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:  April 14, 2020

 

 Please call or email the assigned trademark examining attorney to resolve the issues in this Office action.  Although the USPTO does not accept emails as responses to Office actions, communication by phone or email is permissible to agree to proposed amendments to the application that will immediately place the application in condition for publication, registration, or suspension.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.62(c); TMEP §707.

 

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

 

The trademark examining attorney searched the USPTO database of registered and pending marks and found no conflicting marks that would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d).  15 U.S.C. §1052(d); TMEP §704.02.

 

 

SUMMARY OF ISSUES:

• IDENTIFICATION OF SERVICES
• ADVISORY: PARTIAL ABANDONMENT

 

 

IDENTIFICATION OF SERVICES

 

The wording “providing a web site featuring the ratings, reviews, and recommendations on products and services” in the identification of services is indefinite and must be clarified because applicant must further specify the nature of the services.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1402.01.  

 

Applicant may substitute the following wording, if accurate:  

 

International Class 035: Conducting, arranging and organizing trade shows, trade fairs, and business conferences for the cannabis industry; business advisory services, consultancy and information relating to the cannabis industry; advocacy services, namely, promoting the interests of businesses and individuals related to cannabis, cannabis-related products and services, licensing, and government compliance; lobbying, namely, promoting the interests of businesses and individuals related to cannabis, cannabis-related products and services, licensing, and government compliance; advertising, marketing and promotional services; preparing business reports related to the cannabis industry; providing consumer information and related news in the fields of cannabis and CBD; providing consumer information and related news in the field of marijuana dispensary inventories and locations; providing a web site featuring the ratings, reviews and recommendations on products and services for commercial purposes posted by users; providing referrals in the field of cannabis

 

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.

 

 

 

ADVISORY: PARTIAL ABANDONMENT

 

If applicant does not respond to this Office action within the six-month period for response, the following goods and/or services in International Class(es) 035 will be deleted from the application:  “providing a web site featuring the ratings, reviews, and recommendations on products and services”.  The application will then proceed with the following goods and/or services in International Class(es) 035 only:

 

International Class 035: Conducting, arranging and organizing trade shows, trade fairs, and business conferences for the cannabis industry; business advisory services, consultancy and information relating to the cannabis industry; advocacy services, namely, promoting the interests of businesses and individuals related to cannabis, cannabis-related products and services, licensing, and government compliance; lobbying, namely, promoting the interests of businesses and individuals related to cannabis, cannabis-related products and services, licensing, and government compliance; advertising, marketing and promotional services; preparing business reports related to the cannabis industry; providing consumer information and related news in the fields of cannabis and CBD; providing consumer information and related news in the field of marijuana dispensary inventories and locations; providing referrals in the field of cannabis

 

See 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a)-(a)(1); TMEP §718.02(a).

 

 

 

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

 

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 an examining attorney cannot provide legal advice, the examining attorney can provide additional explanation about the refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) in this Office action.  See TMEP §§705.02, 709.06. 

 

The USPTO does not accept emails as responses to Office actions; however, emails can be used for informal communications and are included in the application record.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.62(c), 2.191; TMEP §§304.01-.02, 709.04-.05. 

 

 

/Tricia L. Brown/

Examining Attorney

Law Office 121

(571) 270-7892

tricia.brown@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 April 14, 2020 for

U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88767841

 

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. 

 

 

/Tricia L. Brown/

Examining Attorney

Law Office 121

(571) 270-7892

tricia.brown@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 April 14, 2020, 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.”