To: | Almo Corporation (trademarks@whiteandwilliams.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88596992 - ALMO PROFESSIONAL A/V - N/A |
Sent: | December 03, 2019 09:04:36 AM |
Sent As: | ecom122@uspto.gov |
Attachments: | Attachment - 1 Attachment - 2 Attachment - 3 Attachment - 4 Attachment - 5 Attachment - 6 Attachment - 7 Attachment - 8 Attachment - 9 Attachment - 10 Attachment - 11 |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88596992
Mark: ALMO PROFESSIONAL A/V
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Correspondence Address:
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Applicant: Almo Corporation
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Reference/Docket No. N/A
Correspondence Email Address: |
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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 03, 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
PRIOR-FILED APPLICATION(S) ADVISORY
In response to this Office action, applicant may present arguments in support of registration by addressing the issue of the potential conflict between applicant’s mark and the mark in the referenced application. Applicant’s election not to submit arguments at this time in no way limits applicant’s right to address this issue later if a refusal under Section 2(d) issues.
Class 35: retail store services and wholesale distributorships featuring professional level audio visual equipment,
TVs and digital signage, and related electronics equipment the following services
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.
In this case, applicant must disclaim the wording “PROFESSIONAL A/V” 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 from http://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=professional shows the wording “PROFESSIONAL” means “conforming to the standard of a profession,” and the attached evidence from http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/37300/a-v shows that the wording “A/V” means “(Audio/Video) Equipment and applications that deal with sound and sight . . . [t]he term originally meant ‘audio/visual’.” Applicant’s services are identified as “retail store services and wholesale distributorship featuring professional level audio visual equipment, TVs and digital signage and related equipment the following services.” Further, the attached evidence from applicant’s website shows that applicant is describing its services as “the nation’s largest professional audio visual distributor.” Thus, the wording merely describes applicant’s services because applicant is providing audio/video (or audio/visual) equipment that conforms to a particular standard.
Applicant may respond to this issue by submitting a disclaimer in the following format:
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “PROFESSIONAL A/V” 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.
RESPONSE TO OFFICE ACTION
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.
/Corinne Kleinman/
Corinne Kleinman
Examining Attorney
Law Office 122
571-272-7461
corinne.kleinman@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE