To: | Parallel Wireless, Inc. (ip.inbox@parallelwireless.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88539835 - PARALLEL WIRELESS - PWS80033USTM |
Sent: | October 20, 2019 03:36:26 PM |
Sent As: | ecom124@uspto.gov |
Attachments: |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88539835
Mark: PARALLEL WIRELESS
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Correspondence Address: 100 INNOVATIVE WAY, SUITE 3410
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Applicant: Parallel Wireless, Inc.
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Reference/Docket No. PWS80033USTM
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 20, 2019
· Search of Office’s Database of Marks – No Conflicting Marks
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).
SPECIMEN REFUSAL
THIS PARTIAL REFUSAL APPLIES TO CLASS 9 ONLY
Registration is refused because the specimen does not show the applied-for mark in use in commerce in International Class 9. Trademark Act Sections 1 and 45, 15 U.S.C. §§1051, 1127; 37 C.F.R. §§2.34(a)(1)(iv), 2.56(a); TMEP §§904, 904.07(a).
Specifically, the mark does not appears in relation to any goods provided for sale. Further, it is unclear from the pages provided whether the software goods as shown on the splash page serve the functionality specified of monitoring and alerting remote sensors.
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 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). However, leaflets, handbills, advertising circulars, and other advertising materials generally are not acceptable specimens for goods. See TMEP §§904.03 et seq.
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 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.
(1) Deleting the class to which the refusal pertains;
(2) Filing a request to divide out the goods and/or services that have not been refused registration, so that the mark may proceed toward publication for opposition in the class(es) to which the refusal does not pertain. See 37 C.F.R. §2.87. See generally TMEP §§1110 et seq. (regarding the requirements for filing a request to divide). If applicant files a request to divide, then to avoid abandonment, applicant must also file a timely response to all outstanding issues in this Office action, including the refusal. 37 C.F.R. §2.87(e).; or
(3) Amending the basis for such class(es), if appropriate. TMEP §806.03(h). (The basis cannot be changed for applications filed under Trademark Act Section 66(a). TMEP §1904.01(a).)
However, if applicant responds to the refusal, applicant must also respond to the requirements set forth below.
Applicant must provide a disclaimer of the unregistrable part of the applied-for mark even though the mark as a whole appears to be registrable. See 15 U.S.C. §1056(a); TMEP §§1213, 1213.03(a). A disclaimer of an unregistrable part of a mark will not affect the mark’s appearance. See Schwarzkopf v. John H. Breck, Inc., 340 F.2d 978, 979-80, 144 USPQ 433, 433 (C.C.P.A. 1965).
In this case, applicant must disclaim the wording “WIRELESS” because it is not inherently distinctive. The unregistrable term is at best merely descriptive of a feature of applicant’s goods and 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 applicant’s identification specifies that the goods and services are for wireless telecommunications networks, thus, the wording merely describes applicant’s goods and services.
Applicant may respond to this issue by submitting a disclaimer in the following format:
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “WIRELESS” 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.
Applicant must clarify some of the wording in the identification of goods for International Class 9 because it is indefinite or overbroad. See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1402.01, 1402.03. Specifically, the wording “Telecommunications hardware and software for monitoring and alerting remote sensor status via the Internet; Wireless communication devices for voice, data or image transmission” is indefinite because it could encompass downloadable or recorded software in Class 9 or online non-downloadable software services in Class 42.
Applicant may substitute the following wording, if accurate:
Class 9: Apparatus for transmission of communication; Broadband wireless equipment, namely, telecommunications base station equipment for cellular and fixed networking and communications applications; Computer hardware for telecommunications; Contingency response communication system designed to provide radio interoperability, streaming video, wireless internet, and VOIP phone; Telecommunication base stations; Telecommunications and data networking hardware, namely, devices for transporting and aggregating voice, data, and video communications across multiple network infrastructures and communications protocols; Telecommunications hardware and downloadable software for monitoring and alerting remote sensor status via the Internet; Wireless communication devices for voice, data or image transmission
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.
Response Guidelines
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
/Alexandra El-Bayeh/
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 124
(571) 270-5911
alexandra.el-bayeh@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE