To: | Indigo Ag, Inc. (tmadmin@choate.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88468791 - TERRATON INITIATIVE - 2012626-0444 |
Sent: | September 05, 2019 08:20:21 AM |
Sent As: | ecom118@uspto.gov |
Attachments: | Attachment - 1 Attachment - 2 Attachment - 3 Attachment - 4 Attachment - 5 Attachment - 6 Attachment - 7 |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88468791
Mark: TERRATON INITIATIVE
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Correspondence Address: |
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Applicant: Indigo Ag, Inc.
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Reference/Docket No. 2012626-0444
Correspondence Email Address: |
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PRIORITY ACTION
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: September 05, 2019
USPTO database searched; no conflicting marks found. The trademark examining attorney searched the USPTO database of registered and pending marks and found no conflicting marks that would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d). 15 U.S.C. §1052(d); TMEP §704.02.
Applicant must address issues shown below. On September 4, 2019, the examining attorney and Mr. Daniel Scales discussed the issue below. Applicant must timely respond to this issue. See 15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §2.62(a); TMEP §708.05.
DISCLAIMER
In this case, applicant must disclaim the wording “INITIATIVE” in the mark because it is not inherently distinctive. This unregistrable term at best is merely descriptive of a feature, or characteristic 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 attached dictionary evidence shows that “INITIATIVE” means “an act or strategy intended to resolve a difficulty or improve a situation”; “a plan or program that is intended to solve a problem”. See attached definitions from the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Applicant’s services are “association services, namely, promoting the adoption and acceptance of agricultural standards for sequestration of carbon and other greenhouse gases; promoting voluntary common industry standards for farming sequestration of carbon and other greenhouse gases; provision of an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of carbon and other greenhouse gas credits, allowances or offsets; promoting international sequestration of carbon and other greenhouse gases by administration of competitions and challenges for others”.
Thus, the term “INITIATIVE” merely describes that applicant’s services implement a strategy, plan or program to reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions through promoting adoption of industry standards.
Applicant may respond to this issue by submitting a disclaimer in the following format:
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “INITIATIVE” 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.
RESPONSE
Applicant is encouraged to call or email the assigned trademark examining attorney below to resolve the issues in this Office action. Although the USPTO will not accept an email as a response to an Office action, an applicant can communicate by phone or email to agree to a proposed amendment to the application that will immediately place the application in condition for publication, registration, or suspension. See 37 C.F.R. §2.62(c); TMEP §707.
How to respond. Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action.
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.
/Lee-Anne Berns/
Examining Attorney
Law Office 118
(571) 272 1168
Lee-anne.Berns@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE