What Is An Office Action?

Whether you're interested in protecting a well-established brand or you're starting a new business, filing a trademark application can be a very exciting and positive step toward protecting your intellectual property. While trademark protection is an appealing prospect, the application process can be tricky. There is often the risk that the United States Patent and Trademarks Office ("USPTO") will issue an office action in response to an application for trademark protection.

WHAT IS AN OFFICE ACTION?

An office action is an official letter from the USPTO that lists any problems with your Trademark application. The office action may present a "requirement" or a "refusal" based on the contents of your application or the applied-for mark itself. A requirement requires (naturally) you to revise, fix or provide additional information to the USPTO, while a refusal is a rejection of your application based on some issue that the USPTO's examining attorney has found.