To: | Google LLC (tmdocket@google.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88922688 - OPEN USAGE COMMONS - GT-1573-US-1 |
Sent: | February 06, 2021 12:59:53 PM |
Sent As: | ecom124@uspto.gov |
Attachments: | Attachment - 1 Attachment - 2 Attachment - 3 Attachment - 4 Attachment - 5 Attachment - 6 Attachment - 7 Attachment - 8 |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88922688
Mark: OPEN USAGE COMMONS
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Correspondence Address:
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Applicant: Google LLC
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Reference/Docket No. GT-1573-US-1
Correspondence Email Address: |
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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: February 06, 2021
This Office action is in response to applicant’s communication filed on January 15, 2021.
In a previous Office action dated September 14, 2020, the trademark examining attorney refused registration of the applied-for mark based on the following: Trademark Act Section 2(e)(1) because the applied-for mark is merely descriptive of the field or subject matter of applicant’s services.
Based on applicant’s response, the trademark examining attorney maintains and now makes FINAL the refusal in the summary of issues below. See 37 C.F.R. §2.63(b); TMEP §714.04.
SUMMARY OF ISSUES MADE FINAL that applicant must address:
Section 2(e)(1) Refusal – Merely Descriptive
Applicant’s mark is OPEN USAGE COMMONS for “Business management and business administration for others in the field of trademarks, namely, trademarks relating to nonproprietary software and open source projects; Business support services, namely, business consulting services regarding the management of trademarks relating to non-proprietary software and open source projects”.
Only where the combination of descriptive terms creates a unitary mark with a unique, incongruous, or otherwise nondescriptive meaning in relation to the goods and/or services is the combined mark registrable. See In re Colonial Stores, Inc., 394 F.2d 549, 551, 157 USPQ 382, 384 (C.C.P.A. 1968); In re Positec Grp. Ltd., 108 USPQ2d 1161, 1162-63 (TTAB 2013).
In this case, both the individual components and the composite result are descriptive of applicant’s goods and/or services and do not create a unique, incongruous, or nondescriptive meaning in relation to the goods and/or services. Specifically, the wording OPEN means “Of or relating to a file that can be accessed”, the wording USAGE means “The act, manner, or amount of using; use”, and the wording COMMON means “Belonging equally to or shared equally by two or more; joint”. Please see attached dictionary definitions from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Further, in the context of software and computer related resources, the wording COMMONS is used to refer to the wide spread use of material shared on the Internet. Please see attached excerpts from the websites of Creative Commons and Open Data Commons attached to the previous Office action. The combination of the words immediately indicates that applicant’s services are related to the free utilization (“open usage”) of software or other technology on the internet (digital “commons”), typically with the goal of maximizing social benefits rather than imposing costs through licenses.
Applicant argues that the mark does not “immediately” convey the idea of the characteristics of applicant’s services. The examining attorney respectfully disagrees. Applicant’s services in the identification of the services are “Business management and business administration for others in the field of trademarks, namely, trademarks relating to nonproprietary software and open source projects; Business support services, namely, business consulting services regarding the management of trademarks relating to non-proprietary software and open source projects “. Applicant’s services are business management and administration services in the field of “open usage commons” trademarks. It is the salient feature and the subject matter of applicant’s services.
Therefore, the applied-for mark is merely descriptive of applicant’s services.
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).
Janet Lee
/Janet H. Lee/
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 124
Phone: (571) 272-1053
Email: janet.lee6@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE