To: | Grower Network, LLC (lake.jordan@colemantalley.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88410982 - BESTIES - N/A |
Sent: | January 24, 2020 02:03:55 PM |
Sent As: | ecom111@uspto.gov |
Attachments: |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88410982
Mark: BESTIES
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Correspondence Address:
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Applicant: Grower Network, 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 24, 2020
This Office action is in response to applicant’s communication filed on December 19, 2019. Registration was refused on the grounds that the applicant failed to provide the Office with an acceptable specimen of use. The applicant’s response does not address the refusal but instead appears to withdraw the statement of use. However, as stated in the refusal dated November 19, 2019 the applicant may not withdraw the statement of use. See 37 C.F.R. §2.88(f); TMEP §1109.17.
Applicant was previously refused registration because the original specimen appeared to consist of a digitally altered image or a mock-up of the intended depiction of the mark on the goods or their packaging for future use in commerce. An application based on Trademark Act Section 1(a) must include a specimen showing the applied-for mark in use in commerce for each international class of goods identified in the application or amendment to allege use. 15 U.S.C. §1051(a)(1); 37 C.F.R. §§2.34(a)(1)(iv), 2.56(a); TMEP §§904, 904.07(a).
The applicant was informed that it may respond to this refusal by submitting, for each applicable international class, a different specimen (a verified “substitute” specimen) that (a) was in actual use in commerce prior to the expiration of the deadline for filing the statement of use and (b) shows the mark in actual use in commerce for the goods and/or services identified in the statement of use. A “verified substitute specimen” is a specimen that is accompanied by the following statement made in a signed affidavit or supported by a declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20: “The substitute (or new, or originally submitted, if appropriate) specimen(s) was/were in use in commerce prior to expiration of the filing deadline for a statement of use.” The substitute specimen cannot be accepted without this statement. However, the applicant’s response contained no such substitute specimen of use.
Applicant may not withdraw the statement of use. See 37 C.F.R. §2.88(f); TMEP §1109.17.
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).
/Geoffrey Fosdick/
Trademark Attorney
Law Office 111
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
571 272 9161
geoffrey.fosdick@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE