| Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. PTO Form 1957 (Rev 10/2011) |
| OMB No. 0651-0050 (Exp 09/20/2020) |
| Input Field |
Entered |
|---|---|
| SERIAL NUMBER | 88381507 |
| LAW OFFICE ASSIGNED | LAW OFFICE 111 |
| MARK SECTION | |
| MARK | http://uspto.report/TM/88381507/mark.png |
| LITERAL ELEMENT | SHOE DRYER |
| STANDARD CHARACTERS | YES |
| USPTO-GENERATED IMAGE | YES |
| MARK STATEMENT | The mark consists of standard characters, without claim to any particular font style, size or color. |
| ARGUMENT(S) | |
|
In the nonfinal Office action dated August 29, 2019, the Examining Attorney maintained the merely descriptive refusal and requested additional information regarding the applied-for mark.
1. The pending application is an intent-to-use mark and is not in use by the Applicant. However, Applicant submits herewith as Exhibit A descriptions from its website relating generally to desiccant products offered by Applicant.
2. Applicant responds to the Examining attorney’s questions as follows.
Q: Why is the mark called SHOE DRYER if “dry” does not describe what the goods do?
A: Applicant respectfully submits that SHOE DRYER is, at most, suggestive of Applicant’s goods that will be used under the SHOE DRYER mark, i.e., desiccants, and is not merely descriptive. As discussed in the materials at Exhibit A, a desiccant is used to absorb or adsorb moisture in a surrounding environment, i.e., to maintain desired environmental moisture levels, which is distinct from absorbing or adsorbing all moisture in all materials in the environment.
Known products like a “hand dryer,” a “hair dryer,” or a “clothes dryer” create the commercial impression of a product (the dryer) that completely rids a specified object that itself has absorbed water or is covered in water (i.e., wet hands, wet hair, or wet clothes, respectively) of that water. In contrast, the mark SHOE DRYER is not used to dry shoes that are wet or have been immersed in water. Instead, the goods used in association with the SHOE DRYER mark would be used to absorb or adsorb ambient moisture in an atmosphere, such as a shoe box, for example. Applicant respectfully submits that the product does not “dry shoes,” as suggested, but instead removes moisture, when present, from a controlled environment, which may have shoes contained therein. This is significantly different from the common connotation of a “dryer,” as discussed in Applicant’s previous response and with regard to the above examples. Indeed, a consumer who stepped in a puddle and now has “wet shoes” would not reach for a desiccant packet to dry their shoes.
Q. Do applicant’s competitors use the word DRYER to describe “desiccants for absorbing moisture?”
A: To Applicant’s knowledge, other companies who offer for sale desiccants for absorbing or absorbing moisture do not use the word “Dryer” to describe their products. Attached hereto as Exhibit B are exemplary printouts from the websites of other companies who sell desiccant packets, none of which use the term “Dryer.” Moreover, Applicant owns multiple trademarks for desiccant products that include the term DRY as part of the mark. As such, the relevant consuming public has come to associate marks incorporating DRY or (the similar DRYER) with Applicant. Attached hereto as Exhibit C are printouts from TESS for Applicant’s live registrations for CARGO DRY PAK, CARGO DRY PLUS, CARGO DRY PAK, and SAFENDRY.
A. As noted above, a consumer would use the goods sold in association with the SHOE DRYER mark to maintain a moisture level in an environment by absorbing or adsorbing moisture in the environment. The desiccant is not used as a dryer for shoes, but instead to adsorb moisture, if present, in a particular environment, such as a shoe box.
Q. Who is the typical consumer of applicant’s goods and/or services?
A. Applicant’s goods are typically sold to manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, who then use Applicant’s goods in consumer products. As one example, a supplier would likely purchase Applicant’s goods to enclose Applicant’s goods in a shipping box, such as a shoe box, which would then house shoes that are sold to an end consumer. The end consumer would purchase the shoes, which would be sold in the shoe box, which has Applicant’s product accommodated inside of the shoe box.
Q. Where are applicant’s goods and/or services typically purchased?
A. Applicant’s goods and/or services are typically purchased through contracts with manufacturing and supply companies, such as pharmaceutical companies, nutraceutical companies, medical device companies, food packaging companies, and textile and shoe manufacturers. Applicant’s products are then placed in packaging provided by Applicant’s customer, and the customer then sells its products which house Applicant’s products in the packaging.
|
|
| ATTORNEY SECTION (current) | |
| NAME | Gary J. Nelson |
| ATTORNEY BAR MEMBERSHIP NUMBER | NOT SPECIFIED |
| YEAR OF ADMISSION | NOT SPECIFIED |
| U.S. STATE/ COMMONWEALTH/ TERRITORY | NOT SPECIFIED |
| FIRM NAME | LEWIS ROCA ROTHGERBER CHRISTIE LLP |
| STREET | P.O. BOX 29001 |
| CITY | GLENDALE |
| STATE | California |
| POSTAL CODE | 91209-9001 |
| COUNTRY | US |
| PHONE | 626-795-9900 |
| FAX | 626-577-8800 |
| pto@lrrc.com | |
| AUTHORIZED TO COMMUNICATE VIA EMAIL | Yes |
| DOCKET/REFERENCE NUMBER | 60551USB |
| ATTORNEY SECTION (proposed) | |
| NAME | Gary J. Nelson |
| ATTORNEY BAR MEMBERSHIP NUMBER | XXX |
| YEAR OF ADMISSION | XXXX |
| U.S. STATE/ COMMONWEALTH/ TERRITORY | XX |
| FIRM NAME | LEWIS ROCA ROTHGERBER CHRISTIE LLP |
| STREET | P.O. BOX 29001 |
| CITY | GLENDALE |
| STATE | California |
| POSTAL CODE | 91209-9001 |
| COUNTRY | United States |
| PHONE | 626-795-9900 |
| FAX | 626-577-8800 |
| pto@lrrc.com | |
| AUTHORIZED TO COMMUNICATE VIA EMAIL | Yes |
| DOCKET/REFERENCE NUMBER | 60551USB |
| OTHER APPOINTED ATTORNEY | David A. Dillard, Thomas J. Daly, Edward R. Schwartz, David A. Plumley, Gregory S. Lampert, Mark Garscia, Syed A. Hasan, Robert A. Green, Michael J. MacDermott, Anne Wang, Constantine Marantidis, Gary J. Nelson, Raymond R. Tabandeh, Josephine E. Chang, Jun-Young E. Jeon, Peter C. Hsueh, Oliver S. Bajracharya, Lauren E. Schneider, G. Warren Bleeker, Jason C. Martone, Joshua T. Chu, Justin O. Ehresmann, Shaun P. Lee, Ryan M. Swank, Dustin R. Szakalski, Katherine L. Quigley, Michael J. Curry, Abazar Mireshghi, Kyle W. Kellar, Martin W. Regehr, Sami I. Schilly, S. Drew Wilson, John Carson, Cindy A. Villanueva, Daniel A. Salgado, David M. Zamora, Nancy R. Snow, Clara C. Low, Jimmy Y. Kwun |
| CORRESPONDENCE SECTION (current) | |
| NAME | GARY J. NELSON |
| FIRM NAME | LEWIS ROCA ROTHGERBER CHRISTIE LLP |
| STREET | P.O. BOX 29001 |
| CITY | GLENDALE |
| STATE | California |
| POSTAL CODE | 91209-9001 |
| COUNTRY | US |
| PHONE | 626-795-9900 |
| FAX | 626-577-8800 |
| pto@lrrc.com; gnelson@lrrc.com; ctoomey@lrrc.com | |
| AUTHORIZED TO COMMUNICATE VIA EMAIL | Yes |
| DOCKET/REFERENCE NUMBER | 60551USB |
| CORRESPONDENCE SECTION (proposed) | |
| NAME | Gary J. Nelson |
| FIRM NAME | LEWIS ROCA ROTHGERBER CHRISTIE LLP |
| STREET | P.O. BOX 29001 |
| CITY | GLENDALE |
| STATE | California |
| POSTAL CODE | 91209-9001 |
| COUNTRY | United States |
| PHONE | 626-795-9900 |
| FAX | 626-577-8800 |
| pto@lrrc.com; gnelson@lrrc.com; ctoomey@lrrc.com | |
| AUTHORIZED TO COMMUNICATE VIA EMAIL | Yes |
| DOCKET/REFERENCE NUMBER | 60551USB |
| SIGNATURE SECTION | |
| RESPONSE SIGNATURE | /Gary J. Nelson/ |
| SIGNATORY'S NAME | Gary J. Nelson |
| SIGNATORY'S POSITION | Attorney of Record, California Bar Member |
| SIGNATORY'S PHONE NUMBER | 626-795-9900 |
| DATE SIGNED | 10/25/2019 |
| AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY | YES |
| FILING INFORMATION SECTION | |
| SUBMIT DATE | Fri Oct 25 17:50:45 EDT 2019 |
| TEAS STAMP | USPTO/ROA-XX.XX.XXX.XX-20 191025175045986207-883815 07-6100d5eb6a0269d7438f4d 5d8daf842cd9df0d546dead2f 5799f83067ad5db1e9-N/A-N/ A-20191024140949536711 |
| Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. PTO Form 1957 (Rev 10/2011) |
| OMB No. 0651-0050 (Exp 09/20/2020) |
In the nonfinal Office action dated August 29, 2019, the Examining Attorney maintained the merely descriptive refusal and requested additional information regarding the applied-for mark.
1. The pending application is an intent-to-use mark and is not in use by the Applicant. However, Applicant submits herewith as Exhibit A descriptions from its website relating generally to desiccant products offered by Applicant.
2. Applicant responds to the Examining attorney’s questions as follows.
Q: Why is the mark called SHOE DRYER if “dry” does not describe what the goods do?
A: Applicant respectfully submits that SHOE DRYER is, at most, suggestive of Applicant’s goods that will be used under the SHOE DRYER mark, i.e., desiccants, and is not merely descriptive. As discussed in the materials at Exhibit A, a desiccant is used to absorb or adsorb moisture in a surrounding environment, i.e., to maintain desired environmental moisture levels, which is distinct from absorbing or adsorbing all moisture in all materials in the environment.
Known products like a “hand dryer,” a “hair dryer,” or a “clothes dryer” create the commercial impression of a product (the dryer) that completely rids a specified object that itself has absorbed water or is covered in water (i.e., wet hands, wet hair, or wet clothes, respectively) of that water. In contrast, the mark SHOE DRYER is not used to dry shoes that are wet or have been immersed in water. Instead, the goods used in association with the SHOE DRYER mark would be used to absorb or adsorb ambient moisture in an atmosphere, such as a shoe box, for example. Applicant respectfully submits that the product does not “dry shoes,” as suggested, but instead removes moisture, when present, from a controlled environment, which may have shoes contained therein. This is significantly different from the common connotation of a “dryer,” as discussed in Applicant’s previous response and with regard to the above examples. Indeed, a consumer who stepped in a puddle and now has “wet shoes” would not reach for a desiccant packet to dry their shoes.
Q. Do applicant’s competitors use the word DRYER to describe “desiccants for absorbing moisture?”
A: To Applicant’s knowledge, other companies who offer for sale desiccants for absorbing or absorbing moisture do not use the word “Dryer” to describe their products. Attached hereto as Exhibit B are exemplary printouts from the websites of other companies who sell desiccant packets, none of which use the term “Dryer.” Moreover, Applicant owns multiple trademarks for desiccant products that include the term DRY as part of the mark. As such, the relevant consuming public has come to associate marks incorporating DRY or (the similar DRYER) with Applicant. Attached hereto as Exhibit C are printouts from TESS for Applicant’s live registrations for CARGO DRY PAK, CARGO DRY PLUS, CARGO DRY PAK, and SAFENDRY.
Q. What would a consumer use your goods for?
A. As noted above, a consumer would use the goods sold in association with the SHOE DRYER mark to maintain a moisture level in an environment by absorbing or adsorbing moisture in the environment. The desiccant is not used as a dryer for shoes, but instead to adsorb moisture, if present, in a particular environment, such as a shoe box.
Q. Who is the typical consumer of applicant’s goods and/or services?
A. Applicant’s goods are typically sold to manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, who then use Applicant’s goods in consumer products. As one example, a supplier would likely purchase Applicant’s goods to enclose Applicant’s goods in a shipping box, such as a shoe box, which would then house shoes that are sold to an end consumer. The end consumer would purchase the shoes, which would be sold in the shoe box, which has Applicant’s product accommodated inside of the shoe box.
Q. Where are applicant’s goods and/or services typically purchased?
A. Applicant’s goods and/or services are typically purchased through contracts with manufacturing and supply companies, such as pharmaceutical companies, nutraceutical companies, medical device companies, food packaging companies, and textile and shoe manufacturers. Applicant’s products are then placed in packaging provided by Applicant’s customer, and the customer then sells its products which house Applicant’s products in the packaging.