Response to Office Action

PTO- 1957

Approved for use through 11/30/2023. OMB 0651-0050

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it contains a valid OMB control number

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PTO- 1957

Approved for use through 11/30/2023. OMB 0651-0050

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it contains a valid OMB control number

Response to Office Action

To the Commissioner for Trademarks:

Application serial no. 88935758 LYNK(Standard Characters, see http://uspto.report/TM/88935758/mark.png) has been amended as follows:

ARGUMENT(S)
In response to the substantive refusal(s), please note the following:

Applicant respectfully submits that the likelihood of confusion rejection should be withdrawn. This is because cited registration no. 5256576 is extremely weak, not actually used for dating, instead just shows which users are nearby, and is not likely to expand into dating. The cited LINK registration is very weak. The product is unavailable on the App Store and has very few reviews. The reviews it does have are old and negative, indicating that the product is no longer being marketed in the United States. Based on a high percentage of users posting unsolicited nudes, it does not appear to be in use any longer. The services are not directly related. Although the registration itself lists "dating services," there is no evidence in the specimen to justify registration on that basis. Likewise, dating services are not mentioned in the application description, and the application itself is only used to find and talk to nearby users. Although Applicant's LYNK application has launched in the App store, no evidence of any confusion exists with respect to LINK. That is in part because both applications have different functionality and LINK is no longer actually in use even for its different purposes of meeting geographically nearby users. Because both products operate completely differently, there is a likelihood that purchaser care alone would be enough to distinguish the products. This is particularly true since each is a one-word four-letter word, and one of those letters is different. That is a 25% difference in the name. LINK is unlikely to expand and instead appears to have ceased existence without finding any success. Consequently, no likelihood of confusion exists with respect to LINK.
Correspondence Information (current):
      BRANNON MCKAY
      PRIMARY EMAIL FOR CORRESPONDENCE: brannon@cmblaw.com
      SECONDARY EMAIL ADDRESS(ES) (COURTESY COPIES): trademarks@cmblaw.com; josh@cmblaw.com

The docket/reference number is LYNK.TM.01.
Correspondence Information (proposed):
      Brannon McKay
      PRIMARY EMAIL FOR CORRESPONDENCE: brannon@cmblaw.com
      SECONDARY EMAIL ADDRESS(ES) (COURTESY COPIES): trademarks@cmblaw.com; josh@cmblaw.com

The docket/reference number is LYNK.TM.01.

Requirement for Email and Electronic Filing: I understand that a valid email address must be maintained by the owner/holder and the owner's/holder's attorney, if appointed, and that all official trademark correspondence must be submitted via the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).

SIGNATURE(S)
Response Signature
Signature: / Brannon McKay /     Date: 03/02/2021
Signatory's Name: Brannon McKay
Signatory's Position: Attorney of record, GA bar member

Signatory's Phone Number: 4044148633 Signature method: Signed directly within the form

The signatory has confirmed that he/she is a U.S.-licensed attorney who is an active member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a U.S. state (including the District of Columbia and any U.S. Commonwealth or territory); and he/she is currently the owner's/holder's attorney or an associate thereof; and to the best of his/her knowledge, if prior to his/her appointment another U.S.-licensed attorney not currently associated with his/her company/firm previously represented the owner/holder in this matter: the owner/holder has revoked their power of attorney by a signed revocation or substitute power of attorney with the USPTO; the USPTO has granted that attorney's withdrawal request; the owner/holder has filed a power of attorney appointing him/her in this matter; or the owner's/holder's appointed U.S.-licensed attorney has filed a power of attorney appointing him/her as an associate attorney in this matter.

Mailing Address:    BRANNON MCKAY
   CLAYTON, MCKAY & BAILEY, PC
   
   800 BATTERY AVE SE, SUITE 100
   ATLANTA, Georgia 30339
Mailing Address:    Brannon McKay
   CLAYTON, MCKAY & BAILEY, PC
   800 BATTERY AVE SE, SUITE 100
   ATLANTA, Georgia 30339
        
Serial Number: 88935758
Internet Transmission Date: Tue Mar 02 22:21:06 ET 2021
TEAS Stamp: USPTO/ROA-XXX.XX.X.XX-202103022221068301
18-88935758-770fbeac655b1bda4ca04d936e3b
d7248e1f13a9bd655891023737083deedc8b-N/A
-N/A-20210302220704928839