To: | GMR, LLC (gpearson@gmri.net) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88334094 - VBAR CHAT - N/A |
Sent: | January 13, 2020 10:15:20 AM |
Sent As: | ecom128@uspto.gov |
Attachments: | Attachment - 1 Attachment - 2 Attachment - 3 |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88334094
Mark: VBAR CHAT
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Correspondence Address:
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Applicant: GMR, LLC
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Reference/Docket No. N/A
Correspondence Email Address: |
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FINAL 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) and/or Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals (ESTTA). A link to the appropriate TEAS response form and/or to ESTTA for an appeal appears at the end of this Office action.
Issue date: January 13, 2020
The Office has reassigned this application to the undersigned trademark examining attorney.
This Office action is in response to applicant’s communication filed on December 10, 2019.
In a previous Office action dated June 10, 2019, applicant was required to satisfy the following requirements: amend the identification of goods and services, provide a disclaimer, and provide an affidavit or signed declaration to remedy the unsigned application.
In applicant’s December 10, 2019 response, applicant stated that the application was in condition for publication. However, none of the requirements have been met.
Further, the trademark examining attorney maintains and now makes FINAL the requirements in the summary of issues below. See 37 C.F.R. §2.63(b); TMEP §714.04.
SUMMARY OF ISSUES MADE FINAL that applicant must address:
IDENTIFICATION OF GOODS AND SERVICES
Applicant may substitute the following wording, if accurate:
Class 9: Downloadable Ccomputer game software; Downloadable computer game programs; Downloadable
electronic game programs
Class 41: Entertainment services, namely, providing online computer and electronic games through a social networking website; providing temporary use of non-downloadable computer game software
Applicant’s goods 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 or add goods 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 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.
Applicant should note the following additional requirement.
DISCLAIMER REQUIRED
In this case, applicant must disclaim the wording “CHAT” because it is not inherently distinctive. This unregistrable term at best is merely descriptive of a quality or characteristic of applicant’s goods and 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 evidence attached to the previous Office action from Cambridge Dictionary shows that “CHAT” is defined as “a discussion that involves sending messages over the internet, by phone, using a message service.” Furthermore, the attached evidence from The Verge, BBC, and Play Station shows that “CHAT” is commonly used in connection with computer games to show that the software allows users to communicate over the internet via the game.
Applicant may respond to this issue by submitting a disclaimer in the following format:
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “CHAT” 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.
Applicant should note the following additional requirement.
UNSIGNED APPLICATION
The following statements must be verified: That applicant has a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce and had a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce as of the application filing date; that applicant believes applicant is entitled to use the mark in commerce on or in connection with the goods or services specified in the application; that applicant believes applicant is the owner of the mark; that the mark is in use in commerce and was in use in commerce as of the application filing date; that to the best of the signatory’s knowledge and belief, no other persons, except, if applicable, concurrent users, have the right to use the mark in commerce, either in the identical form or in such near resemblance as to be likely, when used on or in connection with the goods/services of such other persons, to cause confusion or mistake, or to deceive; that the specimen shows the mark as used on or in connection with the goods or services as of the application filing date; and that the facts set forth in the application are true. 37 C.F.R. §§2.33(b), (c), 2.34(a)(1)(i), (a)(2), (a)(3)(i), (a)(4)(ii), 2.59(a). For more information about this, see the Verified statement webpage.
To provide these verified statements. After opening the correct TEAS response form, answer “yes” to wizard question #10, and follow the instructions within the form for signing. In this case, the TEAS online form will require two signatures: one in the “Declaration Signature” section and one in the “Response Signature” section.
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 request for reconsideration of this final Office action that fully resolves all outstanding requirements and refusals and/or click to file a timely appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) with the required filing fee(s).
/Bridget Watson/
Bridget Watson
Examining Attorney
Law Office 128
(571) 272-7163
bridget.watson@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE