To: | Ford Motor Company (tmdocket@ford.com) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 88939672 - N/A |
Sent: | September 01, 2020 05:12:54 PM |
Sent As: | ecom106@uspto.gov |
Attachments: |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 88939672
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Correspondence Address: |
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Applicant: Ford Motor Company
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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: September 01, 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 of USPTO Database of Marks
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.
Refusal – Nondistinctive Product Design
A product design can never be inherently distinctive as a matter of law; consumers are aware that such designs are intended to render the goods more useful or appealing rather than identify their source. See Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Bros., 529 U.S. at 212-13, 54 USPQ2d at 1068-69; In re Slokevage, 441 F.3d at 962, 78 USPQ2d at 1399. Thus, consumer predisposition to equate a product design with its source does not exist. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Bros., 529 U.S. at 213, 54 USPQ2d at 1069.
Applicant may respond by providing evidence of acquired distinctiveness, such as verified statements of long term use, advertising and sales expenditures, examples of advertising, affidavits and declarations of consumers, customer surveys. See 37 C.F.R. §2.41(a)(3); TMEP §§1212.02(g), 1212.06 et seq. When determining whether the evidence shows the mark has acquired distinctiveness, the trademark examining attorney will consider the following six factors: (1) association of the mark with a particular source by actual purchasers (typically measured by customer surveys linking the name to the source); (2) length, degree, and exclusivity of use; (3) amount and manner of advertising; (4) amount of sales and number of customers; (5) intentional copying; and (6) unsolicited media coverage. See Converse, Inc. v. ITC, 909 F.3d 1110, 1120, 128 USPQ2d 1538, 1546 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (“the Converse factors”). “[N]o single factor is determinative.” In re Steelbuilding.com, 415 F.3d 1293, 1300, 75 USPQ2d 1420, 1424 (Fed. Cir. 2005); see TMEP §§1212.06 et seq. Rather, all factors are weighed together in light of all the circumstances to determine whether the mark has acquired distinctiveness. In re Steelbuilding.com, 415 F.3d at 1300, 75 USPQ2d at 1424. This evidence must demonstrate that the relevant public understands the primary significance of the mark as identifying the source of applicant’s service. Id. at 1297, 75 USPQ2d at 1422. However, “[t]he evidence must relate to the promotion and recognition of the specific configuration embodied in the applied-for mark and not to the goods in general.” In re Change Wind Corp., 123 USPQ2d 1453, 1467 (TTAB 2017) (citing Inwood Labs., Inc. v. Ives Labs., Inc., 456 U.S. 844, 851 n.11, 214 USPQ 1, 4 n.11 (1982)).
To establish acquired distinctiveness, an applicant may rely only on use in commerce that may be regulated by the U.S. Congress. See 15 U.S.C. §§1052(f), 1127. Use solely in a foreign country or between two foreign countries is not evidence of acquired distinctiveness in the United States. TMEP §§1010, 1212.08; see In re Rogers, 53 USPQ2d 1741, 1746-47 (TTAB 1999).
As an alternative to claiming acquired distinctiveness, applicant may amend the application to the Supplemental Register. 15 U.S.C. §1091; see 37 C.F.R. §§2.47, 2.75(a); TMEP §§816, 1202.02(b)(i).
Configuration Mark – Thorough Description Required
Applicant must provide a clear, concise, and complete description of the mark that does the following:
(1) Indicates the mark is a three-dimensional configuration of the goods or packaging or of a specific design feature of the goods or packaging.
(2) Specifies all the elements in the drawing that constitute the mark and are claimed as part of the mark.
(3) Specifies any elements that are not part of the mark and indicates that the matter shown in broken or dotted lines is not part of the mark and serves only to show the position or placement of the mark.
See 37 C.F.R. §§2.37, 2.52(b)(2), (b)(4); In re Famous Foods, Inc., 217 USPQ 177, 177 (TTAB 1983); TMEP §§807.08, 807.10, 1202.02(c)(ii).
Mark Differs on Drawing and Specimen
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) 12, 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 drawing displays the mark as an automobile grille. However, the specimen shows the mark as a different automobile grille because there are different design elements within the grille on the specimen. For instance, the central oval shape includes various circle designs on the specimen but these circle designs are not 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 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 goods include a photograph of (1) the actual goods bearing the mark; (2) an actual container, packaging, tag or label for the goods bearing the mark; or (3) a point-of-sale display showing the mark directly associated with the goods. See 37 C.F.R. §2.56(b)(1), (c); TMEP §904.03(a)-(m). A webpage specimen submitted as a display associated with the goods must show the mark in association with a picture or textual description of the goods and include information necessary for ordering the goods. TMEP §904.03(i); see 37 C.F.R. §2.56(b)(1), (c).
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 web page printout or screenshot submitted as a specimen, whether for goods or services, must include the webpage’s URL and the date it was accessed or printed. 37 C.F.R. §2.56(c).
(2) Submit a request to amend the filing basis to intent to use under Section 1(b) (which includes withdrawing an amendment to allege use, if one was filed), as no specimen is required before publication. This option will later necessitate additional fee(s) and filing requirements such as providing a specimen.
The USPTO will not accept an amended drawing submitted in response to this refusal because the changes would materially alter the drawing of the mark in the original application or as previously acceptably amended. See 37 C.F.R. §2.72(a)-(b); TMEP §807.14. Specifically, amending the mark on the drawing to agree with the mark on the specimen would be a material alteration because the mark on the specimen features additional design elements within the central oval.
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.
Requirement for Information
(1) A written statement as to whether the applied-for mark, or any feature(s) thereof, is or has been the subject of a design or utility patent or patent application, including expired patents and abandoned patent applications. Applicant must also provide copies of the patent and/or patent application documentation.
(2) Advertising, promotional, and/or explanatory materials concerning the applied-for configuration mark, particularly materials specifically related to the design feature(s) embodied in the applied-for mark.
(3) A written explanation and any evidence as to whether there are alternative designs available for the feature(s) embodied in the applied-for mark, and whether such alternative designs are equally efficient and/or competitive. Applicant must also provide a written explanation and any documentation concerning similar designs used by competitors.
(4) A written statement as to whether the product design or packaging design at issue results from a comparatively simple or inexpensive method of manufacture in relation to alternative designs for the product/container. Applicant must also provide information regarding the method and/or cost of manufacture relating to applicant’s goods.
(5) Any other evidence that applicant considers relevant to the registrability of the applied-for configuration mark.
See 37 C.F.R. §2.61(b); In re Morton-Norwich Prods., Inc., 671 F.2d 1332, 1340-41, 213 USPQ 9, 15-16 (C.C.P.A. 1982); TMEP §§1202.02(a)(v) et seq.
Any document filed with the USPTO becomes part of the official public application record and will not be returned or removed. TMEP §§404, 814. If any of the information requested above is confidential or applicant does not want such information to become part of the public record for a valid reason, applicant should submit an explanation of those circumstances or redact confidential portions prior to submission. See TMEP §814. Applicants are not required to submit confidential information into the record; a written explanation or summary of that information may suffice. Id.
Regarding the requirement for this information, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and its appeals court have recognized that the necessary technical information for ex parte determinations as to functionality is usually more readily available to an applicant, and thus an applicant is normally the source of most of the evidence in these cases. In re Teledyne Indus. Inc., 696 F.2d 968, 971, 217 USPQ 9, 11 (Fed. Cir. 1982); see In re Babies Beat Inc., 13 USPQ2d 1729, 1731 (TTAB 1990) (holding registration was properly refused where applicant failed to comply with trademark examining attorney’s request for copies of patent applications and other patent information); TMEP §1202.02(a)(v).
Failure to comply with a request for information can be grounds for refusing registration. In re AOP LLC, 107 USPQ2d 1644, 1651 (TTAB 2013); In re DTI P’ship LLP, 67 USPQ2d 1699, 1701-02 (TTAB 2003); TMEP §814.
How to respond. Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action.
/Tejbir Singh/
Trademark Attorney
Law Office 106
571-272-5878
571-273-9106 (fax)
Tejbir.Singh@uspto.gov
RESPONSE GUIDANCE