Requirements To Receive a Reduced Fee for Filing an Application Through the Trademark Electronic Application System, 17636-17640 [05-6947]
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 66 / Thursday, April 7, 2005 / Proposed Rules
(iv) If the prior-filed provisional
application was filed in a language other
than English and both an Englishlanguage translation of the prior-filed
provisional application and a statement
that the translation is accurate were not
previously filed in the prior-filed
provisional application, applicant will
be notified and given a period of time
within which to file, in the provisional
application, an English-language
translation of the non-English-language
prior-filed provisional application and a
statement that the translation is
accurate. If the notice is mailed in a
pending nonprovisional application, a
timely reply to such a notice must
include the filing of a confirmation in
the nonprovisional application that the
translation and statement were filed in
the provisional application or the
nonprovisional application will be
abandoned.
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PART 3—ASSIGNMENT, RECORDING
AND RIGHTS OF ASSIGNEE
11. The authority citation for 37 CFR
part 3 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1123; 35 U.S.C.
2(b)(2).
12. Section 3.28 is revised to read as
follows:
§ 3.28
Requests for recording.
Each document submitted to the
Office for recording must include a
single cover sheet (as specified in § 3.31)
referring either to those patent
applications and patents, or to those
trademark applications and
registrations, against which the
document is to be recorded. If a
document to be recorded includes
interests in, or transactions involving,
both patents and trademarks, then
separate patent and trademark cover
sheets, each accompanied by a copy of
the document to be recorded, should be
submitted. If a document to be recorded
is not accompanied by a completed
cover sheet, the document and the
incomplete cover sheet will be returned
pursuant to § 3.51 for proper
completion, in which case the
document and a completed cover sheet
should be resubmitted.
13. Section 3.31 is amended by
revising paragraph (a)(7)(i) to read as
follows:
§ 3.31
Cover sheet content.
(a) * * *
(7) * * *
(i) Place a symbol comprised of
letters, numbers, and/or punctuation
marks between forward slash marks (e.g.
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/Thomas O’Malley III/) in the signature
block on the electronic submission; or
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14. Section 3.73 is amended by
revising paragraph (b)(1)(i) to read as
follows:
§ 3.73 Establishing right of assignee to
take action.
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(b)(1) * * *
(i) Documentary evidence of a chain
of title from the original owner to the
assignee (e.g., copy of an executed
assignment). For trademark matters
only, the documents submitted to
establish ownership may be required to
be recorded pursuant to § 3.11 in the
assignment records of the Office as a
condition to permitting the assignee to
take action in a matter pending before
the Office. For patent matters only, the
submission of the documentary
evidence must be accompanied by a
statement affirming that the
documentary evidence of the chain of
title from the original owner to the
assignee was submitted for recordation
pursuant to § 3.11; or
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PART 10—REPRESENTATION OF
OTHERS BEFORE THE PATENT AND
TRADEMARK OFFICE
15. The authority citation for 37 CFR
part 10 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 500; 15 U.S.C. 1123; 35
U.S.C. 2, 6, 32, 41.
16. Section 10.112 is amended by
revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:
§ 10.112 Preserving identity of funds and
property of client.
(a) All funds of clients paid to a
practitioner or a practitioner’s firm,
other than advances for costs and
expenses, shall be deposited in one or
more identifiable bank accounts
maintained in the United States or, in
the case of a practitioner having an
office in a foreign country or registered
under § 11.6(c), in the United States or
the foreign country.
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Dated: April 1, 2005.
Jon W. Dudas,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual
Property and Director of the United States
Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 05–6931 Filed 4–6–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–16–P
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
37 CFR Parts 2 and 7
[Docket No. 2005–T–056]
RIN 0651–AB88
Requirements To Receive a Reduced
Fee for Filing an Application Through
the Trademark Electronic Application
System
United States Patent and
Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rule making.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (Office) proposes to
amend its rules to permit an applicant
using the Trademark Electronic
Application System (TEAS) to file a
trademark or service mark application
for registration on the Principal Register
under section 1 and/or 44 of the Act to
pay a reduced fee under certain
circumstances. The Office proposes to
offer a reduced fee to TEAS applicants
if the application meets certain filing
requirements beyond those required to
receive a filing date. The applicant must
also respond to Office actions within
two months of the mailing date, file
communications regarding the
application through TEAS, and agree to
receive communications concerning the
application by electronic mail (e-mail).
TEAS applications that qualify for the
reduced fee option will be referred to as
‘‘TEAS Plus’’ applications. The reduced
fee option will not apply to applications
filed pursuant to section 66(a) of the Act
because they cannot be filed through
TEAS.
Comments must be received by
May 9, 2005 to ensure consideration.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments by e-mail
to: TEASPLUS.comments@uspto.gov.
Written comments may be submitted
by mail to: Commissioner for
Trademarks, P.O. Box 1451, Alexandria,
Virginia 22313–1451, attention Cheryl
L. Black; or by hand delivery to:
Trademark Assistance Center,
Concourse Level, James Madison
Building-East Wing, 600 Dulany Street,
Alexandria, Virginia, attention Cheryl L.
Black.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Cheryl L. Black, Office of the
Commissioner for Trademarks, by
telephone at (571) 272–9565, by e-mail
to cheryl.black@uspto.gov, or by
facsimile at (571) 273–9565.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office
proposes to offer a reduced fee to TEAS
applicants using the Office’s
DATES:
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 66 / Thursday, April 7, 2005 / Proposed Rules
Trademark/Servicemark Application,
Principal Register form if: (1) The
application meets certain additional
filing requirements; (2) the applicant
responds to Office actions within two
months of the mailing date; (3) the
applicant files certain communications
regarding the application through TEAS;
and (4) the applicant agrees to accept
communications concerning the
application by e-mail. The application
will be referred to as a TEAS Plus
application. The applicant must pay an
additional fee set forth in proposed
§ 2.6(a)(1)(iv) if, at any time during
examination of the TEAS Plus
application, the Office determines that:
(1) The application does not meet the
filing requirements of proposed
§ 2.22(a); (2) the applicant did not file a
complete response to an Office action;
(3) the applicant’s response to an Office
action was not filed within two months
of the mailing date; (4) the applicant
filed one of the communications listed
in proposed § 2.23(a) on paper; or (5) the
applicant refused to receive
correspondence from the Office by email.
References in this notice to ‘‘the Act,’’
‘‘the Trademark Act,’’ or ‘‘the statute’’
refer to the Trademark Act of 1946, 15
U.S.C. 1051 et seq., as amended.
Background
This proposed rule is in accordance
with the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2005, Public Law 108–447
(Appropriations Act), enacted on
December 8, 2004. The Appropriations
Act amends the Trademark Act of 1946
to require that:
[D]uring fiscal years 2005 and 2006,
under such conditions as may be
prescribed by the Director, the fee under
§ 31(a) of the Trademark Act for (1) the
filing of a paper application for
trademark registration shall be $375; (2)
the filing of an electronic application
shall be $325; and (3) the filing of an
electronic application meeting certain
additional requirements prescribed by
the Director shall be $275.
Effective January 31, 2005,
application filing fees were amended in
accordance with the provisions of 15
U.S.C. 1113(a) as amended by the
Appropriations Act. A notice of final
rule making was published at 70 FR
2952 (January 19, 2005). The filing fee
for paper applications filed under
section 1 or 44 of the Trademark Act is
now $375.00 per class, and the filing fee
for TEAS applications filed pursuant to
section 1 or 44 of the Trademark Act is
now $325.00 per class.
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Requirements for a TEAS Plus
Trademark Application
This proposed rule sets forth
additional requirements for TEAS
applications to be eligible for a reduced
fee of $275.00 per class. The rule only
applies to TEAS applications filed on
the Office’s Trademark/Servicemark
Application, Principal Register form.
Under proposed § 2.22, to obtain a
reduced filing fee an application must
include the following:
(1) The applicant’s name and address;
(2) The applicant’s legal entity;
(3) The citizenship of an individual
applicant, or the state or country of
incorporation or organization of a
juristic applicant;
(4) If applicant is a partnership, the
names and citizenship of applicant’s
general partners;
(5) A name and address for
correspondence;
(6) An e-mail address for
correspondence and an authorization for
the Office to send correspondence
concerning the application to the
applicant or applicant’s attorney by email;
(7) One or more basis or bases for
filing under sections 1 and/or 44 of the
Act that satisfy all the requirements of
§ 2.34;
(8) Correctly classified goods and/or
services, with an identification of goods
and/or services from the Office’s
Acceptable Identification of Goods and
Services Manual (Goods and Services
Manual). In an application based on
section 44 of the Act, the scope of goods
and/or services covered by the section
44 basis may not exceed the scope of
goods and/or services in the foreign
application or registration;
(9) If the application contains goods
and/or services in more than one class,
compliance with § 2.86;
(10) A filing fee for each class of
goods and/or services as required by
§ 2.6(a)(iii);
(11) A verified statement that meets
the requirements of § 2.33, dated and
signed by a person properly authorized
to sign on behalf of the applicant
pursuant to § 2.33(a);
(12) A drawing of the mark that meets
the requirements of §§ 2.51 and 2.52;
(13) If the mark is in standard
characters, a mark comprised of only
characters in the USPTO standard
character set available at: https://
www.uspto.gov/teas/
standardCharacterSet.html;
(14) If the mark is not in standard
characters, a description of the mark;
(15) If the mark includes non-English
wording, an English translation of that
wording;
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(16) If the mark includes non-Latin
characters, a transliteration of those
characters;
(17) If the mark includes an
individual’s name or portrait, either (1)
a statement that identifies the living
individual whose name and likeness the
mark comprises and written consent of
the individual, or (2) a statement that
the name or portrait does not identify a
living individual (see section 2(c) of the
Act);
(18) If the applicant owns one or more
registrations for the same mark, a claim
of ownership of the registration(s)
identified by the U.S. registration
number(s), pursuant to § 2.36; and
(19) If the application is a concurrent
use application, compliance with § 2.42.
In addition to the TEAS Plus filing
requirements in proposed § 2.22, an
applicant filing a TEAS Plus application
must comply with the examination
requirements set forth in proposed
§ 2.23: (1) File response(s) to Office
action(s), request(s) to change the
correspondence address, appointment,
revocation or withdrawal of power of
attorney, appointment or revocation of
domestic representative, and
preliminary amendment(s) through
TEAS; (2) respond completely to Office
actions within two months of the
mailing date (except that a notice of
appeal from a final action under section
20 of the Act may be filed within six
months of the mailing date of the Office
action); (3) agree to receive
communications from the Office by email; and (4) for applications with a
section 1(b) basis, file any amendment
to allege use, statement of use, request
for extension of time to file a statement
of use, or request to delete the section
1(b) basis through TEAS.
Discussion of Specific Rules
The Office proposes to add § 2.22, and
to amend §§ 2.6, 2.23, 2.53, 2.62 and
7.25.
The Office proposes to revise
§ 2.6(a)(1) to more clearly enumerate the
application filing fee options and to add
new subsections (iii) and (iv). Proposed
§ 2.6(a)(1)(iii) adds a new fee for filing
a TEAS Plus application under
proposed § 2.22.
Proposed § 2.6(a)(1)(iv) adds a new fee
in the amount of $50.00 per class for
processing a TEAS Plus application
filed under proposed § 2.22 that does
not meet the requirements of proposed
§§ 2.22 and 2.23. The additional fee is
the difference between the filing fee for
a TEAS application and the reduced fee
for a TEAS Plus application.
The Office proposes to add a new
§ 2.22. Proposed § 2.22(a) sets forth the
requirements for filing a TEAS Plus
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application. To file a TEAS Plus
application, an applicant must use the
electronic Trademark/Servicemark
Application, Principal Register form,
accessed from https://teas.uspto.gov, and
choose the reduced fee option presented
as the TEAS Plus form on the initial
screen.
For most of the filing requirements in
proposed § 2.22(a), an applicant must
enter the information in the appropriate
data fields on the TEAS Plus form. To
enter the identification of goods and/or
services, an applicant will be instructed
to enter search terms appropriate for the
desired goods and/or services within the
identified field on the TEAS Plus form.
The system will then retrieve relevant
entries from the Goods and Services
Manual, and the applicant must select
one or more of the entries to add to the
TEAS Plus form. The Goods and
Services Manual currently available on
the Office’s Web site at: https://
www.uspto.gov, contains more than
20,000 listings of acceptable
identifications of goods and services.
Proposed § 2.22(b) provides that if a
TEAS Plus application does not meet
the filing requirements of paragraph (a),
the applicant must pay the fee required
by proposed § 2.6(a)(1)(iv). The
application will retain its original filing
date if the initial application met the
minimum application filing
requirements of § 2.21. Proposed
§ 2.22(b) applies where an application is
initially designated as a TEAS Plus
application, but upon examination, the
Office determines that the application
did not meet the TEAS Plus filing
requirements.
Proposed § 2.22(c) lists the types of
TEAS applications that are not eligible
for the reduced fee option under
paragraph (a). Applications for
certification marks, collective marks,
collective membership marks and
applications for registration on the
Supplemental Register cannot be filed
as TEAS Plus applications because the
Office does not have TEAS Plus forms
for these types of applications.
The Office proposes to revise current
§ 2.23. This section discusses the Office
practice of assigning a serial number to
applications and informing the
applicant of the serial number and filing
date. The Office will continue this
practice but will delete this
administrative information from the
rules of practice. Such administrative
practices are generally set forth in the
Office’s Trademark Manual of
Examining Procedure.
The Office proposes to add new
subsections §§ 2.23(a) and 2.23(b).
Proposed § 2.23(a) sets forth additional
examination requirements for a TEAS
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Plus application. Proposed § 2.23(b)
requires payment of the additional fee
set forth in proposed § 2.6(a)(1)(iv), if a
TEAS Plus applicant fails to meet any
of the requirements in proposed
§ 2.23(a) during the pendency of the
application.
The Office proposes to redesignate
§ 2.53(a) as § 2.53(a)(2), and to amend
the rule to state that the requirement
applies to standard character drawings
filed with all TEAS submissions except
TEAS Plus applications. The Office
proposes to add new paragraph
§ 2.53(a)(1) to set forth the requirements
for standard character drawings filed
with TEAS Plus applications. Proposed
§ 2.53(a)(1) provides that a mark in
standard characters in a TEAS Plus
application must be entered in the
appropriate field on the TEAS Plus
form. A TEAS Plus applicant will not
have the option of attaching a digitized
image of a mark in standard characters.
The applicant must enter a mark
comprised of only standard characters
from the Office’s standard character set,
currently available at: https://
www.uspto.gov/teas/
standardCharacterSet.html, and the
Office will generate a digitized image of
the mark in .jpg format and attach the
image to the TEAS Plus form.
The Office proposes to amend § 2.62
by rewording the current language to
simplify the rule and by redesignating it
as § 2.62(a). The Office also proposes to
add § 2.62(b), stating that to maintain a
TEAS Plus application, an applicant’s
response must: (1) address all issues
raised in the Office action; and (2) be
filed within two months of the mailing
date of the Office action. If the applicant
does not file a complete response to an
Office action within two months of the
mailing date, the application will lose
its TEAS Plus status and the applicant
must pay the additional fee required by
proposed § 2.6(a)(1)(iv). This is
consistent with proposed § 2.23,
discussed above. The applicant must
respond to the Office action within six
months of the mailing date to avoid
abandonment. 37 CFR 2.65.
When issuing an Office action in a
TEAS Plus application, the examining
attorney will require that the applicant
respond to all issues within two months
of the mailing date through TEAS or
respond within six months and include
the additional $50.00 per class fee with
the response.
The Office proposes to amend
§ 7.25(a) to add proposed §§ 2.22 and
2.23 to the list of rules in part 2 of this
chapter that do not apply to requests for
extension of protection of international
registrations to the United States. A
request for extension of protection to the
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United States is not eligible for
examination as a TEAS Plus application
because it cannot be filed directly
through TEAS.
Rule Making Requirements
Executive Order 13132: This rule
making does not contain policies with
federalism implications sufficient to
warrant preparation of a federalism
assessment under Executive Order
13132 (Aug. 4, 1999).
Executive Order 12866: This rule
making has been determined not to be
significant for purposes of Executive
Order 12866 (Sept. 30, 1993).
Regulatory Flexibility Act: The Deputy
General Counsel for General Law of the
United States Patent and Trademark
Office has certified to the Chief Counsel
for Advocacy of the Small Business
Administration that the proposed rule
changes will not have a significant
impact on a substantial number of small
entities (Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5
U.S.C. 605(b)).
The current filing fees for trademark
applications are $375.00 per class for
applications filed on paper and $325.00
per class for trademark applications
filed electronically through the
Trademark Electronic Application
System (TEAS). The sole purpose of the
proposed rules is to provide applicants
that electronically file trademark
applications through TEAS with the
added option of filing the application
for a reduced fee of $275.00 per class.
Applications filed under the reduced fee
option will be referred to as TEAS Plus
applications.
In fiscal year 2004, the agency
received approximately 245,000
trademark applications. Of that total, the
Office estimates that 179,000 trademark
applications were filed through TEAS
and that 66,000 of the TEAS filers were
small entities. The Office projects that it
will receive approximately 264,000
trademark applications in fiscal year
2005, that an estimated 211,000 will be
filed through TEAS, and that
approximately 42,000 TEAS filers will
take advantage of the reduced fee
option. The Office estimates that of the
projected 42,000 TEAS Plus
applications filed during fiscal year
2005, approximately 15,500 will be filed
by small entities.
Because the proposed rule merely
provides all trademark applicants,
including small businesses, with
additional benefits at a reduced cost, the
agency certifies that any economic
impact on small entities affected by the
proposed rule will not be significant.
Paperwork Reduction Act: The
proposed rules are in conformity with
the requirements of the Paperwork
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 66 / Thursday, April 7, 2005 / Proposed Rules
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.).
Notwithstanding any other provision
of law, no person is required to nor shall
a person be subject to a penalty for
failure to comply with a collection of
information subject to the requirements
of the PRA unless that collection of
information displays a currently valid
OMB control number.
This proposed rule involves
collections of information requirements
subject to the PRA. The collections of
information involved in this rule have
been reviewed and previously approved
by OMB under the following control
numbers: 0651–0009 and 0651–0050.
This rule includes provisions that affect
the fee structures for approved
information collection activities under
0651–0009 Trademark Processing.
Changes to the fee structures, as set
forth in this rule, will be submitted to
the Office of Management and Budget
for review and approval at the time of
renewal of 0651–0009.
Comments are invited on: (1) Whether
the collection of information is
necessary for proper performance of the
functions of the agency, (2) the accuracy
of the agency’s estimate of the burden,
(3) ways to enhance the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information to be
collected, and (4) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
to respondents.
Send comments regarding any other
aspect of this data collection, including
suggestions for reducing the burden, to
the Commissioner for Trademarks, P.O.
Box 1451, Alexandria, VA 22313–1451
(Attn: Ari Leifman), and to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs,
OMB, 725 17th Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20230 (Attn: PTO Desk
Officer).
List of Subjects
37 CFR Part 2
Administrative practice and
procedure, Trademarks.
37 CFR Part 7
Administrative practice and
procedure, Trademarks.
For the reasons given in the preamble
and under the authority contained in 35
U.S.C. 2 and 15 U.S.C. 1123, as
amended, the Office proposes to amend
part 2 and part 7 of title 37 as follows:
PART 2—RULES OF PRACTICE IN
TRADEMARK CASES
1. The authority citation for 37 CFR
part 2 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1123, 35 U.S.C. 2,
unless otherwise noted.
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(12) A drawing of the mark that meets
the requirements of §§ 2.51 and 2.52;
(13) If the mark is in standard
§ 2.6 Trademark fees
characters, a mark comprised of only
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characters in the USPTO standard
(a) * * *
character set available at: https://
(1) Application filing fees.
www.uspto.gov/teas/
(i) For filing an application on paper,
standardCharacterSet.html;
per class—$375.00
(14) If the mark is not in standard
(ii) For filing an application through
characters, a description of the mark;
TEAS, per class—$325.00
(15) If the mark includes non-English
(iii) For filing a TEAS Plus
wording, an English translation of that
application under § 2.22, per class—
wording;
$275.00
(16) If the mark includes non-Latin
(iv) Additional processing fee under
characters, a transliteration of those
§§ 2.22(b) and 2.23(b), per class—$50.00 characters;
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(17) If the mark includes an
3. Add § 2.22, to read as follows:
individual’s name or portrait, either a
statement that identifies the living
§ 2.22 Filing requirements for a TEAS Plus
individual whose name or likeness the
application.
mark comprises and written consent of
(a) A trademark/service mark
the individual, or a statement that the
application for registration on the
name or portrait does not identify a
Principal Register under section 1 and/
living individual (see section 2(c) of the
or section 44 of the Act will be entitled
Act);
to a reduced filing fee under
(18) If the applicant owns one or more
§ 2.6(a)(1)(iii) if it is filed through TEAS
registrations for the same mark, a claim
and includes:
of ownership of the registration(s)
(1) The applicant’s name and address;
identified by the U.S. registration
(2) The applicant’s legal entity;
number(s), pursuant to § 2.36; and
(3) The citizenship of an individual
(19) If the application is a concurrent
applicant, or the state or country of
use application, compliance with § 2.42.
incorporation or organization of a
(b) If an application does not meet the
juristic applicant;
requirements of paragraph (a) of this
(4) If the applicant is a partnership,
section at the time of filing, the
the names and citizenship of the
applicant must pay the fee required by
applicant’s general partners;
§ 2.6(a)(1)(iv). If the application as filed
(5) A name and address for
meets the filing date requirements of
correspondence;
§ 2.21, the application will retain its
(6) An e-mail address for
original filing date.
correspondence, and an authorization
(c) The following types of
for the Office to send correspondence
applications cannot be filed as TEAS
concerning the application to the
Plus applications under paragraph (a) of
applicant or applicant’s attorney by ethis section:
mail;
(1) Applications for certification
(7) One or more bases for filing that
marks (see § 2.45);
satisfy all the requirements of § 2.34;
(2) Applications for collective marks
(8) Correctly classified goods and/or
services, with an identification of goods (see § 2.44);
(3) Applications for collective
and/or services from the Office’s
membership marks (see § 2.44); and
Acceptable Identification of Goods and
(4) Applications for registration on the
Services Manual, available through the
TEAS form and at https://www.uspto.gov. Supplemental Register (see § 2.47).
4. Revise § 2.23 to read as follows:
In an application based on section 44 of
the Act, the scope of the goods and/or
§ 2.23 Additional requirements for TEAS
services covered by the section 44 basis
Plus application.
may not exceed the scope of the goods
(a) In addition to the filing
and/or services in the foreign
requirements under § 2.22(a), the
application or registration;
applicant must:
(9) If the application contains goods
(1) File the following communications
and/or services in more than one class,
through TEAS:
compliance with § 2.86;
(i) Responses to Office actions;
(10) A filing fee for each class of
(ii) Requests to change the
goods and/or services, as required by
correspondence address and owner’s
§ 2.6(a)(1)(iii);
address;
(11) A verified statement that meets
(iii) Appointment and revocation of
the requirements of § 2.33, dated and
power of attorney;
signed by a person properly authorized
(iv) Withdrawal of attorney;
to sign on behalf of the applicant
(v) Appointment and revocation of
pursuant to § 2.33(a);
domestic representative; and
2. Amend § 2.6 to revise paragraph
(a)(1) to read as follows:
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E:\FR\FM\07APP1.SGM
07APP1
17640
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 66 / Thursday, April 7, 2005 / Proposed Rules
(vi) Preliminary amendments;
(2) Respond to Office actions,
including requests for reconsideration of
a final Office action, within two months
of the mailing date, except that a notice
of appeal under section 20 of the Act
may be filed within six months of the
mailing date. Responses must address
all issues raised in the Office action;
(3) Receive communications from the
Office by electronic mail; and
(4) File the following additional
communications through TEAS if the
application has a section 1(b) basis:
(i) Amendment to allege use under
section 1(c) of the Act or statement of
use under section 1(d) of the Act;
(ii) Request(s) for extensions of time
to file a statement of use under section
1(d) of the Act; and
(iii) Request to delete section 1(b)
basis.
(b) If an application does not meet the
requirements of paragraph (a) of this
section, the applicant must pay the fee
required by § 2.6(a)(1)(iv).
5. Amend § 2.53 to revise paragraph
(a) to read as follows:
§ 2.53 Requirements for drawings filed
through the TEAS.
*
*
*
*
*
(a)(1) Standard character drawings in
TEAS Plus applications filed under
§ 2.22: If an applicant is filing a
standard character drawing, the
applicant must enter the mark in the
appropriate field.
(2) Standard character drawings in all
other TEAS submissions: If an applicant
is filing a standard character drawing,
the applicant must enter the mark in the
appropriate field or attach a digitized
image of the mark to the TEAS
submission that meets the requirements
of paragraph (c) of this section.
*
*
*
*
*
6. Revise § 2.62 to read as follows:
§ 2.62
(a) To avoid abandonment, an
applicant has six months from the date
of mailing to respond to an Office action
(see § 2.65).
(b) In a TEAS Plus application filed
under § 2.22, an applicant must file a
response that addresses all issues raised
in an Office action within two months
of the mailing date (except that a notice
of appeal under section 20 of the Act
may be filed within six months of the
mailing date). If a response is
incomplete or is not received within
two months of the mailing date of the
Office action, the applicant must pay
the fee required by § 2.6(a)(1)(iv).
15:06 Apr 06, 2005
7. The authority citation for 37 CFR
part 7 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1123, 35 U.S.C. 2,
unless otherwise noted.
8. Amend § 7.25 to revise paragraph
(a) to read as follows:
§ 7.25 Sections of part 2 applicable to
extension of protection.
(a) Except for §§ 2.22–2.23, 2.130–
2.131, 2,160–2.166, 2.168, 2.173, 2.175,
2.181–2.186 and 2.197, all sections in
part 2 and all sections in part 10 of this
chapter shall apply to an extension of
protection of an international
registration to the United States,
including sections related to
proceedings before the Trademark Trial
and Appeal Board, unless otherwise
stated.
*
*
*
*
*
Dated: April 1, 2005.
Jon W. Dudas,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual
Property and Director of the United States
Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 05–6947 Filed 4–6–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510–16–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[R06–OAR–2004–TX–0014; FRL–7896–3]
Approval and Promulgation of Air
Quality Implementation Plans; Texas;
Rules for the Control of Highly
Reactive Volatile Organic Compounds
in the Houston/Galveston (HGA) Ozone
Nonattainment Area
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
Period for response.
VerDate jul<14>2003
PART 7—RULES OF PRACTICE IN
FILINGS PURSUANT TO THE
PROTOCOL RELATING TO THE
MADRID AGREEMENT CONCERNING
THE INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION
OF MARK
Jkt 205001
SUMMARY: We are proposing to approve
rules adopted by the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for
the control of highly reactive Volatile
Organic Compounds (HRVOCs) in the
Houston/Galveston ozone
nonattainment area. These rules for the
control of HRVOCs supplement Texas’
existing rules for controlling volatile
organic compounds (VOC) by providing
more extensive requirements for certain
equipment in HRVOC service. These
additional controls of HRVOC emissions
will help to attain and maintain the
PO 00000
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national ambient air quality standards
(NAAQS) for ozone in HGA. Inhaling
even low levels of ozone can trigger a
variety of health problems including
chest pains, coughing, nausea, throat
irritation, and congestion. It can also
worsen bronchitis, asthma and reduce
lung capacity.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before May 9, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Regional Material in
EDocket (RME) ID No. R06–OAR–2004–
TX–0014, by one of the following
methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
• Agency Web site: https://
docket.epa.gov/rmepub/ Regional
Material in EDocket (RME), EPA’s
electronic public docket and comment
system, is EPA’s preferred method for
receiving comments. Once in the
system, select ‘‘quick search,’’ then key
in the appropriate RME Docket
identification number. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
• U.S. EPA Region 6 ‘‘Contact Us’’
Web site: https://epa.gov/region6/
r6coment.htm. Please click on ‘‘6PD’’
(Multimedia) and select ‘‘Air’’ before
submitting comments.
• E-mail: Mr. Thomas Diggs at
diggs.thomas@epa.gov. Please also cc
the person listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section below.
• Fax: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air
Planning Section (6PD–L), at fax
number 214–665–7263.
• Mail: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air
Planning Section (6PD–L),
Environmental Protection Agency, 1445
Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas
75202–2733.
• Hand or Courier Delivery: Mr.
Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air Planning
Section (6PD–L), Environmental
Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue,
Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 75202–2733.
Such deliveries are accepted only
between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
weekdays except for legal holidays.
Special arrangements should be made
for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to
Regional Material in EDocket (RME) ID
No. R06–OAR–2004–TX–0014. EPA’s
policy is that all comments received
will be included in the public file
without change, and may be made
available online at https://
docket.epa.gov/rmepub/, including any
personal information provided, unless
the comment includes information
claimed to be Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information
E:\FR\FM\07APP1.SGM
07APP1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 66 (Thursday, April 7, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17636-17640]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-6947]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
37 CFR Parts 2 and 7
[Docket No. 2005-T-056]
RIN 0651-AB88
Requirements To Receive a Reduced Fee for Filing an Application
Through the Trademark Electronic Application System
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rule making.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office)
proposes to amend its rules to permit an applicant using the Trademark
Electronic Application System (TEAS) to file a trademark or service
mark application for registration on the Principal Register under
section 1 and/or 44 of the Act to pay a reduced fee under certain
circumstances. The Office proposes to offer a reduced fee to TEAS
applicants if the application meets certain filing requirements beyond
those required to receive a filing date. The applicant must also
respond to Office actions within two months of the mailing date, file
communications regarding the application through TEAS, and agree to
receive communications concerning the application by electronic mail
(e-mail). TEAS applications that qualify for the reduced fee option
will be referred to as ``TEAS Plus'' applications. The reduced fee
option will not apply to applications filed pursuant to section 66(a)
of the Act because they cannot be filed through TEAS.
DATES: Comments must be received by May 9, 2005 to ensure
consideration.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments by e-mail to: TEASPLUS.comments@uspto.gov.
Written comments may be submitted by mail to: Commissioner for
Trademarks, P.O. Box 1451, Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1451, attention
Cheryl L. Black; or by hand delivery to: Trademark Assistance Center,
Concourse Level, James Madison Building-East Wing, 600 Dulany Street,
Alexandria, Virginia, attention Cheryl L. Black.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cheryl L. Black, Office of the
Commissioner for Trademarks, by telephone at (571) 272-9565, by e-mail
to cheryl.black@uspto.gov, or by facsimile at (571) 273-9565.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office proposes to offer a reduced fee
to TEAS applicants using the Office's
[[Page 17637]]
Trademark/Servicemark Application, Principal Register form if: (1) The
application meets certain additional filing requirements; (2) the
applicant responds to Office actions within two months of the mailing
date; (3) the applicant files certain communications regarding the
application through TEAS; and (4) the applicant agrees to accept
communications concerning the application by e-mail. The application
will be referred to as a TEAS Plus application. The applicant must pay
an additional fee set forth in proposed Sec. 2.6(a)(1)(iv) if, at any
time during examination of the TEAS Plus application, the Office
determines that: (1) The application does not meet the filing
requirements of proposed Sec. 2.22(a); (2) the applicant did not file
a complete response to an Office action; (3) the applicant's response
to an Office action was not filed within two months of the mailing
date; (4) the applicant filed one of the communications listed in
proposed Sec. 2.23(a) on paper; or (5) the applicant refused to
receive correspondence from the Office by e-mail.
References in this notice to ``the Act,'' ``the Trademark Act,'' or
``the statute'' refer to the Trademark Act of 1946, 15 U.S.C. 1051 et
seq., as amended.
Background
This proposed rule is in accordance with the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2005, Public Law 108-447 (Appropriations Act),
enacted on December 8, 2004. The Appropriations Act amends the
Trademark Act of 1946 to require that:
[D]uring fiscal years 2005 and 2006, under such conditions as may
be prescribed by the Director, the fee under Sec. 31(a) of the
Trademark Act for (1) the filing of a paper application for trademark
registration shall be $375; (2) the filing of an electronic application
shall be $325; and (3) the filing of an electronic application meeting
certain additional requirements prescribed by the Director shall be
$275.
Effective January 31, 2005, application filing fees were amended in
accordance with the provisions of 15 U.S.C. 1113(a) as amended by the
Appropriations Act. A notice of final rule making was published at 70
FR 2952 (January 19, 2005). The filing fee for paper applications filed
under section 1 or 44 of the Trademark Act is now $375.00 per class,
and the filing fee for TEAS applications filed pursuant to section 1 or
44 of the Trademark Act is now $325.00 per class.
Requirements for a TEAS Plus Trademark Application
This proposed rule sets forth additional requirements for TEAS
applications to be eligible for a reduced fee of $275.00 per class. The
rule only applies to TEAS applications filed on the Office's Trademark/
Servicemark Application, Principal Register form. Under proposed Sec.
2.22, to obtain a reduced filing fee an application must include the
following:
(1) The applicant's name and address;
(2) The applicant's legal entity;
(3) The citizenship of an individual applicant, or the state or
country of incorporation or organization of a juristic applicant;
(4) If applicant is a partnership, the names and citizenship of
applicant's general partners;
(5) A name and address for correspondence;
(6) An e-mail address for correspondence and an authorization for
the Office to send correspondence concerning the application to the
applicant or applicant's attorney by e-mail;
(7) One or more basis or bases for filing under sections 1 and/or
44 of the Act that satisfy all the requirements of Sec. 2.34;
(8) Correctly classified goods and/or services, with an
identification of goods and/or services from the Office's Acceptable
Identification of Goods and Services Manual (Goods and Services
Manual). In an application based on section 44 of the Act, the scope of
goods and/or services covered by the section 44 basis may not exceed
the scope of goods and/or services in the foreign application or
registration;
(9) If the application contains goods and/or services in more than
one class, compliance with Sec. 2.86;
(10) A filing fee for each class of goods and/or services as
required by Sec. 2.6(a)(iii);
(11) A verified statement that meets the requirements of Sec.
2.33, dated and signed by a person properly authorized to sign on
behalf of the applicant pursuant to Sec. 2.33(a);
(12) A drawing of the mark that meets the requirements of
Sec. Sec. 2.51 and 2.52;
(13) If the mark is in standard characters, a mark comprised of
only characters in the USPTO standard character set available at:
https://www.uspto.gov/teas/standardCharacterSet.html;
(14) If the mark is not in standard characters, a description of
the mark;
(15) If the mark includes non-English wording, an English
translation of that wording;
(16) If the mark includes non-Latin characters, a transliteration
of those characters;
(17) If the mark includes an individual's name or portrait, either
(1) a statement that identifies the living individual whose name and
likeness the mark comprises and written consent of the individual, or
(2) a statement that the name or portrait does not identify a living
individual (see section 2(c) of the Act);
(18) If the applicant owns one or more registrations for the same
mark, a claim of ownership of the registration(s) identified by the
U.S. registration number(s), pursuant to Sec. 2.36; and
(19) If the application is a concurrent use application, compliance
with Sec. 2.42.
In addition to the TEAS Plus filing requirements in proposed Sec.
2.22, an applicant filing a TEAS Plus application must comply with the
examination requirements set forth in proposed Sec. 2.23: (1) File
response(s) to Office action(s), request(s) to change the
correspondence address, appointment, revocation or withdrawal of power
of attorney, appointment or revocation of domestic representative, and
preliminary amendment(s) through TEAS; (2) respond completely to Office
actions within two months of the mailing date (except that a notice of
appeal from a final action under section 20 of the Act may be filed
within six months of the mailing date of the Office action); (3) agree
to receive communications from the Office by e-mail; and (4) for
applications with a section 1(b) basis, file any amendment to allege
use, statement of use, request for extension of time to file a
statement of use, or request to delete the section 1(b) basis through
TEAS.
Discussion of Specific Rules
The Office proposes to add Sec. 2.22, and to amend Sec. Sec. 2.6,
2.23, 2.53, 2.62 and 7.25.
The Office proposes to revise Sec. 2.6(a)(1) to more clearly
enumerate the application filing fee options and to add new subsections
(iii) and (iv). Proposed Sec. 2.6(a)(1)(iii) adds a new fee for filing
a TEAS Plus application under proposed Sec. 2.22.
Proposed Sec. 2.6(a)(1)(iv) adds a new fee in the amount of $50.00
per class for processing a TEAS Plus application filed under proposed
Sec. 2.22 that does not meet the requirements of proposed Sec. Sec.
2.22 and 2.23. The additional fee is the difference between the filing
fee for a TEAS application and the reduced fee for a TEAS Plus
application.
The Office proposes to add a new Sec. 2.22. Proposed Sec. 2.22(a)
sets forth the requirements for filing a TEAS Plus
[[Page 17638]]
application. To file a TEAS Plus application, an applicant must use the
electronic Trademark/Servicemark Application, Principal Register form,
accessed from https://teas.uspto.gov, and choose the reduced fee option
presented as the TEAS Plus form on the initial screen.
For most of the filing requirements in proposed Sec. 2.22(a), an
applicant must enter the information in the appropriate data fields on
the TEAS Plus form. To enter the identification of goods and/or
services, an applicant will be instructed to enter search terms
appropriate for the desired goods and/or services within the identified
field on the TEAS Plus form. The system will then retrieve relevant
entries from the Goods and Services Manual, and the applicant must
select one or more of the entries to add to the TEAS Plus form. The
Goods and Services Manual currently available on the Office's Web site
at: https://www.uspto.gov, contains more than 20,000 listings of
acceptable identifications of goods and services.
Proposed Sec. 2.22(b) provides that if a TEAS Plus application
does not meet the filing requirements of paragraph (a), the applicant
must pay the fee required by proposed Sec. 2.6(a)(1)(iv). The
application will retain its original filing date if the initial
application met the minimum application filing requirements of Sec.
2.21. Proposed Sec. 2.22(b) applies where an application is initially
designated as a TEAS Plus application, but upon examination, the Office
determines that the application did not meet the TEAS Plus filing
requirements.
Proposed Sec. 2.22(c) lists the types of TEAS applications that
are not eligible for the reduced fee option under paragraph (a).
Applications for certification marks, collective marks, collective
membership marks and applications for registration on the Supplemental
Register cannot be filed as TEAS Plus applications because the Office
does not have TEAS Plus forms for these types of applications.
The Office proposes to revise current Sec. 2.23. This section
discusses the Office practice of assigning a serial number to
applications and informing the applicant of the serial number and
filing date. The Office will continue this practice but will delete
this administrative information from the rules of practice. Such
administrative practices are generally set forth in the Office's
Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure.
The Office proposes to add new subsections Sec. Sec. 2.23(a) and
2.23(b). Proposed Sec. 2.23(a) sets forth additional examination
requirements for a TEAS Plus application. Proposed Sec. 2.23(b)
requires payment of the additional fee set forth in proposed Sec.
2.6(a)(1)(iv), if a TEAS Plus applicant fails to meet any of the
requirements in proposed Sec. 2.23(a) during the pendency of the
application.
The Office proposes to redesignate Sec. 2.53(a) as Sec.
2.53(a)(2), and to amend the rule to state that the requirement applies
to standard character drawings filed with all TEAS submissions except
TEAS Plus applications. The Office proposes to add new paragraph Sec.
2.53(a)(1) to set forth the requirements for standard character
drawings filed with TEAS Plus applications. Proposed Sec. 2.53(a)(1)
provides that a mark in standard characters in a TEAS Plus application
must be entered in the appropriate field on the TEAS Plus form. A TEAS
Plus applicant will not have the option of attaching a digitized image
of a mark in standard characters. The applicant must enter a mark
comprised of only standard characters from the Office's standard
character set, currently available at: https://www.uspto.gov/teas/
standardCharacterSet.html, and the Office will generate a digitized
image of the mark in .jpg format and attach the image to the TEAS Plus
form.
The Office proposes to amend Sec. 2.62 by rewording the current
language to simplify the rule and by redesignating it as Sec. 2.62(a).
The Office also proposes to add Sec. 2.62(b), stating that to maintain
a TEAS Plus application, an applicant's response must: (1) address all
issues raised in the Office action; and (2) be filed within two months
of the mailing date of the Office action. If the applicant does not
file a complete response to an Office action within two months of the
mailing date, the application will lose its TEAS Plus status and the
applicant must pay the additional fee required by proposed Sec.
2.6(a)(1)(iv). This is consistent with proposed Sec. 2.23, discussed
above. The applicant must respond to the Office action within six
months of the mailing date to avoid abandonment. 37 CFR 2.65.
When issuing an Office action in a TEAS Plus application, the
examining attorney will require that the applicant respond to all
issues within two months of the mailing date through TEAS or respond
within six months and include the additional $50.00 per class fee with
the response.
The Office proposes to amend Sec. 7.25(a) to add proposed
Sec. Sec. 2.22 and 2.23 to the list of rules in part 2 of this chapter
that do not apply to requests for extension of protection of
international registrations to the United States. A request for
extension of protection to the United States is not eligible for
examination as a TEAS Plus application because it cannot be filed
directly through TEAS.
Rule Making Requirements
Executive Order 13132: This rule making does not contain policies
with federalism implications sufficient to warrant preparation of a
federalism assessment under Executive Order 13132 (Aug. 4, 1999).
Executive Order 12866: This rule making has been determined not to
be significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866 (Sept. 30, 1993).
Regulatory Flexibility Act: The Deputy General Counsel for General
Law of the United States Patent and Trademark Office has certified to
the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration
that the proposed rule changes will not have a significant impact on a
substantial number of small entities (Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5
U.S.C. 605(b)).
The current filing fees for trademark applications are $375.00 per
class for applications filed on paper and $325.00 per class for
trademark applications filed electronically through the Trademark
Electronic Application System (TEAS). The sole purpose of the proposed
rules is to provide applicants that electronically file trademark
applications through TEAS with the added option of filing the
application for a reduced fee of $275.00 per class. Applications filed
under the reduced fee option will be referred to as TEAS Plus
applications.
In fiscal year 2004, the agency received approximately 245,000
trademark applications. Of that total, the Office estimates that
179,000 trademark applications were filed through TEAS and that 66,000
of the TEAS filers were small entities. The Office projects that it
will receive approximately 264,000 trademark applications in fiscal
year 2005, that an estimated 211,000 will be filed through TEAS, and
that approximately 42,000 TEAS filers will take advantage of the
reduced fee option. The Office estimates that of the projected 42,000
TEAS Plus applications filed during fiscal year 2005, approximately
15,500 will be filed by small entities.
Because the proposed rule merely provides all trademark applicants,
including small businesses, with additional benefits at a reduced cost,
the agency certifies that any economic impact on small entities
affected by the proposed rule will not be significant.
Paperwork Reduction Act: The proposed rules are in conformity with
the requirements of the Paperwork
[[Page 17639]]
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required
to nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply
with a collection of information subject to the requirements of the PRA
unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB
control number.
This proposed rule involves collections of information requirements
subject to the PRA. The collections of information involved in this
rule have been reviewed and previously approved by OMB under the
following control numbers: 0651-0009 and 0651-0050. This rule includes
provisions that affect the fee structures for approved information
collection activities under 0651-0009 Trademark Processing. Changes to
the fee structures, as set forth in this rule, will be submitted to the
Office of Management and Budget for review and approval at the time of
renewal of 0651-0009.
Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collection of information
is necessary for proper performance of the functions of the agency, (2)
the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden, (3) ways to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be
collected, and (4) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information to respondents.
Send comments regarding any other aspect of this data collection,
including suggestions for reducing the burden, to the Commissioner for
Trademarks, P.O. Box 1451, Alexandria, VA 22313-1451 (Attn: Ari
Leifman), and to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB,
725 17th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (Attn: PTO Desk Officer).
List of Subjects
37 CFR Part 2
Administrative practice and procedure, Trademarks.
37 CFR Part 7
Administrative practice and procedure, Trademarks.
For the reasons given in the preamble and under the authority
contained in 35 U.S.C. 2 and 15 U.S.C. 1123, as amended, the Office
proposes to amend part 2 and part 7 of title 37 as follows:
PART 2--RULES OF PRACTICE IN TRADEMARK CASES
1. The authority citation for 37 CFR part 2 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1123, 35 U.S.C. 2, unless otherwise noted.
2. Amend Sec. 2.6 to revise paragraph (a)(1) to read as follows:
Sec. 2.6 Trademark fees
* * * * *
(a) * * *
(1) Application filing fees.
(i) For filing an application on paper, per class--$375.00
(ii) For filing an application through TEAS, per class--$325.00
(iii) For filing a TEAS Plus application under Sec. 2.22, per
class--$275.00
(iv) Additional processing fee under Sec. Sec. 2.22(b) and
2.23(b), per class--$50.00
* * * * *
3. Add Sec. 2.22, to read as follows:
Sec. 2.22 Filing requirements for a TEAS Plus application.
(a) A trademark/service mark application for registration on the
Principal Register under section 1 and/or section 44 of the Act will be
entitled to a reduced filing fee under Sec. 2.6(a)(1)(iii) if it is
filed through TEAS and includes:
(1) The applicant's name and address;
(2) The applicant's legal entity;
(3) The citizenship of an individual applicant, or the state or
country of incorporation or organization of a juristic applicant;
(4) If the applicant is a partnership, the names and citizenship of
the applicant's general partners;
(5) A name and address for correspondence;
(6) An e-mail address for correspondence, and an authorization for
the Office to send correspondence concerning the application to the
applicant or applicant's attorney by e-mail;
(7) One or more bases for filing that satisfy all the requirements
of Sec. 2.34;
(8) Correctly classified goods and/or services, with an
identification of goods and/or services from the Office's Acceptable
Identification of Goods and Services Manual, available through the TEAS
form and at https://www.uspto.gov. In an application based on section 44
of the Act, the scope of the goods and/or services covered by the
section 44 basis may not exceed the scope of the goods and/or services
in the foreign application or registration;
(9) If the application contains goods and/or services in more than
one class, compliance with Sec. 2.86;
(10) A filing fee for each class of goods and/or services, as
required by Sec. 2.6(a)(1)(iii);
(11) A verified statement that meets the requirements of Sec.
2.33, dated and signed by a person properly authorized to sign on
behalf of the applicant pursuant to Sec. 2.33(a);
(12) A drawing of the mark that meets the requirements of
Sec. Sec. 2.51 and 2.52;
(13) If the mark is in standard characters, a mark comprised of
only characters in the USPTO standard character set available at:
https://www.uspto.gov/teas/standardCharacterSet.html;
(14) If the mark is not in standard characters, a description of
the mark;
(15) If the mark includes non-English wording, an English
translation of that wording;
(16) If the mark includes non-Latin characters, a transliteration
of those characters;
(17) If the mark includes an individual's name or portrait, either
a statement that identifies the living individual whose name or
likeness the mark comprises and written consent of the individual, or a
statement that the name or portrait does not identify a living
individual (see section 2(c) of the Act);
(18) If the applicant owns one or more registrations for the same
mark, a claim of ownership of the registration(s) identified by the
U.S. registration number(s), pursuant to Sec. 2.36; and
(19) If the application is a concurrent use application, compliance
with Sec. 2.42.
(b) If an application does not meet the requirements of paragraph
(a) of this section at the time of filing, the applicant must pay the
fee required by Sec. 2.6(a)(1)(iv). If the application as filed meets
the filing date requirements of Sec. 2.21, the application will retain
its original filing date.
(c) The following types of applications cannot be filed as TEAS
Plus applications under paragraph (a) of this section:
(1) Applications for certification marks (see Sec. 2.45);
(2) Applications for collective marks (see Sec. 2.44);
(3) Applications for collective membership marks (see Sec. 2.44);
and
(4) Applications for registration on the Supplemental Register (see
Sec. 2.47).
4. Revise Sec. 2.23 to read as follows:
Sec. 2.23 Additional requirements for TEAS Plus application.
(a) In addition to the filing requirements under Sec. 2.22(a), the
applicant must:
(1) File the following communications through TEAS:
(i) Responses to Office actions;
(ii) Requests to change the correspondence address and owner's
address;
(iii) Appointment and revocation of power of attorney;
(iv) Withdrawal of attorney;
(v) Appointment and revocation of domestic representative; and
[[Page 17640]]
(vi) Preliminary amendments;
(2) Respond to Office actions, including requests for
reconsideration of a final Office action, within two months of the
mailing date, except that a notice of appeal under section 20 of the
Act may be filed within six months of the mailing date. Responses must
address all issues raised in the Office action;
(3) Receive communications from the Office by electronic mail; and
(4) File the following additional communications through TEAS if
the application has a section 1(b) basis:
(i) Amendment to allege use under section 1(c) of the Act or
statement of use under section 1(d) of the Act;
(ii) Request(s) for extensions of time to file a statement of use
under section 1(d) of the Act; and
(iii) Request to delete section 1(b) basis.
(b) If an application does not meet the requirements of paragraph
(a) of this section, the applicant must pay the fee required by Sec.
2.6(a)(1)(iv).
5. Amend Sec. 2.53 to revise paragraph (a) to read as follows:
Sec. 2.53 Requirements for drawings filed through the TEAS.
* * * * *
(a)(1) Standard character drawings in TEAS Plus applications filed
under Sec. 2.22: If an applicant is filing a standard character
drawing, the applicant must enter the mark in the appropriate field.
(2) Standard character drawings in all other TEAS submissions: If
an applicant is filing a standard character drawing, the applicant must
enter the mark in the appropriate field or attach a digitized image of
the mark to the TEAS submission that meets the requirements of
paragraph (c) of this section.
* * * * *
6. Revise Sec. 2.62 to read as follows:
Sec. 2.62 Period for response.
(a) To avoid abandonment, an applicant has six months from the date
of mailing to respond to an Office action (see Sec. 2.65).
(b) In a TEAS Plus application filed under Sec. 2.22, an applicant
must file a response that addresses all issues raised in an Office
action within two months of the mailing date (except that a notice of
appeal under section 20 of the Act may be filed within six months of
the mailing date). If a response is incomplete or is not received
within two months of the mailing date of the Office action, the
applicant must pay the fee required by Sec. 2.6(a)(1)(iv).
PART 7--RULES OF PRACTICE IN FILINGS PURSUANT TO THE PROTOCOL
RELATING TO THE MADRID AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE INTERNATIONAL
REGISTRATION OF MARK
7. The authority citation for 37 CFR part 7 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1123, 35 U.S.C. 2, unless otherwise noted.
8. Amend Sec. 7.25 to revise paragraph (a) to read as follows:
Sec. 7.25 Sections of part 2 applicable to extension of protection.
(a) Except for Sec. Sec. 2.22-2.23, 2.130-2.131, 2,160-2.166,
2.168, 2.173, 2.175, 2.181-2.186 and 2.197, all sections in part 2 and
all sections in part 10 of this chapter shall apply to an extension of
protection of an international registration to the United States,
including sections related to proceedings before the Trademark Trial
and Appeal Board, unless otherwise stated.
* * * * *
Dated: April 1, 2005.
Jon W. Dudas,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 05-6947 Filed 4-6-05; 8:45 am]
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