To: | Advance Trading, Inc. (mbutts@htwlawyers.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88427545 - ADVANCE TRADING INC. ATI TRUSTED - N/A |
Sent: | July 31, 2019 01:51:47 PM |
Sent As: | ecom106@uspto.gov |
Attachments: | Attachment - 1 Attachment - 2 Attachment - 3 Attachment - 4 Attachment - 5 Attachment - 6 Attachment - 7 Attachment - 8 Attachment - 9 Attachment - 10 Attachment - 11 Attachment - 12 Attachment - 13 Attachment - 14 Attachment - 15 Attachment - 16 Attachment - 17 Attachment - 18 Attachment - 19 Attachment - 20 Attachment - 21 Attachment - 22 Attachment - 23 Attachment - 24 Attachment - 25 Attachment - 26 Attachment - 27 Attachment - 28 Attachment - 29 Attachment - 30 Attachment - 31 |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88427545
Mark: ADVANCE TRADING INC. ATI TRUSTED
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Correspondence Address: |
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Applicant: Advance Trading, Inc.
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Reference/Docket No. N/A
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 31, 2019
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
The referenced application has been reviewed by the assigned trademark examining attorney. Applicant must respond timely and completely to the issue(s) below. 15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(a), 2.65(a); TMEP §§711, 718.03.
SEARCH OF OFFICE’S DATABASE OF MARKS
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).
In this case, applicant must disclaim the wording “ADVANCE TRADING INC.” and “TRUSTED RISK MANAGEMENT” because it is not inherently distinctive. These unregistrable term(s) at best are merely descriptive of an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose, or use of applicant’s 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 term ADVANCE is a term of art in the financial industry. It is defined as “short-term trade financing offered to Customer, who performs goods purchases upon Open Account or Advance Payment, to raise financing by using purchase order (PO) or commercial invoice. Such transactions can be domestic trade or cross border.” Please see attached definitions. The wording “TRADING” is merely descriptive of a purpose of the brokerage services. The term INC. is merely an entity designation. The term TRUSTED is a term of art in the financial industry referring a type of fiduciary relationship. Please see attached definition. The wording RISK MANAGEMENT” is merely descriptive of a purpose or use of applicant’s services. Please see attached registrations in which the terms TRUSTED, RISK MANAGEMENT and TRADING, INC. have been held merely descriptive and disclaimed.
Applicant may respond to this issue by submitting a disclaimer in the following format:
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “ADVANCE TRADING INC.” and “TRUSTED RISK MANAGEMENT” 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.
Description Amendment Required – Description Vague
The following description is suggested, if accurate:
The mark consists of a design of geometric shapes in yellow and green forming an overall triangle in green and yellow with green outlines over of a banner in green. The letters ATI in white is enclosed in the said banner. The wording ADVANCE TRADING INC. in green is above and the wording Trusted Risk Management in green is below the said quadrilateral.
/Sally Shih/
Sally Shih
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 106
571-272-9712
sally.shih@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE