To: | Alex Villegas (nicholas@themyerslg.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88570584 - MANGO TECH - VIL01-2003 |
Sent: | November 12, 2019 01:49:25 PM |
Sent As: | ecom108@uspto.gov |
Attachments: | Attachment - 1 Attachment - 2 Attachment - 3 |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88570584
Mark: MANGO TECH
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Correspondence Address: 4695 MACARTHUR COURT, SUITE 200
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Applicant: Alex Villegas
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Reference/Docket No. VIL01-2003
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: November 12, 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.
DATABASE SEARCH
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).
CLASSIFICATION AND RECITATION OF SERVICES
The identification of services “Providing information in the nature of cultivation, extraction, and sales of equipment for agricultural products” is indefinite and must be clarified because it does not clearly indicate the nature of the services. See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1402.01. Classification of information services is based on the subject matter of the information provided. TMEP §1402.11(b). The word “sales of” in the identification of services is indefinite and must be clarified. See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.11. To be a registrable service, the activity must be primarily for the benefit of someone other than the applicant. See In re Reichhold Chems., Inc., 167 USPQ 376, 377 (TTAB 1970). “Sales” or “selling” normally refers to selling one’s own goods or services and is not a registrable service rendered for the benefit of others. See TMEP §§1301.01(a)(ii), 1402.11.
Applicant must amend the identification to specify the common commercial or generic name of the services. See TMEP §1402.01. If the services have no common commercial or generic name, applicant must describe or explain the nature of the services using clear and succinct language. See id.
Applicant may adopt one or more of the following, if accurate:
Int. class 35; Providing online business information in the field of agricultural products and the cultivation and extraction of agricultural products;
Int. class 44; Providing information in the nature of agricultural advice in the field of agricultural products and the cultivation and extraction of agricultural products.
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.
(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). Specifically, the application identifies goods and/or services based on use in commerce that are classified in at least 2 classes; however, applicant submitted a fee sufficient for only 1 class. Applicant must either (a) submit the filing fees for the classes not covered by the submitted fees or (b) restrict the application to the number of classes covered by the fees already paid.
(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 class 44; and applicant needs a specimen for any other class. 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.
DISCLAIMER
In this case, applicant must disclaim the wording “MANGO” 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 attached evidence shows this wording refers to a strain of marijuana. In addition, it appears from applicant’s website http://mangotech.store/ that applicant provides information regarding the cultivation and extraction of agricultural products including the MANGO marijuana strain. Thus, the wording merely describes a feature of the 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 “MANGO” 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.
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
Factual information about the services must clearly indicate what the services are and how they are rendered, their salient features, and their prospective customers and channels of trade. Conclusory statements regarding the services will not satisfy this requirement for information.
Also applicant must address the following questions:
· Does the term MANGO in mark have any meaning in the applicant’s relevant industry? If so, indicate the nature of its meaning.
· Does applicant provide agricultural advice including advice regarding agricultural products relating to the cultivation and extraction of marijuana?
Failure to comply with a request for information is grounds for refusing registration. In re Harley, 119 USPQ2d 1755, 1757-58 (TTAB 2016); TMEP §814. Merely stating that information about the goods and services is available on applicant’s website is an insufficient response and will not make the relevant information of record. See In re Planalytics, Inc., 70 USPQ2d 1453, 1457-58 (TTAB 2004).
ASSISTANCE
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
/Karen K. Bush/
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 108
571-272-9136
Karen.Bush@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE