611.02 Signatures by Authorized Parties Required
All documents filed in the USPTO must be properly signed. The USPTO staff must review the application or registration record to determine whether the applicant or registrant is represented by a qualified practitioner, and must ensure that all documents are properly signed.
Verifications of facts on behalf of an applicant or registrant must be personally signed by someone meeting the requirements of 37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(1). See TMEP §§ 611.03(a) and 804.04.
Other documents must be personally signed by the applicant or registrant, someone with legal authority to bind a juristic applicant or registrant (e.g., a corporate officer or general partner of a partnership), or by a qualified practitioner. This includes amendments, responses to Office actions, petitions to the Director under 37 C.F.R. §2.146,letters of express abandonment, requests to divide, and requests to change the correspondence address. Generally, if the applicant or registrant is represented by a qualified practitioner, the practitioner must sign. 37 C.F.R. §§2.193(e)(2)(i),2.193(e)(5)(i), 2.193(e)(9)(i), and 11.18(a). This applies to both in-house and outside counsel. If the applicant or registrant is not represented by a qualified practitioner, the document must be signed by the individual applicant or registrant or someone with legal authority to bind a juristic applicant or registrant (e.g., a corporate officer or general partner of a partnership). In the case of joint applicants or registrants who are not represented by a qualified practitioner, all must sign. 37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(ii), 2.193(e)(5)(ii), 2.193(e)(9)(ii), and 11.14(e).
See TMEP §§611.03–611.03(i) for guidelines as to the proper person to sign specific documents, TMEP §§611.06–611.06(h) for guidelines on persons with legal authority to bind various types of legal entities, and TMEP §611.04 for examples of authorized and potentially unauthorized parties.
611.02(a) TEAS Checkoff Boxes
On some of the TEAS forms, the person signing the response must confirm that he or she is authorized to sign the document by clicking one of three buttons indicating that he or she is: (1) an unrepresented applicant or registrant who has not previously been represented in this matter, or was previously represented by a qualified practitioner who has withdrawn or whose power has been revoked; (2) an attorney who is a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a state in the United States, and that if the applicant or registrant was previously represented by a different qualified practitioner, the previous power has been revoked, or the previously appointed practitioner has withdrawn; or (3) an authorized Canadian attorney or agent who has been granted recognition by OED, and if the applicant or registrant was previously represented by a different qualified practitioner, the previous power has been revoked, or the previously appointed practitioner has withdrawn. The USPTO will accept these statements unless there is conflicting information in the record or the USPTO is otherwise made aware of conflicting information.
Example: If an attorney lists a foreign address and checks the box indicating that he or she is a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a state in the United States, the USPTO will accept this statement, as long as there is no conflicting information in the record.
Example: If an attorney indicates that the applicant was previously unrepresented, or that the applicant was previously represented by another attorney who has withdrawn or whose power has been revoked, when, in fact, there is another attorney of record whose power has not been revoked, the USPTO must inquire into the signatory’s authority to sign, because there is inconsistent information in the record.
Example: If the signatory identifies himself or herself as an "attorney," but does not check the box confirming that he or she is a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a state in the United States, the USPTO will inquire into the signatory’s authority to sign, because there is inconsistent information in the record.
Example: If the signatory checks the box indicating that he or she is a person with legal authority to bind a juristic applicant (e.g., a corporate officer or general partner of a partnership), but sets forth a title that the USPTO would not normally accept (e.g., accountant, paralegal, or trademark administrator), the USPTO will inquire into the signatory’s authority to sign, because there is inconsistent information in the record.
Example: If, instead of checking the "attorney in good standing" box, a United States attorney checks one of the other boxes (i.e., indicating that the applicant is not represented by an attorney, or that the attorney is an authorized Canadian, representing a Canadian applicant), an issue of signatory authority arises, and the USPTO will inquire into the signatory’s authority to sign, because there is inconsistent information in the record.
Exception: If the signatory indicates that he or she is a Canadian attorney or agent who has been granted recognition by OED, the USPTO staff must still check the OED list to verify this information. See TMEP §602.03(a) for further information about Canadian attorneys and agents.
See TMEP §§611.05(a) and 712.03 regarding issuance of a notice of incomplete response where there is a question as to a signatory’s authority to sign.