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:  July 21, 2020

 

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 RESULTS

 

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 Goods and Services
• Color Location Statement

 

IDENTIFICATION OF GOODS AND SERVICES

 

The wording “kitchen utensils and storages; glass boxes, namely, glass food containers,” and “trays” in International 021 must be clarified by indicating more specifically the nature or common commercial names of the goods.  Applicant should note that “ash trays” are not classified in International Class 021.  Furthermore, the wording “promoting awareness of sustainability issues in the housewares industry in International Class 035 must be clarified by indicating specifically the nature of the “sustainability issues.”  Additionally, the wording “providing information in the nature of sustainability in the housewares industry” in International Class 035 must be clarified by indicating more specifically the subject matter of the information services.  Classification of information services is based on the subject matter of the information provided.  TMEP §1402.11(b).   Applicant must amend the identification by listing each item specifically or by its generic or common commercial name.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1402.01. 

 

Applicant should note the suggestions and/or explanations in bold in the proposed identification below.

 

The applicant is strongly urged to consult the USPTO’s online searchable U.S. Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual for assistance with identifying and classifying goods and services in this trademark application. See TMEP §1402.04

 

The following substitute wording is suggested, if accurate: 

 

International Class 021

 

Unworked or semi-worked glass except building glass; kitchen utensils, namely, [specify, e.g. serving scoops]; storage containers for kitchen or household use; glass boxes, namely, glass household containers for food; drinking vessels, namely, stemmed glasses; tumblers for use as drinking glasses; cups; bowls; shot glasses; drinking glasses; glass beverage ware in the nature of drinking glasses; bottles, sold empty; candlesticks not of precious metal; glass candle jars, sold empty; vases; opaline glass; tableware not of precious metal, namely, plates, cups, tea services and coffee services, saucers, bowls, dishes, salad dishes, oven dishes, serving dishes, butter dishes, sugar bowls, ice cream dishes, trays for household purposes, meal trays, ice buckets, jugs, pitchers, salt shakers, pepper pots, beer glasses, mugs, egg-cups; works of art made of porcelain, terracotta or glass; flasks not of precious metal; perfume vaporizers sold empty;

 

International Class 034

 

Ashtrays

 

International Class 035

 

Promoting awareness of environmental sustainability issues in the housewares industry; providing information in the nature of global sustainable business solutions in the housewares industry

 

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.

 

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).

 

The application identifies goods and/or services in more than one international class; therefore, applicant must satisfy all the requirements below for each international class based on Trademark Act Section 1(b):

 

(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 3 classes; however, applicant submitted a fee(s) sufficient for only 2 classes.  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 37 C.F.R. §2.86(a); TMEP §§1403.01, 1403.02(c).

 

For 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, see the Multiple-class Application webpage.

 

COLOR LOCATION STATEMENT

 

Applicant must substitute the current mark description with a concise and accurate description that specifies where each color appears in the literal and design elements in the mark.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.37, 2.52(b)(1); TMEP §807.07(a)-(a)(ii).  Therefore, applicant must provide this description.  See TMEP §807.07(a)(ii). 

 

Generic color names must be used to describe the colors in the mark, e.g., red, yellow, blue.  TMEP §807.07(a)(i)-(ii).  If black, white, and/or gray represent background, outlining, shading, and/or transparent areas and are not part of the mark, applicant must so specify in the description.  See TMEP §807.07(d).

 

The following description is suggested, if accurate:  “The mark consists of a stylized wine glass within a tree with roots.  The glass is in the color white.  The tree is in the colors aqua and white with white roots.  The wording ARC in the color white is displayed on the glass.  The tree and wine glass are displayed inside a circle outlined in the color white and displaying white arrows.  The white circle is displayed in a bigger circle in the color navy blue.

 

Although the trademark examining attorney cannot provide legal advice or statements about applicant’s rights, the trademark examining attorney can provide applicant’s attorney with additional explanation about the refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) in this Office action.  See TMEP §§705.02, 709.06. 

 

If applicant’s attorney’s has questions about this Office action, please telephone the assigned trademark examining attorney. 

 

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

 

/Evelyn Bradley/

Evelyn Bradley

Trademark Examiner

Law Office 104

(571) 272-9292

 

 

 

 

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 July 21, 2020 for

U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88891209

 

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. 

 

 

.

/Evelyn Bradley/

Evelyn Bradley

Trademark Examiner

Law Office 104

(571) 272-9292

 

 

 

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 July 21, 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.”