To: | AlmsTravel LLC (Kari.watson@ymail.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88861599 - ALMSTRAVEL - N/A |
Sent: | March 01, 2021 12:23:32 PM |
Sent As: | ecom104@uspto.gov |
Attachments: |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88861599
Mark: ALMSTRAVEL
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Correspondence Address:
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Applicant: AlmsTravel LLC
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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: March 01, 2021
This Office action is in response to applicant’s November 4, 2020, communication in which the applicant amended the identification of services.
For the reasons set forth below, the amendment to the identification services is only partially acceptable. Additionally, applicant must respond to the following requirement with respect to the additional fee required for the added class.
Additionally, applicant must respond to the following with respect to the specimen of record.
Therefore, applicant must either (1) restrict the application to the number of class(es) covered by the fee(s) already paid, or (2) submit the fees for the additional class(es).
The wording “Retail store and online retail store services featuring books, electronics and specify type, e.g., downloadable and pre-recorded music” in the identification of services is indefinite and must be clarified. See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1402.01. Applicant must remove the instructional wording “specify type, e.g.,” from the identification.
The following is an amended version of applicant’s identification of services that complies with the above-mentioned clarification requirements, with
additions and alterations in bold type. The italicized wording includes additional guidance and suggestions and the wording appearing with a strikethrough should
be deleted.
Applicant may adopt the following identification of goods and/or services, if accurate:
CLASS 35: Retail store and online retail store services featuring books, electronics and specify type, e.g., downloadable and pre-recorded
music; online travel agency services, namely, providing hotel rate comparison information
CLASS 39 is definite
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.
Mark shown on drawing does not match mark on specimen. Registration is refused because the specimen does not show the mark in the drawing in use in commerce in International Class(es) 35 or 39, which is required in the application or amendment to allege use. Trademark Act Sections 1 and 45, 15 U.S.C. §§1051, 1127; 37 C.F.R. §§2.34(a)(1)(iv), 2.56(a); TMEP §§904, 904.07(a), 1301.04(g)(i). The mark appearing on the specimen and in the drawing must match; that is, the mark in the drawing “must be a substantially exact representation of the mark” on the specimen. See 37 C.F.R. §2.51(a)-(b); TMEP §807.12(a).
In this case, the specimen displays the mark as ALMS TRAVEL. However, the drawing displays the mark as ALMSTRAVEL. The mark on the specimen does not match the mark in the drawing because a space appears between the terms on the specimen, but the terms are conjoined on the drawing. Applicant has thus failed to provide the required evidence of use of the mark in commerce. See TMEP §807.12(a).
Response options. Applicant may respond to this refusal by satisfying one of the following:
(1) Submit a new drawing of the mark that shows the mark on the specimen and, if appropriate, an amendment of the description and/or color claim that agrees with the new drawing. See 37 C.F.R. §2.72(a)-(b). The following amended description is suggested, if accurate: “The mark consists of ALMS TRAVEL.” Applicant may amend the mark in the drawing to match the mark on the specimen but may not make any other changes or amendments that would materially alter the drawing of the mark. See 37 C.F.R. §2.72(a)-(b); TMEP §807.14.
(2) Submit a different specimen (a verified “substitute” specimen) for each applicable international class that (a) shows the mark in the drawing in actual use in commerce for the goods and/or services in the application or amendment to allege use, and (b) was in actual use in commerce at least as early as the filing date of the application or prior to the filing of an amendment to allege use.
Examples of specimens. Specimens for services must show a direct association between the mark and the services and include: (1) copies of advertising and marketing material, (2) a photograph of business signage or billboards, or (3) materials showing the mark in the sale, rendering, or advertising of the services. See 37 C.F.R. §2.56(b)(1), (c); TMEP §1301.04(a), (h)(iv)(C).
Any webpage printout or screenshot submitted as a specimen must include the webpage’s URL and the date it was accessed or printed on the specimen itself, within the TEAS form that submits the specimen, or in a verified statement under 37 C.F.R. §2.20 or 28 U.S.C. §1746 in a later-filed response. See 37 C.F.R. §2.56(c); TMEP §§904.03(i), 1301.04(a).
For more information about drawings and instructions on how to satisfy these response options using the online Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) form, see the Drawing webpage.
DISCLAIMER ADVISORY IF MARK IS AMENDED
Applicant is advised that the wording TRAVEL must be disclaimed if the applicant amends the drawing to ALMS TRAVEL because TRAVEL is merely descriptive a feature of applicant’s travel agency 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). For an overview of disclaimers and instructions on how to provide one using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), see the Disclaimer webpage.
CONTACT INFORMATION
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.
How to respond. Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action.
/Christine Martin/
Examining Attorney
Law Office 104
571-272-1630
christine.martin@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE