TEAS and TEASi maintenance and enhancement section

Over the past year, we’ve been updating TEAS and TEASi forms for compatibility with our new, modern IT infrastructure. Most of this work is not noticeable to our customers, but compatibility issues sometimes occur as a result of it. On Tuesday, October 3, and Wednesday, October 4, 2023, we updated the TEAS and TEASi forms to resolve the following issues:

  • The Section 7 Request form now correctly clears the internal address of the previous owner when a new owner appears.
  • The Section 7 Request form now correctly displays the entity type rather than the number when the customer selects “private limited company” organized under the laws of the United Kingdom.
  • The Petition to Revive for Failure to Respond to an Office action no longer shows the Request for an Extension of Time to File a Response fee for applications with a Section 66(a) filing basis.
  • The Replacement Request form now correctly captures the U.S. serial number details.
  • Various instances of question marks and invalid characters appearing in the entity selection drop-down boxes have been resolved.
  • Accent and spacing characters entered in TEAS will be correctly displayed in other USPTO systems.  
  • Goods and services from an existing application now always appear in ascending class order in subsequent filings.
  • An issue with incorrect country coding for Germany and Israel has been resolved.
  • An issue with deadline calculation in the Response to Office action form has been resolved.
  • The “other appointed attorneys” field now appears correctly in the input table and text field in a Response to Office Action.
  • The Change Address or Representation form no longer prevents some valid withdrawal of domestic representative scenarios.
  • The “invalid stream header” error appearing at submission for Response to Office Action, Request for Reconsideration, and Voluntary Amendment forms signed via E-signature has been resolved.

As this work draws to a close, we thank you for your patience. 
 

New signature option

On Saturday, July 22, 2023, we’re updating the TEAS and TEASi forms to provide a new signature option, introducing improved filing receipts to provide more customer resources, and making changes to the Petition to Director form.

While TEAS and TEASi should be available during these updates, please regularly save your forms, even if you haven’t completed your session.

Signature software will be accepted for trademark submissions

We’re introducing an additional method for signing declarations and statements in most trademark forms. You will now have the option of using document signing software such as DocuSign or Adobe to electronically sign declarations in TEAS and TEASi.

You’ll still have three signature options within the forms. Like before, you can sign electronically directly on the form or email a text version of the form to a second party for electronic signature. For the third option, you’ll now be able to download a signature form that can be either electronically signed using third-party signing software or signed in ink.

For more information, see Examination Guide 2-23.

Updating initial application filing receipts and developing new welcome letter

We’re revamping our initial application filing receipts to more clearly communicate what you should do after you apply, what we do next, and how to watch out for trademark related scams.

Filing receipts will also now link to our new welcome letter. The welcome letter will provide more information and resources for small business owners, first-time applicants, and entrepreneurs taking the first step to protect their trademark.

Petition to Director form

We’re adding two new functions to the form:

  • Both applications and registrations: request to waive the domicile address requirement in an extraordinary situation
  • For applications only: request to waive the deadline for filing a letter of protest 

We’re also allowing filers to identify whether they are filing as an owner or as petitioners or protestors, which will provide different options in the form.

We’re updating instructional wording throughout the form to clarify the requirements and eliminate redundancy.

Previous form updates

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