Office Actions

One obstacle many self-filers face in submitting their application on their own are Office Actions from the trademark office rejecting their mark. This can cause them to abandon their application because they don’t understand the full process of applying for a trademark.

Trademark Rejection

What is an Office Action?

Once a federal trademark application is submitted to the USPTO it is assigned to an Examining Attorney. This attorney reviews the application to make sure it fulfills all the technical requirements needed and does not contain similar content found in preexisting applications or registrations.  In the event the Examining Attorney rejects the application, you will have six months to respond to the office action.  If the Examining Attorney is still not satisfied, they will answer in 3-6 months, and another response will be due. This process can repeat until the Examining Attorney is satisfied with your application.

Office Actions can be sent out for many reasons.  Some are for substantive reasons.  An example would be the belief that there could be confusion between your application and an existing registration. Another example would be that your mark is merely descriptive of the relevant goods or services.  Office Actions used can also be for technical issues related to how the application was prepared or the format of the documents used to support the application.

Kunkle Trademark and Legal can assist you with these office actions by evaluating the basis of the objection and constructing a response that addresses concerns of the Examining Attorney.

Call 612-414-3113 to discuss how I can help you with your trademark and copyright related matters.