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:  April 13, 2021

 

INTRODUCTION

 

This Office action is supplemental to and supersedes the previous Office action issued on June 26, 2020 in connection with this application. Based on information and/or documentation in applicant’s response, the trademark examining attorney now issues the following new requirement:  Declaration Required.  See TMEP §§706, 711.02. 

 

In a previous Office action dated June 26, 2020, the trademark examining attorney refused registration of the applied-for mark based on the following:  failure to show the applied-for mark in use in commerce with any of the specified goods. In addition, applicant was required to satisfy the following requirement:  provide information about the specimen.

 

Based on applicant’s response, the trademark examining attorney notes that the following requirement is withdrawn:  provide information about the specimen, due to applicant changing the filing basis of the application.  See TMEP §713.02. 

 

In addition, the following refusal is withdrawn:  Specimen Refusal, due to applicant changing the filing basis of the application.  See id. 

 

The following is a SUMMARY OF ISSUES that applicant must address:

 

• New Issue: Declaration Required

 

Applicant must respond to all issues raised in this Office action and the previous June 26, 2020 Office action, within six (6) months of the date of issuance of this Office action. 37 C.F.R. §2.62(a); see TMEP §711.02.  If applicant does not respond within this time limit, the application will be abandoned.  37 C.F.R. §2.65(a).

 

DECLARATION REQUIRED

 

Applicant has amended the filing basis from §1(a) to §1(b), however, applicant did not submit a verified statement, which is required. In particular, “[a]lthough there is a presumption of a continuing valid basis, when amending from §1(a) to §1(b) in a trademark or service mark application, the applicant must confirm the presumption by submitting a verified statement that the applicant has a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce, and that the applicant had a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce as of the application filing date.” See TMEP §806.03(c).

 

Therefore, applicant must submit these assurances: “The applicant has a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce and had a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce as of the application filing date” and “To the best of the signatory’s knowledge and belief, no other persons, except, if applicable, concurrent users, have the right to use the mark in commerce, either in the identical form or in such near resemblance as to be likely, when used on or in connection with the goods of such other persons, to cause confusion or mistake, or to deceive”, properly verified in an affidavit or signed declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20.  See 37 C.F.R. §§2.33(a), (b)(2), 2.34(a)(2), (a)(3)(i), (a)(4)(ii); TMEP §804.02. 

 

For more information about the verified statement and instructions on providing one using the online Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) response form, see the Verified statement webpage.

 

RESPONSE GUIDELINES

 

For this application to proceed, applicant must explicitly address each refusal and/or requirement in this Office action.  For a refusal, applicant may provide written arguments and evidence against the refusal, and may have other response options if specified above.  For a requirement, applicant should set forth the changes or statements.  Please see “Responding to Office Actions” and the informational video “Response to Office Action” for more information and tips on responding.

 

Please call or email the assigned trademark examining attorney with questions about this Office action.  Although an examining attorney cannot provide legal advice, the examining attorney can provide additional explanation about the requirement in this Office action. See TMEP §§705.02, 709.06.

 

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.    

 

 

/Rebecca Lee/

Examining Attorney

Law Office 122

(571) 272 - 7809

Rebecca.Lee1@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 13, 2021 for

U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88937909

 

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. 

 

 

/Rebecca Lee/

Examining Attorney

Law Office 122

(571) 272 - 7809

Rebecca.Lee1@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 13, 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.”