803.04   Citizenship of Applicant

An application for registration must specify the applicant’s citizenship or the state or nation under whose laws the applicant is organized.  37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(3).  If ambiguous terms are used, the examining attorney must require the applicant to clarify the record by setting forth the citizenship with greater specificity. For example, the term "American" is ambiguous because it could refer to a citizen of North, South, or Central America. Therefore, "United States" or "U.S.A." is the appropriate citizenship designation for applicants who are citizens of the United States of America. However, terms such as "Brazilian," Colombian," and "Welsh" are acceptable citizenship designations because each refers to a specific country.

An individual applicant should set forth the country of which he or she is a citizen.  Current citizenship information must be provided; a statement indicating that the applicant has applied for citizenship in any country is not relevant or acceptable.  If an individual is not a citizen of any country, a statement to this effect is acceptable.

In an application for international registration, if the applicant is a natural person, he or she must indicate his or her name and may include the country of which he or she is a national.  Common Regs, Rule 9(4)(b)(i).  The international application does not require this information, but when the information is included, the IB will forward the nationality of the applicant to the USPTO.  In a §66(a) application, if the "Nationality of Applicant" field appears in TICRS, this means that the applicant is an individual rather than a juristic entity, and that applicant’s citizenship is the country corresponding to the two-letter code set forth in this field.  The list of country codes appears in the MM2 International Registration application form, which can be found at http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/appguide/. A separate statement that applicant is an individual will not appear in TICRS, and the "Legal Nature" and Legal Nature: Place Incorporated" fields will state "Not Provided."

If the "Nationality of Applicant" field appears in TICRS, the examining attorney may enter the relevant information into the Trademark database, or ask the LIE to enter it.  No inquiry as to the applicant’s entity or citizenship is necessary.  If the "Nationality of Applicant" field does not appear in TICRS, the examining attorney must require that the applicant indicate its entity and citizenship.  Examining attorneys cannot rely on the "Entitlement Nationality," "Entitlement Establishment," or "Entitlement Domiciled" fields for the applicant’s citizenship because these fields merely indicate the basis for the applicant’s entitlement to file an application through the Madrid system, not the national citizenship of the individual applicant.

If an applicant asserts dual citizenship, the applicant must choose which citizenship will be printed in the Official Gazette and on the registration certificate.  The USPTO will print only one country of citizenship for each person in the Official Gazette and on the registration certificate, and the automated records of the USPTO will indicate only one country of citizenship for each person.  

For a corporation, the application must set forth the United States state or foreign country of incorporation.  37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(3)(ii).

Foreign entities may be organized under either national or provincial laws.  However, the TEAS form requires an applicant to specify the state or foreign country under which it is legally organized, but does not permit an applicant to specify a foreign province or geographical region in this field.  Therefore, if the applicant is organized under the laws of a foreign province or geographical region, the applicant should select as the entity type the choice of "Other," which will allow entry within the free-text field provided at "Specify Entity Type" of both the type of entity and the foreign province or geographical region under which it is organized (e.g., "corporation of Ontario").  In the next section, "State or Country Where Legally Organized," the country (e.g., "Canada") should then be selected from the pull-down menu.

For an association, the application must set forth the United States state or foreign country under whose laws the association is organized or incorporated.  37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(3)(ii).  See TMEP §803.03(c).

A partnership or other firm must set forth the United States state or foreign country under the laws of which the partnership is organized.  Domestic partnerships must also provide citizenship information for each general partner in the partnership.  37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(3)(iii).  This requirement also applies to a partnership that is a general partner in a larger partnership.  See TMEP §803.03(b) for the proper format for identifying a partnership.  Given the varying legal effects of partnership status in foreign countries, the relevance of the name and citizenship information for each partner has not been established.  Therefore, for foreign partnerships, it is not necessary to provide the names and citizenship of the partners.  See TMEP §803.03(i) for further information about foreign applicant entities.

For joint applicants or a joint venture, the application should set forth the citizenship or United States state or foreign country of organization of each party.  Domestic joint ventures must also provide citizenship information for all active members of the joint venture.  37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(3)(iv).  See TMEP §803.03(b) for the proper format for identifying a joint venture.