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 26, 2020

 

This application was approved for publication on February 13, 2020.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.80.  However, approval of the application has been withdrawn to address the issue(s) below. See TMEP §706.01. The trademark examining attorney apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause applicant.

 

IDENTIFICATION OF GOODS

The identification of goods is indefinite and must be clarified because some of the wording is too vague. See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1402.01. 

 

First, "face shield suspensions configured to sit on a user's head and secure a removable face shield in place" in Class 9 is indefinite and overbroad. "Face shield" goods are classified in multiple classes depending upon their use. The classification of applicant's goods is dependent upon the nature of the face shields with which the goods are to be used.  Therefore, applicant must further specify these services and reclassify, if appropriate. Examples include: face-protection shields in Class 9, human face protectors, namely, transparent face shields for use in the medical and dental fields in Class 10, plastic face shields for use when applying hair treatments in Class 20.

 

Second, the wording "storage cabinets for flammable materials; storage cans for flammable materials" is indefinite and potentially misclassified. The classification of these goods is not justified in Class 9.  Applicant must further specify these goods and reclassify, if appropriate. For example, cabinet goods in 9, metal cabinets specially adapted to protect telecommunications equipment in the nature of fiber optic cables in Class 9, laboratory equipment, namely, ductless fume enclosures and forensic drying cabinets in Class 9, tins of metal in Class 6, general purpose metal storage containers in Class 6.

 

Third, "bump caps for protecting against small impacts that a user may incur when bumping into or knocking against a stationary object;" is indefinite and overbroad. It is unclear if these goods qualify as life-saving apparatus in Class 9. "Small impacts" does not appear to indicate a life-saving function. The ID Manual entries for clothing items "for protection against accident or injury" are intended to protect against serious injuries, not minor bumps. "Bump caps" may be a British English term for hard hat or are the goods in the form of a baseball cap? Applicant must further specify these goods and reclassify, if appropriate.

 

Fourth, "side shields for glasses that removably attach to the sides of glasses for providing temporary protection" is indefinite and potentially misclassified. Applicant must clarify the nature of the glasses goods with which the side shields are to be use and reclassify, if appropriate. For example, eye glasses in Class 9, cupping glasses in Class 10, watch glasses in Class 14, looking glasses in Class 20, drinking glasses in Class 21.

 

For assistance with identifying and classifying goods and/or services in trademark applications, please see the online searchable Manual of Acceptable Identifications of Goods and Services at http://tess2.gov.uspto.report/netahtml/tidm.html.

 

Applicant may amend the identification to clarify or limit the goods and/or services, but not to broaden or expand the goods and/or services beyond those in the original application or as acceptably amended.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); TMEP §1402.06.  Generally, any deleted goods and/or services may not later be reinserted.  See TMEP §1402.07(e).

 

Contact Examining Attorney

Please call or email the assigned trademark examining attorney with questions about this Office action.  Although an examining attorney cannot provide legal advice, the examining attorney can provide additional explanation about the refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) in this Office action.  See TMEP §§705.02, 709.06. 

 

The USPTO does not accept emails as responses to Office actions; however, emails can be used for informal communications and are included in the application record.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(c), 2.191; TMEP §§304.01-.02, 709.04-.05. 

 

 

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

 

 

/Wendy B. Goodman, Esq./

Trademark Attorney

Law Office 109

(571) 272-9276 (phone)

wendy.goodman@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 26, 2020 for

U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88360913

 

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. 

 

 

/Wendy B. Goodman, Esq./

Trademark Attorney

Law Office 109

(571) 272-9276 (phone)

wendy.goodman@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 26, 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.”