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:  March 15, 2020

 

INTRODUCTION

This Office action is supplemental to and supersedes the previous Office action issued on 8/8/2019 in connection with this application.  The applicant responded on 9/4/2019, and the application was subsequently approved for publication and a Notice of Allowance issued.  However, after a review of the identification of services, it became apparent that the examining attorney overlooked components of the identification which were overbroad and indefinite.

 

The new requirement is identified below.  The examining attorney apologizes for any inconvenience caused. 

 

Applicant must respond to all issues raised in this Office action within six (6) months of the date of issuance of this Office action.  37 C.F.R. §2.62(a); see TMEP §711.02.  If applicant does not respond within this time limit, the application will be abandoned.  37 C.F.R. §2.65(a).

 

 

SUMMARY OF ISSUES:

•  Applicant Must Amend its Identification of Services

            •  Multi-Class Requirement

 

 

APPLICANT MUST AMEND ITS IDENTIFICATION OF SERVICES

Certain wording in the identification is indefinite or overly broad and must be clarified.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.03, 1904.02(c), (c)(ii).  Please see the notes and suggested amendments below.

 

Applicant should note that any wording in bold, in italics, and/or in ALL CAPS below offers guidance and/or shows the changes being proposed for the identification of goods and services.  If there is wording in the applicant’s version of the identification of goods and services which should be removed, it will be shown with a line through it such as this: strikethrough.  When making its amendments, applicant should enter them in standard font, not in bold, in italics, underlined and/or in ALL CAPS.

 

Applicant may substitute the following wording, if accurate: 

 

International Class 35:  providing a website featuring business management and human resources information and articles {Applicant must either delete or provide clarification as to the meaning of “articles”, as these services appear to be in Class 41} for employers and employees, namely, information and articles {Applicant must either delete or provide clarification as to the meaning of “articles”, as these services appear to be in Class 41} relating to business reporting, operations automation, and workflow automation 

 

International Class 42:  providing a website featuring business management and human resources technology for employers and employees, namely, technology which allows users to perform business functions in the nature of reporting, operations automation, and workflow automation; providing a website featuring business management and human resources tools for employers and employees, namely, reporting, operations automation, and workflow automation tools IN THE NATURE OF {applicant must specify the Class 42 services described by the word “tools”, e.g., temporary use of non-downloadable software for [applicant must state the actual function of the software, e.g., sending reports, monitoring the progress of projects]}; providing an interactive website featuring technology that allows users to collect, track, analyze and create reports on employee lifecycle data and allows users to manage and automate human resources operations and workflow, including but not limited to, automating onboarding new employees and offboarding departing employees

 

INTERNATIONAL CLASS 41:  PROVISION OF ONLINE NON-DOWNLOADABLE ARTICLES IN THE FIELD OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND HUMAN RESOURCES; Providing a website featuring business management and human resources tools for employers and employees, namely, reporting, operations automation, and workflow automation tools IN THE NATURE OF {applicant must specify the Class 41 services described by the word “tools”, e.g., non-downloadable online journals in the field of business management and human resources}

 

 

Applicant’s services may be clarified or limited, but may not be expanded beyond those originally itemized in the application or as acceptably amended.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); TMEP §1402.06.  Applicant may clarify or limit the identification by inserting qualifying language or deleting items to result in a more specific identification; however, applicant may not substitute different services or add services not found or encompassed by those in the original application or as acceptably amended.  See TMEP §1402.06(a)-(b).  The scope of the services sets the outer limit for any changes to the identification and is generally determined by the ordinary meaning of the wording in the identification.  TMEP §§1402.06(b), 1402.07(a)-(b).  Any acceptable changes to the services will further limit scope, and once services are deleted, they are not permitted to be reinserted.  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.

 

 

MULTI-CLASS REQUIREMENT

The application identifies 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(s) already paid (view the USPTO’s current fee schedule).  The application identifies services that are classified in at least 3 classes; however, applicant submitted a fee sufficient for only 2 classes.  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 37 C.F.R. §2.86(a); TMEP §§1403.01, 1403.02(c).

 

For 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, see the Multiple-class Application webpage.

 

How to respond.  Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action.    

 

 

/Kyle Ingram/

Kyle Ingram

Attorney Advisor

Law Office 125

(571)272-5276

Kyle.ingram@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 March 15, 2020 for

U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88436267

 

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. 

 

 

Ingram, Kyle

/Kyle Ingram/

Kyle Ingram

Attorney Advisor

Law Office 125

(571)272-5276

Kyle.ingram@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 March 15, 2020, 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.”