To: | UMA Enterprises Inc. (lynne@boisineaulaw.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88391545 - AFRICAN TREASURES - 103835-0040 |
Sent: | July 09, 2019 01:07:43 PM |
Sent As: | ecom127@uspto.gov |
Attachments: | Attachment - 1 |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88391545
Mark: AFRICAN TREASURES
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Correspondence Address:
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Applicant: UMA Enterprises Inc.
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Reference/Docket No. 103835-0040
Correspondence Email Address: |
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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: July 09, 2019
The referenced application has been reviewed by the assigned trademark examining attorney. Applicant must respond timely and completely to the issues below. 15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(a), 2.65(a); TMEP §§711, 718.03.
SEARCH RESULTS: The trademark examining attorney has searched the Office’s database of registered and pending marks and has found no conflicting marks that would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d). TMEP §704.02; see 15 U.S.C. §1052(d).
Identification Requirement
Applicant has identified the following goods:
International Class 20: “furniture; home goods; online wholesale store services; online retail store services”
Home goods
Online wholesale store services
Online retail store services
If accurate, applicant may adopt the suggestion below, which reflects all of the necessary changes discussed above and shows added or amended language underlined for clarity:
International Class 20: “Furniture; Home goods, namely, {indicate the specific home goods, e.g., pillows, furniture, picture frames}”
International Class 35: “On-line wholesale store services featuring {indicate specific field, e.g., auto parts, clothing, jewelry}; On-line retail store services featuring {indicate field or type of goods}”
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.
Multiple-Class Application Requirements
The application identifies goods and/or services in more than one international class; therefore, applicant must satisfy all the requirements below for each international class based on Trademark Act Section 1(b):
(1) List the goods and/or services by their international class number in consecutive numerical order, starting with the lowest numbered class.
(2) Submit a filing fee for each international class not covered by the fee already paid (view the USPTO’s current fee schedule). The application identifies goods and/or services that are classified in at least 2 classes; however, applicant submitted a fee sufficient for only 1 class. Applicant must either submit the filing fees for the classes not covered by the submitted fees or restrict the application to the number of classes covered by the fees already paid.
See 15 U.S.C. §§1051(b), 1112, 1126(e); 37 C.F.R. §§2.32(a)(6)-(7), 2.34(a)(2)-(3), 2.86(a); TMEP §§1403.01, 1403.02(c).
See an overview of the requirements for a Section 1(b) multiple-class application and how to satisfy the requirements online using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) form.
Disclaimer Requirement
In this case, applicant must disclaim the wording “AFRICAN” because it is not inherently distinctive. This unregistrable term at best is merely descriptive of an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose, or use of applicant’s goods and/or 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 attached evidence from the American Heritage dictionary demonstrates that “AFRICAN” is defined as “Of or relating to Africa or its peoples, languages, or cultures.” Thus, the wording “AFRICAN”, in connection with applicant’s furniture, home goods, and retail store services, connotes to consumers that the furniture and home goods it sells are “relat[ed] to Africa or its peoples, languages, or cultures.” Thus, the wording merely describes a feature or characteristic of applicant’s goods and services.
Applicant may respond to this issue by submitting a disclaimer in the following format:
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “AFRICAN” 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.
Response guidelines. For this application to proceed, applicant must explicitly address each requirement in this Office action. For a refusal, applicant may provide written arguments and evidence against the refusal, and may have other response options if specified above. For a requirement, applicant should set forth the changes or statements. Please see “Responding to Office Actions” and the informational video “Response to Office Action” for more information and tips on responding.
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
Brittany Colton
/Brittany Colton/
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 127
(571) 272-2572
brittany.colton@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE