To: | TMGCore, LLC (pat-tmk@andrewskurth.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88330304 - HYDROBLADE - 121219.009 |
Sent: | December 18, 2019 07:34:32 PM |
Sent As: | ecom107@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 |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88330304
Mark: HYDROBLADE
|
|
Correspondence Address: |
|
Applicant: TMGCore, LLC
|
|
Reference/Docket No. 121219.009
Correspondence Email Address: |
|
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: December 18, 2019
This Office action is in response to applicant’s communication filed on November 18, 2019.
Further research has revealed the necessity for the addition of a refusal to register on the basis of mere descriptiveness. Applicant’s statement that to the knowledge of applicant's attorney the proposed mark “HYDROBLADE” and “HYDRO” do not have any significance as applied to applicant's contemplated goods is noted, but in view of the attached evidence, is not persuasive.
The receipt of the amendment to the identification of goods gives rise to a new issue concerning scope. The requirement for an acceptable identification of goods is continued and maintained. In addition, the requirement for additional information regarding the nature of the goods is continued: applicant’s explanation is not sufficiently detailed.
SECTION 2(e)(1) REFUSAL – MERELY DESCRIPTIVE
Applicant seeks to register HYDROBLADE in standard character form for computer systems (original identification)/immersion cooling system and parts for immersion cooling of computer components (amended identification).
The proposed mark is a combination of two terms “HYDRO” and “BLADE” that are potentially merely descriptive of the goods. Although applicant has indicated that the systems will not use water but instead a dielectric fluid, the term “hydro” can mean something other than “water” (see attached definitions of “hydro” from Google search engine; December 17, 2019; www.collinsdictionary.com: “containing hydrogen” and www.thefreedictionary.com: “Liquid”). Attached to the previous Office action was a definition of a “blade” as a type of computer hardware component (see excerpt from www.computerhope.com; Google search engine; May 22, 2019; attached to the Office action of the same date). Applicant acknowledges that the term “BLADE” is descriptive of an element of the goods (“The contemplated immersion cooling system will include blades in the sense shown in a portion of the Office Action's excerpt.”). Applicant is the source of goods described in the following articles as both employing blades and liquids or fluid (Google search engine; December 18, 2019; www.tmgcore.com: ‘Redefining “high-density data centers through innovative two-phase liquid immersion cooling technology.’ and “Support for extremely high density compute blades consuming up to 6,000 watts (6kW) per blade”; www.anandtech.com: “Each unit is fitted with TMGcore’s own blade infrastructure, aptly named as ‘OTTOblade’.” and “Two-phase immersion cooling in which servers are immersed in coolant fluid….”; and http://datacenterfrontier.com: “Those data points are based on racks filled with OTTOblade servers, which pack 6kW of compute power into a single 1U blade.”).
Only where the combination of descriptive terms creates a unitary mark with a unique, incongruous, or otherwise nondescriptive meaning in relation to the goods and/or services is the combined mark registrable. See In re Colonial Stores, Inc., 394 F.2d 549, 551, 157 USPQ 382, 384 (C.C.P.A. 1968); In re Positec Grp. Ltd., 108 USPQ2d 1161, 1162-63 (TTAB 2013).
In this case, both the individual components and the composite result are descriptive of applicant’s goods and do not create a unique, incongruous, or nondescriptive meaning in relation to the goods. Specifically, the meaning of “hydro” and “blade” remain the same whether they are presented as two words or one.
REQUIREMENTS
In this case, the application originally identified the goods as follows: “computing systems.”
However, the proposed amendment identifies the following goods: “immersion cooling system and parts for immersion cooling of computer components.”
This proposed amendment is beyond the scope of the original identification because an immersion cooling system and parts therefor are not computing systems themselves, but systems used to cool computing systems.
The amendment to the identification of goods is not acceptable.
The identification for “computing systems” in International Class 9 is indefinite and too broad and must be clarified because the wording does not make clear the nature of the specific systems and could identify goods in more than one international class. See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1401.05(d).
Applicant must indicate the items comprising the system and the function of the system or items. The language “computing system” potentially indicates a broad range of goods. For example, this language encompasses such diverse goods as “computer operating systems,” “removable hard drive based computer backup systems,” and “pattern recognition systems composed of computer chips, computer hardware and recorded computer software.” Applicant must clarify the nature and function of the goods. Clarification of the function of the goods will help the trademark examining attorney to examine the application properly and make appropriate decisions concerning possible conflicts between the applicant’s mark and other marks.
Applicant must clarify the goods by (1) describing the nature, purpose, or use of the system; and (2) listing the system’s parts or components, using common generic terms and referencing the primary parts or components of the system first. See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §§1401.05(d), 1402.01, 1402.03(a). Additionally, this wording should be classified in the same international class as the primary parts or components of the system. See TMEP §1401.05(d).
Applicant may adopt the following wording in International Class 9, if accurate: “computing systems used in cooling immersion environments for [specify function, e.g., edge computing] comprised of [identify components].”
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.
To permit proper examination of the application, applicant must submit additional product information about applicant’s goods. See 37 C.F.R. §2.61(b); TMEP §814. The requested product information should include fact sheets, instruction manuals, and/or advertisements. If these materials are unavailable, applicant should submit similar documentation for goods of the same type, explaining how its own product will differ. If the goods feature new technology and no competing goods are available, applicant must provide a detailed description of the goods.
Factual information about the goods must clearly indicate how they operate, their salient features, and their prospective customers and channels of trade. Conclusory statements regarding the goods will not satisfy this requirement.
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. Merely stating that information about the goods is available on applicant’s website is an insufficient response and will not make the relevant information of record. See In re Planalytics, Inc., 70 USPQ2d 1453, 1457-58 (TTAB 2004).
Assistance
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.
Jeri Fickes
/Jeri Fickes/
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 107, USPTO
571/272-9157
jeri.fickes@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE