401.01 Filing Receipts
TEAS Applications Filed Under §1 or §44
An application filed electronically via the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) is generally received by the USPTO within seconds after filing. In addition, TEAS almost immediately displays a "Success" page to the filer confirming the USPTO’s receipt of the filing. This page is evidence of filing should any question arise as to the application filing date, and may be printed or copied-and-pasted into an electronic record for storage. TEAS also separately sends an email acknowledgement of receipt, which includes a summary of the application data and general processing information.
The applicant or its attorney should immediately review the summary of the application data for accuracy. If any information in the summary is inconsistent with the information transmitted by applicant, the applicant or its attorney should notify the USPTO by emailing TEAS@uspto.gov.
Section 66(a) Applications
For §66(a) applications (i.e., requests for extensions of protection of international registrations to the United States), the USPTO sends a filing receipt to the correspondence address of record. See TMEP §1904.02(i) regarding the correspondence address in §66(a) applications.
The applicant or its attorney should review the information on the filing receipt for accuracy and notify the USPTO in writing of any discrepancy. A request for correction of a filing receipt should be sent via email to TMFiling.Receipt@uspto.gov or, for permitted paper filers, mailed to the Commissioner for Trademarks, P.O. Box 1451, Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1451. See TMEP §1904.13(b) regarding corrections to §66(a) applications.
Permitted Paper Applications Under §1 or §44
For permitted paper applications (see TMEP §301.01) that have been given a filing date, the USPTO sends a filing receipt to the applicant or its qualified U.S. attorney, if one has been appointed. The filing receipt identifies the following: (1) the mark; (2) the application serial number, filing date, and register; (3) the type of mark (e.g., trademark or service mark); (4) the statutory basis or bases for filing, if provided at the time of filing; (5) the identification of goods and/or services, and international classes; (6) information about the applicant (and the applicant’s attorney, if provided); and (7) the address to be used for correspondence. See TMEP §201 for further information about what constitutes the filing date.
Corrections and Voluntary Amendments
The applicant or its attorney should review the information on the filing receipt for accuracy and notify the USPTO in writing of any discrepancy. A request for correction of a filing receipt should be sent via email to TMFiling.Receipt@uspto.gov.
An applicant should submit a request for correction of a filing receipt only if the information in the filing receipt is inconsistent with the information in the application as filed. If the applicant made an error in the application, the applicant should file a TEAS Voluntary Amendment Not in Response to USPTO Office Action/Letter form instead or amendment on paper, if permitted (see TMEP §301.01).
Note on Voluntary Amendments: A voluntary amendment submitted before the application is assigned to an examining attorney is placed in the application record when filed and will be considered during initial examination; it will not be examined out of order. See TMEP §702.01. The mere filing of a voluntary amendment does not guarantee that the amendment will be accepted. For example, the examining attorney will not accept a voluntary amendment that materially alters the mark shown on the original drawing, or that expands the scope of the goods and/or services in the original application. See TMEP §807.14 regarding material alteration of a mark, §807.17 regarding the processing of unacceptable amendments to drawings, §§1402.07-1402.07(e) regarding the scope of the identification of goods and/or services for purposes of amendment, and §1402.15 regarding the processing of unacceptable amendments to identifications.
In addition, an application that does not meet the minimum requirements for receipt of a filing date at the time of filing may not be perfected by filing a voluntary amendment prior to examination. See TMEP §§204-204.03 regarding applications that do not meet minimum filing requirements and §702.01 regarding the order of examination.