To: | The Cookware Company Global Sourcing Lim ETC. (mws@kirschsteinlaw.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88683209 - KITCHEN STORIES - N/A |
Sent: | January 10, 2020 02:21:14 PM |
Sent As: | ecom101@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 Attachment - 12 Attachment - 13 Attachment - 14 Attachment - 15 Attachment - 16 |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88683209
Mark: KITCHEN STORIES
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Correspondence Address: KIRSCHSTEIN ISRAEL SCHIFFMILLER & PIERON 425 FIFTH AVENUE 5TH FLOOR, SUITE 501
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Applicant: The Cookware Company Global Sourcing Lim ETC.
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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: January 10, 2020
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.
SEARCH RESULTS
The Office records have been searched and there are no similar registered or pending marks that would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d), 15 U.S.C. §1052(d). TMEP §704.02.
However, applicant must comply with the following procedural requirements.
IDENTIFICATION/CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS
Applicant has identified the following in Class 21: “Coffee services in the nature of tableware; tea services in the name of tableware; knife blocks and knife rest for the table; cookery moulds and cake moulds; Crockery, namely, pots, dishes, drinking cups and saucers, bowls, serving bowls and trays; bottles, sold empty; serving trays and trays for household purposes; silicone baking cups, baking mats and baking dishes; utensils for barbecues, namely, forks, tongs, turners; cookware, namely pots and pans, roasting pans and steamers; household utensils, namely kitchen tongs; containers for household or kitchen use not of precious metal; bowls (basins), jars, trays, plates and carving boards for use in the kitchen; Salt and pepper mills and shakers; non-electric cooking pots and pans and cooking pot sets; Griddles, Cooking utensils, namely, grills and grill pans”
Applicant may substitute the following wording, if accurate:
International Class 7:
Salt and pepper mills, other than hand-operated
International Class 11:
Electric griddles
International Class 21:
Coffee services in the nature of tableware; tea services in the name of tableware; knife blocks and knife rest for the table; cookery moulds and cake moulds; Crockery, namely, pots, dishes, drinking cups and saucers, bowls, serving bowls and trays; bottles, sold empty; serving trays and trays for household purposes; silicone baking cups, baking mats and baking dishes; utensils for barbecues, namely, forks, tongs, turners; cookware, namely pots and pans, roasting pans and steamers; household utensils, namely kitchen tongs; containers for household or kitchen use not of precious metal; Bowls, Jars of glass or earthenware, Serving trays, Trays for household purposes, plates and carving boards for use in the kitchen; Hand-operated salt and pepper mills and shakers; non-electric cooking pots and pans and cooking pot sets; Non-electric griddles, Cooking utensils, namely, grills and grill pans
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.
MULTI-CLASS APPLICATIONS
The application identifies goods in more than one international class; therefore, applicant must satisfy all the requirements below for each international class based on Trademark Act Section 44:
(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 that are classified in at least 3 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 44 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 “KITCHEN” 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 dictionary evidence shows that KITCHEN means a room or an area equipped for preparing and cooking food. Thus, the wording merely describes applicant’s goods that are for use in a kitchen. Please see the attached third party registrations illustrating that the Office routinely requires a disclaimer of such wording under similar circumstances.
Applicant may respond to this issue by submitting a disclaimer in the following format:
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “KITCHEN” 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.
How to respond. Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action.
If the applicant has any questions or needs assistance in responding to this Office Action, please contact the assigned examining attorney.
/Katherine Weigle/
Examining Attorney
Law Office 101
U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
(571) 270-1506
katherine.weigle@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE