To: | MD HYDRATION, INC. (Efiling@knobbe.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88528158 - HYDRATION ROOM - MDHY.009T |
Sent: | October 10, 2019 10:59:29 AM |
Sent As: | ecom114@uspto.gov |
Attachments: | Attachment - 1 Attachment - 2 Attachment - 3 Attachment - 4 |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88528158
Mark: HYDRATION ROOM
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Correspondence Address: KNOBBE, MARTENS, OLSON & BEAR, LLP
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Applicant: MD HYDRATION, INC.
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Reference/Docket No. MDHY.009T
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: October 10, 2019
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.
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).
SECTION 2(e)(1) REFUSAL - MERELY DESCRIPTIVE
The applied-for mark is HYDRATION ROOM (standard characters) for Medical services; Medical services, namely, administering fluid mixtures containing medications, intravenously or by injection, to treat symptoms such as cold and flu, exhaustion, hangover, general malaise, muscle fatigue, jet lag; administering fluid mixtures containing vitamins and custom therapies.
Applicant’s website states that applicant provides “IV hydration and injection therapy” and “IV hydration therapies… administered in a private room” - IV hydration and injection therapy is the quickest way to help improve your symptoms and get you back to feeling your best. IV hydration therapies are quick, often under thirty minutes depending on your hydration status and needs. Injection therapy is also quick, and administered in a private room by our physicians or nursing staff. Therefore, the term “HYDRATION” is merely descriptive of applicant’s medical services (hydration therapy) in a “ROOM.” See attached website evidence.
Only where the combination of descriptive terms creates a unitary mark with a unique, incongruous, or otherwise nondescriptive meaning in relation to the goods and/or services is the combined mark registrable. See In re Colonial Stores, Inc., 394 F.2d 549, 551, 157 USPQ 382, 384 (C.C.P.A. 1968); In re Positec Grp. Ltd., 108 USPQ2d 1161, 1162-63 (TTAB 2013).
In this case, both the individual components and the composite result are descriptive of applicant’s services and do not create a unique, incongruous, or nondescriptive meaning in relation to the goods and/or services. Specifically, applicant provides a “room” for “hydration” therapies.
In light of the foregoing, registration is refused pursuant to Section 2(e)(1) of the Trademark Act.
SUPPLEMENTAL REGISTER – Cannot be recommended/Duplicate Registration on Supp.
SECTION 2(f) ADVISORY
To amend the application to Section 2(f) based on five years’ use, applicant should request that the application be amended to assert a claim of acquired distinctiveness under Section 2(f) and submit the following written statement claiming acquired distinctiveness, if accurate:
The mark has become distinctive of the goods and/or services through the applicant’s substantially exclusive and continuous use of the mark in commerce that the U.S. Congress may lawfully regulate for at least the five years immediately before the date of this statement.
TMEP §1212.05(d); see 15 U.S.C. §1052(f); 37 C.F.R. §2.41(a)(2); TMEP §1212.08. This statement must be verified with an affidavit or signed declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20. 37 C.F.R. §2.41(a)(2); TMEP §1212.05(d); see 37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(1).
Applicant is advised that, if the application is amended to seek registration on the Principal Register under Trademark Act Section 2(f), applicant will be required to disclaim “HYDRATION” because such wording appears to be generic in the context of applicant’s goods and/or services. See 15 U.S.C. §1056(a); In re Wella Corp., 565 F.2d 143, 144, 196 USPQ 7, 8 (C.C.P.A. 1977); In re Creative Goldsmiths of Wash., Inc., 229 USPQ 766, 768 (TTAB 1986); TMEP §1213.03(b).
Applicant may submit a disclaimer in the following format:
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “HYDRATION” apart from the mark as shown.
TMEP §1213.08(a)(i).
For an overview of disclaimers and instructions on how to satisfy this issue using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), see the Disclaimer webpage.
Applicant must note the following additional requirement.
Response guidelines. For this application to proceed, applicant must explicitly address each refusal and/or requirement in this Office action. For a refusal, applicant may provide written arguments and evidence against the refusal, and may have other response options if specified above. 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.
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
/Brittney Cogan/
Examining Attorney
Law Office 114
(571) 272-7973
brittney.cogan@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE