps. The smart technology has many benefits:
Automatic Operation – Sensor allows for automatic on/off operation when water is detected.
Adaptable- The sensor can be configured to work with a variety of pump types.
It, therefore, appears from the specimen that the mark is used only in connection with a particular sensor that pump (or other technology) manufacturers may use in their pumps. The mark on the specimen is not used in connection with completed pumps in their entirety. Thus, the specimen does not show use of the mark with the goods actually listed in the statement of use. Registration is, therefore, refused under Trademark Act Sections 1 and 45.
It is noted that applicant’s specimen does not contain a URL for the website shown nor the date the specimen was printed/accessed. Please note that, as of February 15. 2020, registration will now be refused when a specimen lacks an URL and/or date printed/accessed. See 37 C.F.R. §2.56(c); Mandatory Electronic Filing & Specimen Requirements, Examination Guide 1-20, at V.B. (Rev. Feb. 2020). In this regard, when the URL or date is missing, a specimen is perceived merely as a digital mockup of a webpage that may not yet actually be in use in commerce; so, it fails to show the applied-for mark in actual use in commerce. Trademark Act Sections 1 and 45, 15 U.S.C. §§1051, 1127; 37 C.F.R. §§2.34(a)(1)(iv), 2.56(a), (c); see TMEP §§904, 904.03(g), 904.07(a). As noted above, an application based on Trademark Act Section 1(a) must include a specimen showing the applied-for mark as actually used in commerce for each international class of goods and services identified in the statement of use. 15 U.S.C. §1051(a)(1); 37 C.F.R. §§2.34(a)(1)(iv), 2.56(a); TMEP §§904, 904.07(a).
Response option. Applicant may respond to this refusal by submitting a different specimen (a verified “substitute” specimen) that (a) was in actual use in commerce prior to the expiration of the deadline for filing the statement of use and (b) shows the mark in actual use in commerce for the goods and/or services identified in the statement of use. A “verified substitute specimen” is a specimen that is accompanied by the following statement made in a signed affidavit or supported by a declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20: “The substitute (or new, or originally submitted, if appropriate) specimen(s) was/were in use in commerce prior to expiration of the filing deadline for filing a statement of use.” The substitute specimen cannot be accepted without this statement.
Applicant may not withdraw the statement of use. See 37 C.F.R. §2.88(f); TMEP §1109.17.
For an overview of this response option and instructions on how to submit a different specimen using the online Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) form, see the Specimen webpage.
How to respond. Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action.
Please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned with any questions.
/MaureenDallLott/
Maureen Dall Lott
Trademark Examining Attorney, Law Office 105
United States Patent and Trademark Office
571-272-9714
maureen.lott@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE