To: | Team Health, Inc. (lfriedman@bradley.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88530677 - ACCESSNURSE - 203740301001 |
Sent: | October 18, 2019 03:28:56 PM |
Sent As: | ecom113@uspto.gov |
Attachments: |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88530677
Mark: ACCESSNURSE
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Correspondence Address: BRADLEY ARANT BOULT CUMMINGS LLP
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Applicant: Team Health, Inc.
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Reference/Docket No. 203740301001
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 18, 2019
The referenced application has been reviewed by the assigned trademark examining attorney. Applicant must respond timely and completely to the issues below. 15 U.S.C. §1062(b); 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(a), 2.65(a); TMEP §§711, 718.03.
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).
SUMMARY OF ISSUES:
IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION AMENDMENT REQUIRED
Additionally, applicant must clarify the wording “providing 24/7 support to hospitals, physicians, and community health centers for inbound and outbound clinical and non- clinical call handling to include telephone nurse triage, answering services, virtual front desk services and post-discharge services” in the identification of services in International Class 044 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 nature of the services “telephone nurse triage” and “virtual front desk services and post-discharge services” are. Further, this wording identifies services in more than one international class. The services “telephone nurse triage” services are properly classified in class 044 because they are primarily medical services. The wording “providing 24/7 support to hospitals, physicians, and community health centers for inbound and outbound clinical and non- clinical call handling to include answering services, virtual front desk services” is properly classified in class 035 because it is primarily a business service. The remaining services “post-discharge services” could be classified in class 35 if the nature of the services is primarily business related, or class 44 if the nature of the services is primarily medical. Therefore, the identification must be reclassified and the nature of the services specified for clarity and to ensure proper classification.
Applicant may substitute the following wording, if accurate:
IC 035: Medical call center services; providing 24/7 support to hospitals, physicians, and community health centers for inbound and outbound clinical and non-clinical call handling, namely, answering services, virtual front desk services in the nature of {specify nature of front desk services} and post-discharge services, namely, {specify post-discharge business services}
IC 044: telephone nurse triage in the nature of {specify nature of services, e.g., conducting medical evaluations for patient triage via telephone}; post-discharge services, namely, {specify post-discharge medical services}
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.
CLARIFICATION OF THE NUMBER OF CLASSES FOR WHICH REGISTRATION IS SOUGHT REQUIRED
Therefore, applicant must either (1) restrict the application to the number of classes covered by the fees already paid, or (2) submit the fees for each additional class.
ADVISORY – MULTIPLE CLASS APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
(1) List the goods and/or services by their international class number in consecutive numerical order, starting with the lowest numbered class (for example, International Class 3: perfume; International Class 18: cosmetic bags sold empty).
(2) Submit a filing fee for each international class not covered by the fee(s) already paid (view the USPTO’s current fee schedule).
(3) Submit verified dates of first use of the mark anywhere and in commerce for each international class. See more information about verified dates of use.
(4) Submit a specimen for each international class. The current specimen is acceptable for classes 35 and 44. See more information about specimens.
Examples of specimens for services include advertising and marketing materials, brochures, photographs of business signage and billboards, and website printouts that show the mark used in the actual sale, rendering, or advertising of the services.
(5) Submit a verified statement that “The specimen was in use in commerce on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the application at least as early as the filing date of the application.” See more information about verification.
See 15 U.S.C. §§1051(a), 1112; 37 C.F.R. §§2.32(a)(6)-(7), 2.34(a)(1), 2.86(a); TMEP §§904, 1403.01, 1403.02(c).
See an overview of the requirements for a Section 1(a) multiple-class application and how to satisfy the requirements online using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) form.
RESPONSE GUIDELINES
For this application to proceed, applicant must explicitly address each 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
Rebecca Coughlan
/Rebecca D. Coughlan/
Trademark Examining Attorney, Law Office 113
Phone: 571-272-4975
Email: rebecca.coughlan@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE