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 17, 2020

 

 

Introduction:

 

The Office has reassigned this application to the undersigned trademark examining attorney.

 

This Office action is supplemental to and supersedes the previous Office action issued on August 13, 2019 in connection with this application.  The assigned previous trademark examining attorney inadvertently omitted a requirement relevant to the mark in the subject application.  See TMEP §§706, 711.02.  Specifically, the suggested identification of goods were not definite.

 

The trademark examining attorney apologizes for any inconvenience caused by the delay in raising this issue. 

 

Applicant must address all issues raised in this Office action, in addition to the issues raised in the Office action dated August 13, 2019.  The issue raised in the previous August 13, 2019 Office action is as follow and is maintained:  identification of goods amendment required. 

 

The following is a SUMMARY OF ISSUES that applicant must address:

 

• Identification of Goods – Amendment Required.

 

Applicant must respond to all issues raised in this Office action and the previous August 13, 2019 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).

 

Identification of Goods – Amendment Required:

 

The wording listed below from the identification of goods is indefinite and must be clarified for the reasons stated.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1402.01.

 

International Class 011:

 

The wording “Sanitary installations, namely, sinks, drip cups and anti-siphon and dilution recovery traps” in the identification of goods is indefinite and must be clarified because as currently written drip cups and traps are unclear.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1402.01.  Applicant must amend this wording to specify the drip cups and traps, e.g., “Sanitary installations, namely, sinks, and anti-siphon and dilution recovery plumbing traps and drip cups, all sold as a unit”.  See TMEP §1402.01.

 

The wording “acid-resisting sanitary and laboratory fittings of plastic, and acid-resisting fittings of plastic, both for use in conveyance and general plumbing, namely, cocks, traps, valves, but not including pipes; none being goods included in other classes” in the identification of goods is indefinite and must be clarified because “none being goods included in other classes” is unclear.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1402.01. An identification should set forth the common name of a good or service using terminology that is generally understood. Wording such as "included in this class" is not the common name of particular goods or services and would not be understood by those unfamiliar with the Nice Classification. If an identification includes wording such as "included in this class," "belonging in this class," or "excluding goods/services in other classes," or the like, the examining attorney will require the applicant to delete such wording because it does not identify a particular good or service. TMEP §1402.02.

 

International Class 017:

 

Applicant must clarify the wording “Flexible pipes, tubes, hoses and fittings therefore, namely, fittings for rigid pipes, all non-metallic; pipes, fittings, and non-metal pipe collars; all made of plastics impervious to acid” in the identification of goods in International Class 017 because it is indefinite and too broad.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.03.  This wording is indefinite because it does not make clear what the goods are made of, the wording “therefore” is misspelled, and the correct punctuation is not used.  Further, this wording could identify goods in more than one international class.  For example, “Flexible pipes, tubes, and hoses and fittings therefor, all non-metallic, fittings for rigid pipes, all non-metallic; flexible pipes, pipe fittings, and non-metal pipe collars, all made of plastics impervious to acid; plastic pipe fittings, impervious to acid, for waste pipes” are in International Class 017 and “rigid pipes, not of metal” are in International Class 019. 

 

To address the above issues, applicant may adopt any or all of the following identifications, with the necessary information added, if accurate (proposed changes shown in bold typeface; proposed deletions shown in strikethrough):

 

International Class 011: Sanitary installations, namely, sinks, drip cups and anti-siphon and dilution recovery plumbing traps and drip cups, all sold as a unit; acid-resisting sanitary and laboratory fittings of plastic, and acid-resisting fittings of plastic, both for use in conveyance and general plumbing, namely, cocks, traps, valves, but not including pipes; none being goods included in other classes 

 

International Class 017: Flexible pipes, tubes, and hoses and fittings therefore therefor, all non-metallic, namely, fittings for rigid pipes, all non-metallic; flexible pipes, pipe fittings, and non-metal pipe collars, all made of plastics impervious to acid; plastic pipe fittings, impervious to acid, for waste pipes

 

International Class 019: Rigid pipes, not of metal; water-pipe valves, not of metal or plastic

 

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 in trademark applications, please see the USPTO’s online searchable U.S. Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual.  See TMEP §1402.04.

 

Applicant May Wish to Seek Trademark Counsel:

 

Because of the legal technicalities and strict deadlines of the trademark application process, applicant is encouraged to hire a private attorney who specializes in trademark matters to assist in this process.  The assigned trademark examining attorney can provide only limited assistance explaining the content of an Office action and the application process.  USPTO staff cannot provide legal advice or statements about an applicant’s legal rights.  TMEP §§705.02, 709.06.  See Hiring a U.S.-licensed trademark attorney for more information. 

 

Response Guidelines: 

 

For this application to proceed, applicant must explicitly address each requirement in this Office action.  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.

 

If applicant does not timely respond to this Office action, the following goods will be deleted from the application:  “Sanitary installations, namely, sinks, drip cups and anti-siphon and dilution recovery traps; none being goods included in other classes” in International Class 011 and “Flexible pipes, tubes, hoses and fittings therefore, namely, fittings for rigid pipes, all non-metallic; pipes, fittings, and non-metal pipe collars; all made of plastics impervious to acid” in International Class 017  See 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a); TMEP §718.02(a). 

 

In such case, the application will then proceed with the following goods only:  “acid-resisting sanitary and laboratory fittings of plastic, and acid-resisting fittings of plastic, both for use in conveyance and general plumbing, namely, cocks, traps, valves, but not including pipes” in International Class 011, “plastic pipe fittings, impervious to acid, for waste pipes” in International Class 017, and “Rigid pipes, not of metal; water-pipe valves, not of metal or plastic” in International Class 019.  See TMEP §718.02(a). 

 

Assistance or Response Options:

 

Please call or email the assigned trademark examining attorney with questions about this Office action.  Although an examining attorney cannot provide legal advice, the examining attorney can provide additional explanation about the refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) in this Office action.  See TMEP §§705.02, 709.06. 

 

The USPTO does not accept emails as responses to Office actions; however, emails can be used for informal communications and are included in the application record.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(c), 2.191; TMEP §§304.01-.02, 709.04-.05. 

 

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

 

 

/Anna Oakes/

Anna J. Oakes

Examining Attorney

Law Office 103

(571) 272-2569

aoakes1@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 17, 2020 for

U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88444097

 

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. 

 

 

/Anna Oakes/

Anna J. Oakes

Examining Attorney

Law Office 103

(571) 272-2569

aoakes1@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 17, 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.”