713.03 Response to Applicant’s Arguments
When the applicant submits arguments attempting to overcome a refusal or requirement, the examining attorney must respond to the applicant’s arguments.
In response to a refusal under §2(d) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1052(d), the applicant may respond that the cited registration should be cancelled because the registrant has not filed the required maintenance documents.
The examining attorney must not withdraw a refusal of registration under §2(d) until the TRAM system shows that the registration is cancelled or expired. To allow ample time for processing of timely filed post-registration maintenance documents, the USPTO waits until 30 days after the expiration of the grace period before updating its records to show that the registration is cancelled or expired.
If the examining attorney determines that 30 days have passed since the expiration of the grace period, but the TRAM system does not indicate that the registration is cancelled or expired, the examining attorney should contact the Supervisor of the Post Registration Section and request that the database be updated to show that the registration is cancelled or expired.