The significant changes for the July 11 system enhancements are listed below.
All TEAS and TEASi forms
- A clarifying note was added below the Signature field on the Signature page of the forms reminding customers that the forms must be personally signed by the individual listed in the Signatory’s Name field. The note about how to format the signatory’s name (last name, first name) was removed.
Retired forms
- The following forms are no longer available for filing:
- Substitute Trademark/Servicemark Application, Principal Register
- Substitute Certification Mark, Principal Register
- Substitute Collective Membership Mark, Principal Register
- Substitute Collective Trademark/Services, Principal Register
- Instead of using the retired forms, customers should use the TEAS Response to Office Action form. Answer “Yes” to form wizard question three asking if you need to add or delete a miscellaneous statement. Enter your data in the Miscellaneous Statement field.
Initial application, intent-to-use, and post-registration forms
- The initial application, intent-to-use, and post-registration forms were updated with an explanatory note below the Description of the Specimen field. This note is a reminder that customers are required to include a URL and date of access for webpage specimens.
- The validation logic for confirming a website address entered on the Applicant Information page of the Initial Application form was updated to accommodate addresses without the “www” prefix.
Letter of Protest form
- Customers can now request a copy of previously filed letters of protest within the Letter of Protest form.
Change Address or Representation form
- The Change Address or Representation form was updated to include an explanation of the specific actions customers can take within the form under the three identified roles—owner, attorney, or domestic representative—related to the trademark application serial number(s) or registration number(s) entered.
- Attorneys will now have the ability to revoke a previously appointed domestic representative.
- Domestic representatives will only have the ability to withdraw their own contact information. They cannot update that information.
- Error messages were updated to use ordinal numbers to correctly identify which owner’s information is at issue when owner information is being updated for multiple owners.
- Language was updated in textform and the input table to better explain the data displayed.
- Instructions were updated in the third-party signature option to explain when an attorney may sign the form.
Withdrawal of Attorney form
- The error message for missing owner and attorney information was moved from the Wizard page to the Mark Information page, after the reason for withdrawal is selected. If the reason is because representation ended due to abandonment, change in ownership, or registration, no errors will be given for missing owner or attorney information, such as email addresses.
- A warning has been added under the display of the owner’s information on the Mark Information page. This will remind the withdrawing attorney that the owner email address will become the primary email address for correspondence after the form is submitted.
- In cases where there are multiple owners, the Withdrawal of Attorney form produced a blank page preventing users from filing the form. This issue has been corrected.
Response to Suspension Inquiry or Letter of Suspension form
- An additional checkbox, “Other,” has been added. This allows customers to enter a reason for response that does not fit within any of the existing reasons.
Express Abandonment form
- Error messaging was updated so it no longer blocks 79-series (Madrid) filers from accessing the form when the owner mailing address is improperly formatted.
Corrections of minor errors
- Erroneous “BB” text was removed from the textform validation page of the Extension Request form.
- The language appearing in the textform of the Response to Suspension Inquiry form when the user indicates that the application will not proceed to registration under section 44(e) was updated.
- In certain situations, TEAS-generated PDFs would present with cut-off text. This error was corrected, and TEAS-generated PDFs now display the full text.
- The ability to bypass the fee and signing the declaration, in appropriate situations, was extended to non-attorney filers in the Section 7 form and the global forms.
- Deleted dates of foreign registration renewal were still displaying in the input table and textform of completed Section 7 forms. This was corrected.
- Intent-to-use and post registration forms were updated on the Owner Information page, when multiple owners are present, so the instructions correctly refer to radio buttons and not checkboxes.
- Extraneous text from the textform of the Section 71 and 15 form in the goods and services section was removed.
TEASi form corrections
- The TEASi Application for International Registration, Subsequent Designation, and Response to Notice of Irregularity forms now provide better instructions and clearer messages to help customers more easily understand the information they need to provide when completing them.
- The following minor defects in the international application forms were fixed:
- Benelux was added to the priority country list.
- Cabo Verde was added to the country list on the Representative page.
- A free textform filer is now required to provide an email address for acknowledgement of receipt prior to submitting the form.