To: | Zuffa, LLC (TRADEMARKSLV@DICKINSONWRIGHT.COM) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88494369 - UFC PERFORMANCE INSTITUTE - 066108-72328 |
Sent: | August 20, 2019 07:59:02 PM |
Sent As: | ecom107@uspto.gov |
Attachments: | Attachment - 1 Attachment - 2 Attachment - 3 Attachment - 4 Attachment - 5 Attachment - 6 Attachment - 7 Attachment - 8 Attachment - 9 Attachment - 10 |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88494369
Mark: UFC PERFORMANCE INSTITUTE
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Correspondence Address: JENNIFER KO CRAFT; MICHAEL N. FEDER; JOH 8363 WEST SUNSET ROAD, SUITE 200
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Applicant: Zuffa, LLC
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Reference/Docket No. 066108-72328
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: August 20, 2019
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 “INSTITUTE” 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 goods and/or 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 word “INSTITUTE” merely indicates applicant’s entity type – a type of organization for the promotion of a certain cause. See attached dictionary evidence.
Applicant may respond to this issue by submitting a disclaimer in the following format:
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “INSTITUTE” 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.
ADVISORY
How to respond. Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action
If applicant has questions about its application or needs assistance in responding to this Office action, please telephone the assigned examining attorney.
Michelle E. Dubois
Trademark Attorney
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
Law Office
(571) 272-5887
michelle.dubois@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE