USPTO Issues Guidelines Regarding February 15, 2020, Trademark Rule Changes

Beginning on February 15, 2020, with very few exceptions, submissions before the US trademark office will be required to be filed digitally.

Also included in the rule changes and among the most significant change, Applicants and Registrants will now be required to list a working e-mail address together with a current domicile address on all submissions before the USPTO.

Lastly, and in line with increased audit procedures and scrutiny with respect to Chinese applicants, the USPTO has tightened its rules relating to acceptable specimens of use.

Acceptable addresses:

• an email address monitored by the owner that is created specifically for listing with the USPTO;
• in-house counsel e-mail or e-mail of a client representative

Unacceptable addresses:

• an email address of outside counsel;
• an email address for counsel at a non-U.S. law firm;
• an email address that automatically deletes email without allowing storage or review of the email

Our Recommendation:

We recommend clients with larger US trademark portfolios create e-mail address specifically for the purpose of complying with USPTO rules with the understanding that this e-mail address will likely be subject to significant spam e-mail solicitations relating to trademarks.

Please forward any e-mail correspondence received relating to your trademarks for our review.

The USPTO should not contact represented Applicants and Registrants directly.

Webpages submitted to show use of a mark will need to show the URL and date of printing/accessing the page.

Hangtags and other images of marks being used in commerce will now be reviewed with increased scrutiny

The complete guide can be accessed at the below link:

https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/TM-ExamGuide-MEF-1-20.pdf.

2020年二月十五日起，除去很少一部分特例，向美国商标局提交的文件需要通过电子方式进行提交。

除此之外，修改后的行政规定还要求申请者或注册者在所有向USPTO提交的文件上列出一个工作电子邮箱地址，以及一个现在的住址。

最后，正如USPTO近日增多和加强了针对中国申请者的审查程序与检查力度，USPTO的新规定提高了对商标使用样本的要求。

符合要求的电子邮箱地址：

• 一个拥有者专门为USPTO的相关规定注册的，并且经常检查其新邮件的电子邮箱
• 公司法务的电子邮箱或者客户代表的电子邮箱

不符合要求的电子邮箱地址：

• 外聘律师的电子邮箱
• 非美国律所律师的电子邮箱
• 因自动删除功能导致不能存储和审阅某些邮件的电子邮箱

我们的建议：

我们建议拥有大量美国商标的客户专门为USPTO的相关要求设立一个合规的电子邮箱。可以预料到的是这一电子邮箱将会收到很多与商标业务相关的推销或垃圾邮件。

请将所有与您商标相关的电子邮件信息转发给我们进行审阅。

USPTO不应直接联系有代理人的申请者与注册者。

为证明商标使用而提交的网页应当标明该网页的URL(网络地址)，以及打印与访问该网页的日期。

商品吊牌和其他证明商标使用的图片以后将会受到更严格的审查。

需要阅读完整的USPTO指导请点击下面的网址：

https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/TM-ExamGuide-MEF-1-20.pdf.