| Trademark Correspondence and Fees |
Referenced Items (347, 348, 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361) |
(355) The Trademark Operation
Will No Longer Accept Responses to
Office Actions that are
Transmitted by E-Mail
Currently, applicants may transmit responses to Office Actions
issued by examining attorneys via e-mail. However, beginning
September 20, 2004, the Trademark Operation will cease to maintain
the electronic mail boxes (the "ECom" boxes) to which applicants
now send responses. Thereafter, applicants wishing to transmit
responses electronically must use the Response to Office Action form
within the Trademark Electronic Application System (the TEAS Response
to Office Action form, hereinafter referred to as "the TEAS form"),
which is available at http://www.uspto.gov/teas/index.html. Responses
to Office Actions that are transmitted by any other electronic
means - for example, responses sent directly to an examining attorney's
e-mail address - will not be accepted.
This new policy pertains solely to responses to Office
Actions issued by examining attorneys. Responses to Office Actions
issued by the Intent to Use Division and by the Post Registration
Division may be transmitted to the "ECom" boxes maintained by these
divisions, namely EComITU@uspto.gov and EcomPRU@uspto.gov.
Applicants and the Office benefit substantially when applicants
use the TEAS form rather than e-mail. The benefits of using
the TEAS form include the following:
1. When an applicant uses the TEAS form and the transmission is
successful, the applicant receives immediate acknowledgement that the
USPTO received the response. Likewise, if there is some technical
defect associated with the response that prevents its successful
transmission - for example, if the applicant has attached an image file
that is in a format the Office cannot accept - the applicant will be
notified immediately that its submission cannot be validated. On the
other hand, if an applicant files a response using e-mail, some time
may elapse before the Office can notify the applicant whether the
transmission was accepted for review. Immediate notification may be
particularly important if an applicant submits its response at or near
the end of the response period.
2. When an applicant uses the TEAS form, an electronic copy of the
response is automatically and instantaneously associated with the
appropriate electronic application file. (The USPTO creates electronic
files for all applications, including ones that were originally
submitted on paper). However, if an applicant transmits a response
using e-mail, the response cannot be associated with the file until the
response has been printed, and until a scanned image of the printout is
entered into the electronic file for the application. Thus, the
processing of responses submitted by e-mail uses valuable resources
that can be better expended to serve other needs of trademark
applicants.
3. A response to an Office Action may include data that is to be
entered into the record of an application, such as a disclaimer or an
amended identification of goods. When the applicant uses the TEAS form,
such data is entered into the record automatically. On the other hand,
if the applicant files its response via e-mail, it may be necessary for
the Office to enter the data manually, which is costly and subject to
error.
The following are the Ecom boxes that will not be maintained after
September 20, 2004:
ECom101@uspto.gov
 Top of Notices (355) December 29, 2009 |
US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE |
1349 CNOG 2745 |
ECom102@uspto.gov
Ecom103@uspto.gov
ECom104@uspto.gov
ECom105@uspto.gov
ECom106@uspto.gov
ECom107@uspto.gov
ECom108@uspto.gov
ECom109@uspto.gov
ECom110@uspto.gov
ECom111@uspto.gov
ECom112@uspto.gov
ECom113@uspto.gov
ECom114@uspto.gov
ECom115@uspto.gov
ECom116@uspto.gov
Call the Trademark Assistance Center at 703.308.9000 for help on
trademark matters. Send questions about USPTO programs and services to
the USPTO Contact Center (UCC). You can suggest USPTO webpages or
material you would like featured on this section by E-mail to the
webmaster@uspto.gov. While we cannot promise to accommodate all requests,
your suggestions will be considered and may lead to other improvements on
the website.
[1281 TMOG 18]