1601.01    Registrations Now Being Issued

Currently, the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") issues registrations only under the Trademark Act of 1946, 15 U.S.C. §§1051  et seq.  These are either Principal Register registrations or Supplemental Register registrations.  See TMEP §801.02(a) regarding the Principal Register, and TMEP §801.02(b) regarding the Supplemental Register.

1601.01(a)    Certificate of Registration

The USPTO issues registration certificates for all registrations resulting from applications based on §§1, 44, and 66(a) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §§1051, 1126, 1141f(a).  The registration certificate includes the owner’s name and address, the mark, the goods/services/collective membership organization, and the class(es).  The certificate is signed by the Director and issued under the seal of the USPTO.  15 U.S.C. §§1057(a),  1093; 37 C.F.R. §2.151.   See Notice of Reformatted Trademark Registration Certificate at 74 Fed. Reg. 34559  (July 16, 2009).

1601.01(b)    Duplicate Certificate of Registration

If the owner of the registration does not receive the original certificate of registration, or a corrected, amended, or new certificate of registration issued by the USPTO,the USPTO will issue a duplicate certificate if the owner files a written request within one year of issuance, stating that the certificate was never received.

Such requests should be faxed to the Post Registration Section at (571) 273-9500.

For registrations issued on or after September 15, 2009, if more than one year has passed since the date of issuance, the owner of the registration may request a duplicate certificate of registration by filing a petition to the Director under 37 C.F.R. §2.146(a)(3), accompanied by the fee required by 37 C.F.R. §2.6, and the Director may exercise supervisory authority to grant the request for good cause. See TMEP §§1705.02, 1707. On September 15, 2009, changes were made to the format of the registration certificate that enable the USPTO to provide duplicates of certificates issued on or after that date. However, the USPTO is not able to provide duplicates of registrations issued before September 15, 2009.

The owner of a registration may obtain a certified copy of the registration from the Document Services Branch of the Public Records Division of the USPTO for a fee. See TMEP §111.

1601.01(c)    Registered Extension of Protection of International Registration to the United States

Effective November 2, 2003, §66(a) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1141f(a), permits the holder of an international registration to file a request for extension of protection of the international registration to the United States.   See TMEP §§1904 et seq.

Unless the request for extension of protection is refused under §68 of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1141h,  the USPTO will issue a certificate of extension of protection and publish notice of such certificate in the Official Gazette.  Section 69(a) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1141i(a).  The certificate of registration will look the same as the certificates issued for registrations resulting from applications based on §§1 and 44 of the Act.  From the date of issuance of the certificate, the extension of protection has the same effect and validity as a registration on the Principal Register, and the holder of the international registration has the same rights and remedies as the owner of a registration on the Principal Register.  Section 69(b) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1141i(b).

Under §66(b), 15 U.S.C. §1141f(b),  unless the extension of protection is refused, the proper filing of the request for extension of protection constitutes constructive use of the mark, conferring the same rights as those specified in §7(c) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1057(c),  as of the earliest of the following:

  • (1) The international registration date, if the request for extension of protection was made in the international application;
  • (2) The date of recordal of the subsequent designation requesting an extension of protection to the United States, if the request for extension of protection to the United States was made in a subsequent designation; or
  • (3) The date of priority claimed pursuant to §67 of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C.  §1141g.

Upon registration, the USPTO will refer to an extension of protection to the United States as a "registration" or a "registered extension of protection."  37 C.F.R. §7.25(c).

A registered extension of protection remains part of the international registration after registration in the United States.  See 15 U.S.C. §1141j,  37 C.F.R. §7.30, and TMEP §1904.08 for information about the dependence of the extension of protection on the underlying international registration.  In this respect, the registered extension of protection differs from a registration issuing from a §44 application, which exists independent of the underlying foreign registration, pursuant to §44(f), 15 U.S.C.  §1126(f).

See TMEP §1609.01(a) regarding amendment of registered extensions of protection under §7 of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C.  §1057.