Letter of Protest

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

 

U.S. Application Serial No. 90508267   Mark:  SPEAK NOW
Correspondence Address       Rebecca Liebowitz P.O. Box 34385 Washington, District of Columbia 20043-9998
Correspondence Email Address:         trademarkdocket@venable.com

 

 

 

Letter of Protest Notice of Determination

 

 

Issue date: December 22, 2021

 

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) received your letter of protest (LOP) submitted on December 9, 2021. 37 C.F.R. §2.149. The LOP identifies the following ground for refusal:

 

☒ Likelihood of confusion	☐ Merely descriptive or generic mark
☐ Failure to function as a mark	☐ Registered mark in identification
☐ False suggestion of connection	☐ Red Cross
☐ Specimen is not in use in commerce	☐ Not in lawful use in commerce
☐ Other	☐ Pending civil litigation

The LOP will not be considered because it does not meet the legal requirements. 37 C.F.R. §2.149. Specifically:

 

☒ LOP is untimely   ☐ LOP is moot   ☐ LOP does not include evidence	☐ Examining attorney already considered identified ground(s) for refusal   ☐  LOP does not identify appropriate subject matter for examination
☐ LOP evidence is non-compliant, not relevant, or fails to establish a prima facie case for refusal	☐  Other

 

An LOP must be filed no later than 30 days after a trademark application is published for opposition or it will be considered untimely. 37 C.F.R. §2.149(c). This application published on October 12, 2021, and we received the LOP on December 9, 2021, more than 30 days after publication. Therefore, it is untimely and will not be considered.

 

Advisories

 

Please note for any future submissions if submitting evidence, a letter of protest must include an itemized index on a separate page, which does not contain persuasive language or legal arguments. 37 C.F.R. §2.149(f)(3).  In addition, a letter of protest identifying a likelihood of confusion ground must include evidence regarding the relatedness of the goods/services if they are not identical.  See the Letter of protest practice tip for further information about letter of protest procedure and evidence requirements.

 

You may not communicate directly with the examining attorney, either orally or in writing, regarding the application. 37 C.F.R. §2.149(k).

 

Submitting an LOP does not stay or extend the time for filing a notice of opposition with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) after a trademark has published in the Official Gazette. 37 C.F.R. §2.149(e). You may monitor the application status on our Trademark Status and Document Retrieval system.  

 

The determination whether to include evidence in an application record is final and non-reviewable. Trademark Act of 2020, §3 (to be codified at 15 U.S.C. §1051(f)); 37 C.F.R. §2.149(i). You may file a new LOP if it is timely and meets the legal requirements. 37 C.F.R. §§2.149(c), (f), (j).

 

/Dawnmarie D. Sanok/

Attorney Advisor

Office of the Deputy Commissioner

for TM Examination Policy

dawn-marie.sanok@uspto.gov

571.272.9577