Offc Action Outgoing

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application

 

 

 

NONFINAL OFFICE ACTION

 

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:  December 16, 2019

 

 

Upon further review, the following issue(s) has been raised and must be addressed.  The Office apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.  Applicant must respond to all issues within six months from the date of this new Office action in order to avoid abandonment of the application.  TMEP §1104.09(h).

 

 

Identification of Goods/Services

 

The identification of goods is indefinite and must be clarified.  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.

 

The Class 030 wording “dumplings” (used twice in the ID) is over broad.  The wording “dumplings” is unacceptable because it is overbroad and encompasses, for example, potato-based dumplings in Class 29 and flour-based dumplings in Class 30. 

 

Applicant may adopt the following wording, if accurate: 

 

Class 030        Pizza; snack foods, namely, cereal and rice based snack foods, namely, snack foods containing or consisting of dough, pasta, pastry, pizza, garlic bread and garlic fingers, and dough enrobed snack foods consisting of a dough-based wrapper with pizza filling; appetizers, namely, appetizers having a cereal and rice base, namely, appetizers containing or consisting of dough, pasta, pastry, pizza, garlic bread, and garlic fingers, and dough enrobed appetizers consisting of a dough-based wrapper with pizza fillings; frozen and prepared desserts, namely, bakery goods, bakery desserts, pies, cakes, pastries, French toast, waffles, fruit and ice cream pies, and frozen confections; frozen and prepared pastries; ice cream; frozen prepared meals, namely, meals containing or consisting primarily of pasta, pizza or rice; breakfasts foods, namely, French toast, pancakes, waffles, cereals, oatmeal and creamed wheat cereals; prepared sandwiches, namely, filled wraps and bread with filling; prepared meals and entrees, namely, cereal and rise based prepared meals and entrees, namely, entrees containing or consisting of pasta, pizza, rice, sandwiches, and dough enrobed entrees consisting of dough-based wrapper with pizza filling; and powders and mixes used in preparation of non-alcoholic tea beverages, soft drinks and smoothies; taquitos, spring rolls, quesadilla rolls, flour based dumplings, samosas; frozen and prepared non-dairy desserts, namely, desserts made of fruits, frozen fruits, and fruit salad; appetizers made from vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, cheese, and potato, namely, taquitos, spring rolls, quesadilla rolls, flour based dumplings, samosas; sauces used as dips

 

 

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.  See TMEP §1402.04.

 

 

 

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.    

 

 

/W. Wendy Jun/

W. Wendy Jun

Examining Attorney

Law Office 103

wendy.jun@uspto.gov

 

 

RESPONSE GUIDANCE

• Missing the response deadline to this letter will cause the application to abandon.  A response or notice of appeal must be received by the USPTO before midnight Eastern Time of the last day of the response period.  TEAS and ESTTA maintenance or unforeseen circumstances could affect an applicant’s ability to timely respond.  

 

• Responses signed by an unauthorized party are not accepted and can cause the application to abandon.  If applicant does not have an attorney, the response must be signed by the individual applicant, all joint applicants, or someone with legal authority to bind a juristic applicant.  If applicant has an attorney, the response must be signed by the attorney.

 

• If needed, find contact information for the supervisor of the office or unit listed in the signature block.

 

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

 

USPTO OFFICIAL NOTICE

 

Office Action (Official Letter) has issued

on December 16, 2019 for

U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88582024

 

Your trademark application has been reviewed by a trademark examining attorney.  As part of that review, the assigned attorney has issued an official letter that you must respond to by the specified deadline or your application will be abandoned.  Please follow the steps below.

 

(1)  Read the official letter.

 

(2)  Direct questions about the contents of the Office action to the assigned attorney below. 

 

 

/W. Wendy Jun/

W. Wendy Jun

Examining Attorney

Law Office 103

wendy.jun@uspto.gov

 

Direct questions about navigating USPTO electronic forms, the USPTO website, the application process, the status of your application, and/or whether there are outstanding deadlines or documents related to your file to the Trademark Assistance Center (TAC).

 

(3)  Respond within 6 months (or earlier, if required in the Office action) from December 16, 2019, using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).  The response must be received by the USPTO before midnight Eastern Time of the last day of the response period.  See the Office action for more information about how to respond

 

 

 

GENERAL GUIDANCE

·       Check the status of your application periodically in the Trademark Status & Document Retrieval (TSDR) database to avoid missing critical deadlines.

 

·       Update your correspondence email address, if needed, to ensure you receive important USPTO notices about your application.

 

·       Beware of misleading notices sent by private companies about your application.  Private companies not associated with the USPTO use public information available in trademark registrations to mail and email trademark-related offers and notices – most of which require fees.  All official USPTO correspondence will only be emailed from the domain “@uspto.gov.”