Trademark Office Action Response (Unacceptable Specimen of Use)
Summary
This template is a trademark office action response that a trademark applicant can use to respond to an office action refusing registration of a proposed mark based on an unacceptable specimen of use under Sections 1 and 45 of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 1051, 1127). This template includes practical guidance, drafting notes, alternate clauses, and optional clauses. This response assumes that applicant filed a use-based service mark application under Section 1(a) of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. § 1051(a)) and that registration was refused because the specimen did not show the mark in actual use in commerce for the services identified in the application. If your office action involves goods or additional grounds for refusal, revise this response accordingly. For guidance on responding to office actions, see Trademark Examination Process — Refusals and Responses Generally. For summaries of relevant Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) decisions, see TTAB Decision Tracker: Failure to ...