405.03   Deposit Accounts

37 C.F.R. §2.208 

  • (a) For the convenience of attorneys, and the general public in paying any fees due, in ordering copies of records, or services offered by the Office, deposit accounts may be established in the Office upon payment of the fee for establishing a deposit account (§2.6(b)(13)).  A minimum deposit of $1,000 is required for paying any fees due or in ordering any services offered by the Office.  The Office will issue a deposit account statement at the end of each month.  A remittance must be made promptly upon receipt of the statement to cover the value of items or services charged to the account and thus restore the account to its established normal deposit.  An amount sufficient to cover all fees, copies, or services requested must always be on deposit.  Charges to accounts with insufficient funds will not be accepted.  A service charge (§2.6(b)(13)) will be assessed for each month that the balance at the end of the month is below $1,000.
  • (b) A general authorization to charge all fees, or only certain fees to a deposit account containing sufficient funds may be filed in an individual application, either for the entire pendency of the application or with respect to a particular document filed.  An authorization to charge a fee to a deposit account will not be considered payment of the fee on the date the authorization to charge the fee is effective as to the particular fee to be charged unless sufficient funds are present in the account to cover the fee.
  • (c) A deposit account holder may replenish the deposit account by submitting a payment to the Office.  A payment to replenish a deposit account must be submitted by one of the methods set forth in paragraphs (c)(1), (c)(2), (c)(3), or (c)(4) of this section.
  • (1) A payment to replenish a deposit account may be submitted by electronic funds transfer through the Federal Reserve Fedwire System, which requires that the following information be provided to the deposit account holder’s bank or financial institution:
  • (i) Name of the Bank, which is Treas NYC (Treasury New York City);
  • (ii) Bank Routing Code, which is 021030004;
  • (iii) United States Patent and Trademark Office account number with the Department of the Treasury, which is 13100001; and
  • (iv) The deposit account holder’s company name and deposit account number.
  • (2) A payment to replenish a deposit account may be submitted by electronic funds transfer over the Office’s Internet Web site (http://www.uspto.gov).
  • (3) A payment to replenish a deposit account may be addressed to:  Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Attn: Deposit Accounts, 2051 Jamieson Avenue, Suite 300, Alexandria, Virginia 22314.

A party cannot charge a fee to a deposit account unless he or she has prior authorization to do so.  The Office of Finance maintains a list of persons authorized to request transactions by deposit account.  The USPTO will not charge a fee to a deposit account unless the person requesting the charge appears on the authorized list or files a proper request to have his or her name added to the authorized list.

An authorization to charge a fee to a deposit account must be made in a written document signed and submitted by an authorized person.  It cannot be entered by examiner’s amendment unless the record contains a written authorization signed and submitted by an authorized person.  If there is no written authorization already in the record, the applicant may fax or e-mail the authorization to the examining attorney.

If an applicant submits an authorization to charge a filing fee to a deposit account that has insufficient funds to cover the fee, the applicant has not paid the fee.

If a deposit account has insufficient funds to cover an authorization to charge the initial filing fee for an application for registration, the USPTO will not grant a filing date to the application.  37 C.F.R. §2.21(a)(5).  See TMEP §204.01.

When a deposit account contains insufficient funds to cover a fee that has been authorized, the USPTO notifies the party who filed the authorization of the fee deficiency.  If the fee in question is statutory (e.g., the filing fee for a notice of appeal, statement of use, or request for extension of time to file a statement of use), the fee deficiency must be cured before the expiration of the statutory filing period.  If the deadline for filing the fee is not set by statute, the party who filed the authorization may cure the fee deficiency within the set period for response to the Office action.

A showing that the deposit account contained sufficient funds on the date on which the authorization was first filed, as opposed to the date on which USPTO personnel attempted to charge the fee, will not cure the fee deficiency.  Trademark Rule 2.208 clearly requires that sufficient funds to cover all outstanding charge authorizations be on deposit at all times.  The funds must be available in the account at the time the authorization is presented for debiting.

See TMEP §1104.09(g) regarding fee deficiencies in amendments to allege use, TMEP §1108.02(c) regarding fee deficiencies in requests for extensions of time to file a statement of use, TMEP §1109.15(a) regarding fee deficiencies in statements of use, TMEP §1604.06(c) regarding fee deficiencies in affidavits under §8 of the Act, and TMEP §1606.05(c) regarding fee deficiencies in renewal applications.