Offc Action Outgoing

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application

 

 

 

FINAL 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) and/or Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals (ESTTA).  A link to the appropriate TEAS response form and/or to ESTTA for an appeal appears at the end of this Office action. 

 

 

Issue date:  April 07, 2021

 

 

This letter responds to the applicant’s communication filed on November 25, 2020.   The examining attorney acknowledges the applicant’s amended identification of goods, substitution of a section 44(e) basis and foreign registration submission, and submission of a signed declaration supporting the original and amended filing basis, and has entered the same into the record.   For reasons that follow, the identification of goods requirement is maintained and made FINAL as to the specified indefinite goods only.

 

IDENTIFICATION OF GOODS – FINAL

 

THIS REQUIREMENT APPLIES TO THE FOLLOWING GOODS ONLY: ELECTRONIC SMOKING DEVICES; ELECTRONIC DEVICES FOR THE INHALATION OF NICOTINE CONTAINING AEROSOL.

 

In the initial Office Action June 2, 2020, the examining attorney found that the identification of goods was indefinite in part because it did not identify all goods with the requisite clarity and specificity.  The examining attorney indicated all goods must be identified by common commercial name and provided a suggested identification of goods.

 

By way of response, the applicant has provided an amended identification of goods which is largely acceptable but which contains a number of entries which remain indefinite because they do not identify the goods with necessary clarity and specificity.  Specifically the following entries remain indefinite: electronic smoking devices; electronic devices for the inhalation of nicotine containing aerosol.  Accordingly, the identification requirement is maintained and made FINAL as to the specified goods only. 

Applicant must further identify the nature of the devices for smoking with specificity using their common commercial names, as suggested in the initial Office Action. 

Applicant may therefore adopt any or all of the following identification of goods:  Wired oral vaporizer for electronic cigarettes and electronic smoking devices; tobacco sticks, namely, a tobacco product of tubular shape consisting of a pre-portioned tobacco supply surrounded by a smokable encasing material; tobacco products for the purpose of being heated, namely, rolling tobacco and leaf tobacco; electronic smoking devices and their structural parts for the purpose of heating cigarettes or tobacco in order to release nicotine-containing aerosol for inhalation; liquid nicotine solutions for use in electronic cigarettes; electronic smoking devices, namely, {indicate e.g. pipes, hookahs, etc.}; electronic cigarettes; electronic cigarettes as substitute for traditional cigarettes; electronic devices for the inhalation of nicotine containing aerosol, namely, electronic cigarettes, cigars, hookahs and smoking pipes; oral vaporising devices for smokers, tobacco products and tobacco substitutes; smoker's articles for electronic cigarettes, namely, smokers' mouthpieces for electronic cigarette; structural and replacement parts and fittings for the aforesaid products included in this class; electronic rechargeable cigarette cases.

To the extent the suggested identification is incomplete or inaccurate, the applicant is further advised that the USPTO’s online searchable U.S. Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual is available for assistance with identifying and classifying goods and services.  See TMEP §1402.04.

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).

 

How to respond.  Click to file a request for reconsideration of this final Office action that fully resolves all outstanding requirements and refusals and/or click to file a timely appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) with the required filing fee(s).

 

PLEASE NOTE:  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) 34 will be deleted from the application:  electronic smoking devices; electronic devices for the inhalation of nicotine containing aerosol.  The application will then proceed with the following goods and/or services in International Class(es) 34 only:  Wired oral vaporizer for electronic cigarettes and electronic smoking devices; tobacco sticks, namely, a tobacco product of tubular shape consisting of a pre-portioned tobacco supply surrounded by a smokable encasing material; tobacco products for the purpose of being heated, namely, rolling tobacco and leaf tobacco; electronic smoking devices and their structural parts for the purpose of heating cigarettes or tobacco in order to release nicotine-containing aerosol for inhalation; liquid nicotine solutions for use in electronic cigarettes; electronic cigarettes; electronic cigarettes as substitute for traditional cigarettes; oral vaporising devices for smokers, tobacco products and tobacco substitutes; smoker's articles for electronic cigarettes, namely, smokers' mouthpieces for electronic cigarette; structural and replacement parts and fittings for the aforesaid products included in this class; electronic rechargeable cigarette cases.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a)-(a)(1); TMEP §718.02(a).

PLEASE NOTE FURTHER:  Notwithstanding the foregoing, the issue(s) raised can likely be resolved by telephone examiner’s amendment.  The applicant may wish to telephone the examining attorney in lieu of filing a written response.

Please feel free to contact the undersigned attorney if you wish to discuss this application.

 

 

/John S. Yard/

John S. Yard

Examining Attorney

Law Office 115

(571)272-9486

john.yard@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 07, 2021 for

U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88854014

 

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. 

 

 

/John S. Yard/

John S. Yard

Examining Attorney

Law Office 115

(571)272-9486

john.yard@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 07, 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.”