To: | Rockline Industries, Inc. (tmadmin@reinhartlaw.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88604183 - WHOLE HOME BY GOOD & CLEAN - 14559 |
Sent: | November 07, 2019 03:02:59 PM |
Sent As: | ecom117@uspto.gov |
Attachments: | Attachment - 1 Attachment - 2 |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88604183
Mark: WHOLE HOME BY GOOD & CLEAN
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Correspondence Address: REINHART BOERNER VAN DEUREN S.C.
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Applicant: Rockline Industries, Inc.
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Reference/Docket No. 14559
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 07, 2019
Search Results
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).
Summary of Issues Applicant Must Address:
Disclaimer Required
In this case, applicant must disclaim exclusive use to the wording “WHOLE HOME” 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 AHDictionary.com shows that “WHOLE” can refer to “containing all components; complete” and “HOME” can refer to a residence. Thus, the wording “WHOLE HOME” is a combination of terms that, together and apart, merely describe characteristics of applicant’s goods, namely, that applicant’s cleaning cloths can be used for all of the places in a residence.
Applicant may respond to this issue by submitting a disclaimer in the following format:
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “WHOLE HOME” 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.
Identification of Goods Requires Amendment
Class 3:
Cleaning cloths and wipes impregnated with cleaning chemicals;
hard surface cleaning wipes, namely, {specify particular Class 3 goods, e.g., wipes impregnated with a cleaning preparation; otherwise, “paper wipes for cleaning” are in Class 16 and “fabric clean room wipes” are in Class 21};
hard surface disinfecting wipes {these are Class 5 goods per the ID Manual entry “disinfected wipes”};
cleaning wipes, namely, {specify particular Class 3 goods, e.g., disposable wipes impregnated with cleaning chemicals for personal hygiene; otherwise, “paper wipes for cleaning” are in Class 16 and “fabric clean room wipes” are in Class 21};
household cleaning wipes, namely, {specify particular Class 3 goods, e.g., disposable wipes impregnated with cleaning chemicals for household purposes; otherwise, “paper wipes for cleaning” are in Class 16 and “fabric clean room wipes” are in Class 21};
Class 5:
Hard surface disinfectant wipes
Class 16:
Paper wipes for cleaning hard surfaces
Class 21:
Fabric clean room wipes
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.
Multiclass Requirements
(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 fee(s) already paid (view the USPTO’s current fee schedule). The application identifies goods and/or services that are classified in at least 4 classes; however, applicant submitted a fee(s) sufficient for only 1 class. 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 15 U.S.C. §§1051(b), 1112, 1126(e); 37 C.F.R. §§2.32(a)(6)-(7), 2.34(a)(2)-(3), 2.86(a); TMEP §§1403.01, 1403.02(c).
See 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.
The fee for adding classes to a TEAS Reduced Fee (RF) application is $275 per class. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.6(a)(1)(iii), 2.23(a); TMEP §820.03. See more information regarding the requirements for maintaining the lower TEAS RF fee and, if these requirements are not satisfied, for adding classes at a higher fee by regular TEAS.
For this application to proceed, applicant must explicitly address each refusal and/or requirement in this Office action. For a refusal, applicant may provide written arguments and evidence against the refusal, and may have other response options if specified above. For a requirement, applicant should set forth the changes or statements. Please see “Responding to Office Actions” and the informational video “Response to Office Action” for more information and tips on responding.
Please call or email the assigned trademark examining attorney with questions about this Office action. Although the trademark examining attorney cannot provide legal advice or statements about applicant’s rights, the trademark examining attorney can provide applicant with additional explanation about the refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) in this Office action. See TMEP §§705.02, 709.06. Although the USPTO does not accept emails as responses to Office actions, emails can be used for informal communications and will be included in the application record. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(c), 2.191; TMEP §§304.01-.02, 709.04-.05.
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
/Parker Howard/
Examining Attorney
USPTO
Law Office 117
(571) 272-6548
Parker.Howard@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE