To: | Jaberi, Salman (contact@ravescout.club) |
Subject: | U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 90546019 - RAVE SCOUT COOKIES - RAVESCOUT01 |
Sent: | September 28, 2021 09:32:28 PM |
Sent As: | ecom110@uspto.gov |
Attachments: |
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application
U.S. Application Serial No. 90546019
Mark: RAVE SCOUT COOKIES
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Correspondence Address:
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Applicant: Jaberi, Salman
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Reference/Docket No. RAVESCOUT01
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 28, 2021
The assigned examining attorney has reviewed the referenced application and determined the following.
Summary of Issues That Must Be Addressed
• Unacceptable Specimen
• Entity Information Must Be Clarified
• Disclaimer
• New Description of the Mark Required
• Advisory – Color Claim Should be Removed
• Unnecessary Stippling and Translation Statement
• Unnecessary Section 2(f) Claim of Acquired Distinctiveness
• Unnecessary Consent Statement
The examining attorney has searched the Office records and has found no similar registered or pending mark which would bar registration under Trademark Act Section 2(d), 15 U.S.C. §1052(d). TMEP §704.02.
Unacceptable Specimen
Specifically, the applicant’s submitted specimens have a vague reference to the applicant offering a “Multimedia platform and rave preservation project devoted to foreground maginalised talents and bolster the development of counterculture spaces & communities”. There is no clear indication for consumers that the applicant offers any of their identified services, namely: Music publishing services; Entertainment information services, namely, providing information and news releases about a musical artist; Providing a database featuring information about artists; Entertainment services, namely, providing information about a recording artist via an online network; Providing an Internet website portal featuring links to musical artist websites and music performance ticket information; Publication of texts, other than publicity texts; Publication of books; Publication of electronic books and journals on-line; Writing of texts, other than publicity texts; Organization of exhibitions for cultural or educational purposes; Arranging and conducting of workshops training.
Examples of specimens. 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)(2), (c); TMEP §1301.04(a), (h)(iv)(C). Any webpage printout or screenshot submitted as a specimen must include the webpage’s URL and the date it was accessed or printed on the specimen itself, within the TEAS form that submits the specimen, or in a verified statement under 37 C.F.R. §2.20 or 28 U.S.C. §1746 in a later-filed response. See 37 C.F.R. §2.56(c); TMEP §§904.03(i), 1301.04(a).
Response options. Applicant may respond to this refusal by satisfying one of the following for each applicable international class:
(1) Submit a different specimen (a verified “substitute” specimen) that (a) 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 and (b) shows the mark in actual use in commerce for the services identified in the application or amendment to allege use. A “verified substitute specimen” is a specimen that is accompanied by the following statement made in a signed affidavit or supported by a declaration under 37 C.F.R. §2.20: “The substitute (or new, or originally submitted, if appropriate) specimen(s) was/were in use in commerce at least as early as the filing date of the application or prior to the filing of the amendment to allege use.” The substitute specimen cannot be accepted without this statement.
(2) 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, including a specimen.
For an overview of the response options referenced above and instructions on how to satisfy these options using the online Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) form, see the Specimen webpage.
Entity Information Must Be Clarified
If applicant is an individual, applicant should simply request that the legal entity be amended to “individual” and must indicate his/her country of citizenship for the record. 37 C.F.R. §2.32(b)(3)(i); TMEP §803.03(a). Alternatively, if applicant is a limited liability company, applicant must provide the correct name of the limited liability company and the U.S. state or foreign country of incorporation or organization. 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(3)(ii); TMEP §803.03(h).
If, in response to the above request, applicant provides information indicating that it is not the owner of the mark, registration may be refused because the application was void as filed. See 37 C.F.R. §2.71(d); TMEP §§803.06, 1201.02(b). An application must be filed by the party who owns or is entitled to use the mark as of the application filing date. See 37 C.F.R. §2.71(d); TMEP §1201.02(b).
Applicant must disclaim only the wording “Rave” because it is merely descriptive of an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose, or use of applicant’s services, specifically, that the applicant will provide information about raves (which is references directly in the applicant’s submitted specimens of use). See 15 U.S.C. §1052(e)(1); DuoProSS Meditech Corp. v. Inviro Med. Devices, Ltd., 695 F.3d 1247, 1251, 103 USPQ2d 1753, 1755 (Fed. Cir. 2012); TMEP §§1213, 1213.03(a).
Applicant may respond to this issue by submitting a disclaimer in the following format:
No claim is made to the exclusive right to use “Rave” apart from the mark as shown.
For an overview of disclaimers and instructions on how to provide one using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), see the Disclaimer webpage.
New Description of the Mark Required
The following description is suggested, if accurate: The mark consists of a planet with a ring around it. The planet contains miscellaneously placed stylized diamonds and circles. The wording “Rave Scout” appears above the planet and the wording “Cookies” appears below the planet.
Advisory – Color Claim Should be Removed
The applicant may submit a drawing with no claim to color. The applicant is advised to remove the submitted color claim for the colors black and white and not claim color as a feature of the mark.
Unnecessary Stippling and Translation Statement
The stippling and translation statements will be removed from the record because there is no stippling in the drawing and there is no wording in the mark that appears in a foreign language.
Unnecessary Section 2(f) Claim of Acquired Distinctiveness
The section 2(f) claim of acquired distinctiveness will be removed from the record because the mark is inherently distinctive.
Unnecessary Consent Statement
The negative consent statement will be removed from the record because there is no name that appears in the applicant’s mark.
The applicant may wish to hire a trademark attorney because of the technicalities involved in the application. The Patent and Trademark Office cannot aid in the selection of an attorney. 37 C.F.R. §2.11.
If the applicant has any questions or needs assistance in responding to this Office action, please telephone the assigned examining attorney.
How to respond. Click to file a response to this nonfinal Office action.
/Giancarlo Castro/
Giancarlo Castro
Trademark Examining Attorney
Law Office 110
giancarlo.castro@uspto.gov
571-272-9357
RESPONSE GUIDANCE