611.03(e) Petitions to the Director
A petition to the Director under 37 C.F.R. §2.146 or §2.147 must be signed in accordance with the following guidelines:
- If the petitioner is represented by a qualified U.S. attorney, the attorney must sign the petition.
- If the petitioner is not represented by a qualified U.S. attorney, the individual petitioner or someone with legal authority to bind a juristic petitioner must sign. In the case of joint petitioners who are not represented by a qualified U.S. attorney, all must sign.
37 C.F.R. §§2.11(a), 2.146(c), 2.147(a)(2)(iii), (b)(2)(i), (c), 2.193(e)(5), 11.14(e); TMEP §§1705.07, 1709.01(b)-1709.03.
See TMEP §§611.06-611.06(h) for guidelines on persons with legal authority to bind various types of juristic entities and §§602-602.03(e) regarding persons who are qualified to represent others before the USPTO in trademark cases.
Petitions to the Director include a verified statement of the facts necessitating the petition; this statement must also be properly signed. 37 C.F.R. §§2.146(c), 2.147(a)(2)(iii), (b)(2)(i), (c). See TMEP §611.03(a) regarding who can sign a verification.