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:  February 01, 2021

 

This Office action is in response to applicant’s communication filed on December 19, 2020.

 

The trademark examining attorney notes that the following requirements have been satisfied: definite amended identifications provided in part, and information request satisfied.  See TMEP §§713.02, 714.04. 

 

The refusal under Section 2(e)(2) is maintained and continued.  The examining attorney has considered applicant’s arguments, but remains unpersuaded.

 

The requirement for acceptable identifications of services is maintained and continued, in part.  The following new issue concerning the identification of services in International Class 35 must be addressed.  The examining attorney apologizes for failure to raise this issue previously:

 

IDENTIFICATIONS OF SERVICES

 

The wording “Subscription to a television channel, namely, a continuing subscription featuring a video program in the field of sports broadcast over the internet and a continuing subscription featuring an audio program in the field of football broadcast over the internet” in the identification of services for International Class 35 must be clarified because it is too broad and could include services in other international classes.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.03.  In particular, this wording could encompass “Subscription to a television channel” in International Class 35 and “Providing a continuing subscription video program in the field of sports broadcast over the internet and a continuing subscription audio program in the field of football broadcast over the internet” in International Class 41.

 

“Subscription services,” as contemplated in International Class 35, are the services of providing the goods or services of others on a subscription basis. For example, Publisher’s Clearinghouse provides subscriptions to third-party periodicals.  Additionally, a continuing program is not the equivalent of a television channel. 

 

Additionally, applicant has listed goods and services in International Class 42 that are already listed in the other classes that have been added to the application and are not properly identified and classified in International Class 42.  Applicant should deleted this class of goods and services. 

 

The examining attorney has suggested amendments to the identifications below to resolve this issue.  Applicant may adopt one or more of the following identifications, if accurate: 

 

International Class 35

 

Subscription to a television channel

 

International Class 41

 

Providing a continuing subscription video program in the field of sports broadcast over the internet and a continuing subscription audio program in the field of football broadcast over the internet.

 

Applicant may amend the identification to clarify or limit the goods and/or services, but not to broaden or expand the goods and/or services beyond those in the original application or as acceptably amended.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); TMEP §1402.06.  Generally, any deleted goods and/or services may not later be reinserted.  See 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.

 

MULTIPLE-CLASS APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

 

The application identifies goods and/or services that are classified in at least 8 classes; however, applicant submitted a fees sufficient for only 7 classes.  In a multiple-class application, a fee for each class is required.  37 C.F.R. §2.86(a)(2), (b)(2); TMEP §§810.01, 1403.01.  For more information about adding classes to an application, see the Multiple-class Application webpage.

 

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.

 

The fee for adding classes to a TEAS Standard application is $350 per class.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(1)(iii).  For more information about adding classes to an application, see the Multiple-class Application webpage.

 

The application identifies goods and/or services in more than one international class; therefore, applicant must satisfy all the requirements below for each international class based on Trademark Act Section 1(b):

 

(1)        List the goods and/or services by their international class number in consecutive numerical order, starting with the lowest numbered class.

 

(2)        Submit a filing fee for each international class not covered by the fees already paid (view the USPTO’s current fee schedule).  The application identifies goods and/or services that are classified in at least 8 classes; however, applicant submitted a fees sufficient for only 7 classes.  Applicant must either submit the filing fees for the classes not covered by the submitted fees or restrict the application to the number of classes covered by the fees already paid.

 

See 37 C.F.R. §2.86(a); TMEP §§1403.01, 1403.02(c).

 

For an overview of the requirements for a Section 1(b) multiple-class application and how to satisfy the requirements online using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) form, see the Multiple-class Application webpage.

 

ASSISTANCE

 

Please call or email the assigned trademark examining attorney with questions about this Office action. 

 

 

How to respond.  Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action.    

 

 

/Anne M. Farrell/

Law Office 118

Trademark Examining Attorney

anne.farrell@uspto.gov (informal responses only)

(571) 272-9709

 

 

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 February 01, 2021 for

U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88585869

 

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. 

 

 

/Anne M. Farrell/

Law Office 118

Trademark Examining Attorney

anne.farrell@uspto.gov (informal responses only)

(571) 272-9709

 

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 February 01, 2021, 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.”