Patent and Trademark Office July 6, 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is amending its rules to permit an applicant to pay a reduced fee under certain circumstances when the applicant uses 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 section 44 of the Trademark Act. The Office will 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 file communications regarding the application through TEAS, and agree to receive communications concerning the application by electronic mail (e-mail) during the pendency of the application. 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.