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:  August 01, 2019

 

This Office action is in response to applicant’s communication filed on July 11, 2019.

 

After further consideration, the examining attorney issues the following requirement.

 

 

Identification of Goods

 

The identification of goods is indefinite and must be clarified because the wording “cooking sieves and sifters” must be amended to indicate these goods are “hand-operated.”  In addition, the wording “spatulas kitchen utensils” is confusing.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1402.01. 

 

Applicant may adopt the following identification, if accurate: 

 

 

Class 21:         (Filed under Section 1(a)): Frying pans, non-electric; (Filed under Section 1(b)): Unworked or semi-worked glass, not for building; industrial packaging containers of glass or porcelain; cooking pans, non-electric; thermal insulated containers for food or beverage; dinnerware, other than knives, forks and spoons; lunch-boxes; heat and cold insulation lunch-boxes; drinking glasses, namely, tumblers; vacuum mugs; insulated mugs; chopping boards for kitchen use; pepper mills, hand-operated; sugar tongs; nutcrackers; food preserving jars of glass; drinking flasks for travelers; mug bottles, sold empty; vacuum bottles; wide-mouthed insulating jars; soup jars; heat and cold insulation drinking flasks; cleaning tools for washing utensils, namely, cleaning brushes and sponges; Household or kitchen utensils, namely, kitchen tongs, turners, covers for frying pans and cutting boards for the kitchen; Combs and toiletry sponges; Brushes, namely, cosmetic brushes, dishwashing brushes, and floor brushes; Brush-making materials; Articles for cleaning purposes, namely, sponges, rags, pads, and cloths; Unworked or semi-worked glass, except building glass; cosmetic and toilet utensils, other than electric tooth brushes, namely, cosmetic brushes and cosmetic spatulas; Ice pails; Pepper pots, sugar bowls and salt shakers, not of precious metal; Cooking strainers; Colanders; Shaker bottles, sold empty; Basting spoons for kitchen use; Japanese style cooked rice scoops (Shamoji); Cooking funnels; Pestles (Japanese style wooden pestles (Surikogi)); Mortars for kitchen use; Japanese style personal dining trays or stands (Zen); Radish graters; Tart servers; Tart scoops; Napkin holders and napkin rings, not of precious metal; Pan-mats; Chopsticks; Chopstick cases; Ladles and dippers; hand-operated cooking sieves and sifters; kitchen utensils namely, spatulas; Toothpicks; Toothpick holders, not of precious metal; Lemon squeezers ; Waffle irons, non-electric; Hand-operated coffee grinders and pepper mills; Grills in the nature of cooking utensils; Non-electric peeling machines for household use in the preparation of food; Tableware in the nature of coffee services; Bottle openers; Spatulas for removing stains; Cleaning articles and cleaning instruments, non-electric, namely, squeegees, rags, and mitts of fabric for cleaning; Whisks, non-electric; Cabarets (trays), not of precious metal; Rolling pins, for cooking purposes; Egg cups, not of precious metal; Cooking graters

 

 

Applicant may amend the identification to clarify or limit the goods, but not to broaden or expand the goods 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 may not later be reinserted.  See 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.

 

 

Fees for Adding Classes – Advisory

 

 

The fee for adding classes to a TEAS Reduced Fee (RF) application is $275 per class.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.6(a)(1)(iii), 2.23(a).  See more information regarding the requirements for maintaining the lower TEAS RF fee and, if these requirements are not satisfied, for adding classes at a higher fee using regular TEAS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  

 

 

/Michele-Lynn Swain/

Michele-Lynn Swain

Examining Attorney

Law Office 116

571-272-9232

michele.swain@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 August 01, 2019 for

U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88400581

 

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. 

 

 

/Michele-Lynn Swain/

Michele-Lynn Swain

Examining Attorney

Law Office 116

571-272-9232

michele.swain@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 August 01, 2019, 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.”