United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

Office Action (Official Letter) About Applicant’s Trademark Application

U.S. Application Serial No. 79356319

Mark:  XIAO LONG YI

Correspondence Address:  
ZHEJIANG HUICHENGHUOBAN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
RIGHTS AGENT CO., LTD.
Room 15-1, No. 37, Zhenru Center,
Haishu District, Ningbo
Zhejiang
CHINA

Applicant:  CHENGDU DALONGYI CATERING MANAGEMENT CO., LTD

Reference/Docket No. N/A

Correspondence Email Address:   



NONFINAL OFFICE ACTION
Notice of Provisional Full Refusal


International Registration No.  1698461

Deadline for responding.  The USPTO must receive applicant’s response within six months of the “date on which the notification was sent to WIPO (mailing date)” located on the WIPO cover letter, or the U.S. application will be abandoned (see https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/abandoned-applications for information on abandonment).  To confirm the mailing date, go to the USPTO’s Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) database at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/, select “US Serial, Registration, or Reference No.,” enter the U.S. application serial number in the blank text box, and click on “Documents.”  The mailing date used to calculate the response deadline is the “Create/Mail Date” of the “IB-1rst Refusal Note.”  

Respond to this Office action using the USPTO’s Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).  A link to the appropriate TEAS response form appears at the end of this Office action.  

Discussion of provisional full refusal.  This is a provisional full refusal of the request for extension of protection to the United States of the international registration, known in the United States as a U.S. application based on Trademark Act Section 66(a).  See 15 U.S.C. §§1141f(a), 1141h(c).  

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.


SUMMARY OF ISSUES:
•    Identification of Services
•    Translation and Transliteration Statements Required

•    

Email Address Required

•    

U.S. Counsel Required


IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF SERVICES


The wording “advertising” in the identification of services for International Class 35 must be clarified because it is too broad and could include services in other international classes. See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §§1402.01, 1402.03. In particular, this wording could encompass "advertising services" in Class 35 and "graphic design of internet advertising" in Class 42.


The entry for "presentation of goods on communication media for retail purposes" is no longer accepted by the USPTO.  These services are covered by "Providing television home shopping services in the field of general consumer merchandise."


The wording “marketing” in the identification of services is indefinite and must be clarified because it encompasses multiple entries within the class. See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(6); TMEP §1402.01.  


The identification of goods and/or services contains brackets. Generally, an applicant should not use parentheses and brackets, including curly brackets, in identifications in order to avoid confusion with the USPTO’s practice of using parentheses and brackets in registrations to indicate (1) goods and/or services that have been deleted from registrations, (2) goods and/or services not claimed in an affidavit of incontestability, or (3) guidance to users of the USPTO’s U.S. Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual to draft an acceptable identification. See TMEP §§1402.04, 1402.12. The only exception for including parenthetical information in identifications is if it serves to explain or translate the matter immediately preceding the parenthetical phrase in such a way that it does not affect the clarity or scope of the identification, e.g., “fried tofu pieces (abura-age).” See TMEP §1402.12.


Therefore, applicant must remove the brackets from the identification and incorporate any parenthetical or bracketed information into the description of the goods and/or services.


Applicant may substitute the following wording, if accurate:


International Class 35: Advertising services;

providing television home shopping services in the field of general consumer merchandise

; business management of hotels; commercial administration of the licensing of the goods and services of others; marketing services; provision of an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of goods and services; online ordering services in the field of restaurant take-out and delivery; personnel management consultancy; import-export agency services; book-keeping


International Class 43: Restaurant services; hotel accommodation services; providing campground facilities; take-out restaurant services; crèche and day-nursery services; take-away restaurant services; take-away restaurant; retirement home services; animal pound services; rental of tableware


Applicant may amend the identification to clarify or limit the services, but not to broaden or expand the services beyond those in the original application or as acceptably amended.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.71(a); TMEP §1402.06.  Generally, any deleted services may not later be reinserted.  See TMEP §1402.07(e). 


Additionally, for applications filed under Trademark Act Section 66(a), the scope of the identification for purposes of permissible amendments is limited by the international class assigned by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (International Bureau); and the classification of goods and/or services may not be changed from that assigned by the International Bureau.  37 C.F.R. §2.85(d); TMEP §§1401.03(d), 1904.02(b). 


Further, in a multiple-class Section 66(a) application, classes may not be added or goods and/or services transferred from one existing class to another.  37 C.F.R. §2.85(d); TMEP §1401.03(d).


For assistance with identifying and classifying goods and services in trademark applications, please see the USPTO’s online searchable U.S. Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services ManualSee TMEP §1402.04.


Applicant should note the following additional requirement.


TRANSLATION AND TRANSLITERATION STATEMENT REQUIRED 

To permit proper examination of the application, applicant must submit (1) an English translation of the foreign wording in Latin characters in the mark, see attached translation evidence; and (2) a transliteration (a phonetic spelling of the pronunciation, in Latin characters) of any non-Latin characters in the mark, with either an English translation of the corresponding transliterated wording or a statement that the transliterated term has no meaning in a foreign language. See 37 C.F.R. §§2.32(a)(9)-(a)(10), 2.61(b); TMEP §809. To respond to this requirement for information, open the appropriate Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) response form and enter the serial number, answer “yes” to question 3, and provide the information on the “Additional Statement(s)” page in the “Translation” and “Transliteration” text boxes in the form.


The following format should be used for the English translation of the foreign wording, if accurate:


The English translation of “XIAO LONG LI” in the mark is “small dragon fire burning”.


TMEP §809.03.


One of the following formats should be used for the transliterated wording, as appropriate:


The non-Latin characters in the mark transliterate to “ ” and this means “ ” in English.


The non-Latin characters in the mark transliterate to “ ” and this has no meaning in a foreign language.


Id.


Applicant has a duty to respond directly and completely to this requirement for information. See In re Ocean Tech., Inc., 2019 USPQ2d 450686, at *2 (TTAB 2019) (citing In re AOP LLC, 107 USPQ2d 1644, 1651 (TTAB 2013)); TMEP §814. Failure to comply with a requirement for information is an independent ground for refusing registration. In re SICPA Holding SA, 2021 USPQ2d 613, at *6 (TTAB 2021) (citing In re Cheezwhse.com, Inc., 85 USPQ2d 1917, 1919 (TTAB 2008); In re DTI P’ship LLP, 67 USPQ2d 1699, 1701-02 (TTAB 2003); TMEP §814).


Email address required.  Applicant must provide applicant’s email address, which is a requirement for a complete application.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(2); TMEP §803.05(b).  This email address cannot be identical to the primary correspondence email address of a U.S.-licensed attorney retained to represent applicant in this application.  See TMEP §803.05(b).


Applicant is required to be represented by a U.S.-licensed attorney to respond to or appeal the provisional refusal because applicant’s domicile is located outside of the United States and applicant does not appear to be represented by a qualified U.S. attorney.  37 C.F.R. §2.11(a); TMEP §601.01(a).  An applicant whose domicile is located outside of the United States or its territories must be represented by an attorney who is an active member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a U.S. state or territory.  37 C.F.R. §2.11(a); TMEP §§601, 601.01(a).  In this case, applicant’s domicile is identified in the application as outside of the United States or its territories.  For more information, see the U.S. Counsel webpage at https://www.uspto.gov/trademark/laws-regulations/trademark-rule-requires-foreign-applicants-and-registrants-have-us and Hiring a U.S.-licensed trademark attorney webpage at https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-getting-started/why-hire-private-trademark-attorney.


To appoint a U.S.-licensed attorney in this application, applicant should submit a completed Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) Change Address or Representation form at https://teas.uspto.gov/ccr/car.  The newly-appointed attorney must submit a TEAS Response to Examining Attorney Office Action form at https://teas.uspto.gov/office/roa/ indicating that an appointment of attorney has been made and address all other refusals or requirements in this action.  Alternatively, if applicant retains an attorney before filing the response, the attorney can respond to this Office action by using the appropriate TEAS response form and provide his or her attorney information in the form and sign it as applicant’s attorney.  See 37 C.F.R. §2.17(b)(1)(ii); TMEP §604.01.


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 refusal(s) and/or requirement(s) 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.