To: | Dynamic Fastener Service, Inc. (tmdocketing.misemer@hoveywilliams.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88537097 - D.F - 52210/6797 |
Sent: | October 22, 2019 03:08:44 PM |
Sent As: | ecom107@uspto.gov |
Attachments: |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88537097
Mark: D.F
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Correspondence Address: 10801 MASTIN BOULEVARD, SUITE 1000
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Applicant: Dynamic Fastener Service, Inc.
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Reference/Docket No. 52210/6797
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 22, 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.
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).
The examining attorney respectfully advises applicant that this Office Action contains the following refusal(s)/requirement(s) summarized immediately below and further explained within the body of this Office Action.
SUMMARY OF ISSUES that applicant must address:
SPECIMEN REFUSAL AS TO CLASS 35
An application based on Trademark Act Section 1(a) must include a specimen showing the applied-for mark in use in commerce for each international class of goods and/or services identified in the application or amendment to allege use. 15 U.S.C. §1051(a)(1); 37 C.F.R. §§2.34(a)(1)(iv), 2.56(a); TMEP §§904, 904.07(a).
Examples of specimens for goods include tags, labels, instruction manuals, containers, photographs that show the mark on the actual goods or packaging, and displays associated with the actual goods at their point of sale. See TMEP §§904.03 et seq. Webpages may also be specimens for goods when they include a picture or textual description of the goods associated with the mark and the means to order the goods. TMEP §904.03(i). Examples of specimens for services include advertising and marketing materials, brochures, photographs of business signage and billboards, and webpages that show the mark used in the actual sale, rendering, or advertising of the services. See TMEP §1301.04(a), (h)(iv)(C). Specimens comprising advertising and promotional materials must show a direct association between the mark and the services. TMEP §1301.04(f)(ii).
Applicant may respond to this refusal by satisfying one of the following for each applicable international class:
(1) Submit a different specimen (a verified “substitute” specimen) that (a) was in actual use in commerce at least as early as the filing date of the application or prior to the filing of an amendment to allege use and (b) shows the mark in actual use in commerce for the goods and/or services identified in the application or amendment to allege use. A “verified substitute specimen” is a specimen that is accompanied by the following statement made in a signed affidavit or supported by a declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20: “The substitute (or new, or originally submitted, if appropriate) specimen(s) was/were in use in commerce at least as early as the filing date of the application or prior to the filing of the amendment to allege use.” The substitute specimen cannot be accepted without this statement.
(2) Amend the filing basis to intent to use under Section 1(b), for which no specimen is required. This option will later necessitate additional fee(s) and filing requirements such as providing a specimen.
For an overview of both response options referenced above and instructions on how to satisfy either option online using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) form, please go to http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/law/specimen.jsp.
The identification of goods is indefinite and must be clarified because it lacks specificity. See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1402.01. Applicant must amend the identification to specify the common commercial or generic name of the goods. See TMEP §1402.01. If the goods have no common commercial or generic name, applicant must describe the product, its main purpose, and its intended uses. See id.
Applicant may adopt the following wording, if accurate:
Class 2: Sealer coatings applied to fasteners in the building construction trade; Elastomeric-based coatings for use on roofs [Moved in part from Class 17]
Class 6: Metal clamps; metal screws; metal rivets; metal boat fasteners, namely, {applicant must clarify the goods intended, for example, “bolt” fasteners?} for residential and commercial building construction; metal fasteners, namely, screws and bolts for the roofing and metal fabrication trade; metal snow retention system components, namely, metal snow fences and metal snow rails in the nature of {applicant must clarify, for example, a metal device to help snow leave in a more controlled manner} for attachment to roofs; metal snow retention apparatus, namely, metal snow fences, metal snow rails for roofs, and metal snow bars in the nature of bars for metal railings, metal clips used for metal roofs and metal buildings; Mechanical fastening elements of metal (;) Metal fasteners, namely, bolts, rivets, screws and nails; Metal threaded fasteners (;) Door fasteners of metal
Class 7: (NO CHANGES) Power saw blades
Class 17: Roof coatings and sealants composed of elastomeric, liquid
rubber, namely, {applicant must clarify the goods, for example, rubber-based roofing sealants for recreational vehicles and trailers}; Pipe flashings of
non-metal material for use on a wide variety of pipes
Class 35: Distributorship services in the field fields of building materials, lighting and electrical supplies, plumbing supplies, roofing materials, tools, outdoor power equipment, and worker safety and security items; Mail order catalog services featuring building materials, lighting and electrical supplies, plumbing supplies, roofing materials, tools, outdoor power equipment, and
worker safety and security items; On-line wholesale and retail store services featuring building materials, lighting and electrical supplies, plumbing
supplies, roofing materials, tools, outdoor power equipment, and worker safety and security items; Wholesale store services and retail store services featuring building
materials, lighting and electrical supplies, plumbing supplies, roofing materials, tools, outdoor power equipment, and worker safety and security items
Applicant’s goods and/or services may be clarified or limited, but may not be expanded beyond those originally itemized in the application or as acceptably amended. See 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); TMEP §1402.06. Applicant may clarify or limit the identification by inserting qualifying language or deleting items to result in a more specific identification; however, applicant may not substitute different goods and/or services or add goods and/or services not found or encompassed by those in the original application or as acceptably amended. See TMEP §1402.06(a)-(b). The scope of the goods and/or services sets the outer limit for any changes to the identification and is generally determined by the ordinary meaning of the wording in the identification. TMEP §§1402.06(b), 1402.07(a)-(b). Any acceptable changes to the goods and/or services will further limit scope, and once goods and/or services are deleted, they are not permitted to be reinserted. TMEP §1402.07(e).
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 at http://tess2.gov.uspto.report/netahtml/tidm.html. See TMEP §1402.04.
EXPLANATION OF MARK’S SIGNIFICANCE REQUIRED
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
To expedite prosecution of the application, applicant is encouraged to file its response to this Office action online via the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), which is available at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/index.jsp. If applicant has technical questions about the TEAS response to Office action form, applicant can review the electronic filing tips available online at http://www.gov.uspto.report/trademarks/teas/e_filing_tips.jsp and email technical questions to TEAS@uspto.gov.
/Ronald E. DelGizzi/
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 107
Phone - (571) 272-2754
ronald.delgizzi@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE