803.05(b) E-mail Address
Applicants must provide and maintain a valid e-mail address. See 37 C.F.R §§2.23(b), 2.32(a)(2). The applicant’s e-mail address is a filing-date requirement and is required even if the applicant has appointed a qualified U.S. attorney, so that the USPTO can contact the applicant if representation ends. See 37 C.F.R §2.21(a)(1); TMEP §202.
The applicant may provide an e-mail address of its choice, including an e-mail specifically created for receiving USPTO correspondence. If the applicant is represented by a qualified U.S. attorney, the e-mail address listed in the owner field may not be identical to the listed e-mail address of its attorney.
The e-mail address listed in the owner field for trademark applicants who are represented by a qualified U.S. attorney will not be publicly viewable. Only the e-mail address of the attorney will be publicly viewable, and the USPTO will use the attorney’s email address for correspondence.
The e-mail address listed in the owner field for trademark applicants who are not represented by a qualified U.S. attorney will be used by the USPTO for correspondence and will be publicly viewable as the correspondence e-mail address. To avoid receiving unsolicited communications at a personal or business e-mail address, applicants may wish to create an e-mail address specifically for communication and correspondence related to their trademark filings at the USPTO.
For in-house counsel and attorneys representing themselves in a matter, the TEAS forms will require two different e-mail addresses: one for the owner e-mail address field and one for the attorney e-mail address field. For technical reasons related to the TEAS forms, these addresses cannot be identical.
Section 66(a) applications. The requirement for an applicant to provide and maintain a valid e-mail address also applies to applications filed under Trademark Act Section 66(a). 37 C.F.R §§2.23(b), 7.25(a). This is not a filing-date requirement for an initial Section 66(a) application, because these are transmitted to the USPTO by the International Bureau (IB) and generally do not include an e-mail address for receiving USPTO correspondence. In addition, if a Section 66(a) application is otherwise in condition for approval for publication upon first action, the examining attorney will not require the applicant to first provide an e-mail address prior to publication. However, an applicant’s e-mail address will be required in any subsequent submissions.
Certain treaty filers exempt from e-mail requirement. If the applicant is a national of a country that has acceded to the Trademark Law Treaty, but not to the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, the requirement to provide the applicant’s e-mail address does not apply. 37 C.F.R §§2.21(c), 2.23(c); see TMEP §301.02(c).