1716.04(a) Notice of Institution and Office Action
When a determination regarding institution of an expungement or reexamination proceeding has been made, the USPTO will provide notice of the determination, in accordance with the correspondence rules in 37 C.F.R. §2.18. 37 C.F.R. §2.92(f)(2). See TMEP §1716.02(d) regarding the identity of the registrant for purposes of correspondence related to these proceedings. If the proceeding is petition-based, the petitioner will also be notified of the determination whether or not to institute the proceeding. 15 U.S.C. §§1066a(c)(1), 1066b(d)(1); 37 C.F.R §2.92(f)(2).
If a proceeding is instituted, the notice of institution will include an Office action requiring the registrant to provide evidence of use. See 15 U.S.C. §§1066a(e), 1066b(f); 37 C.F.R §§2.92(f)(2), 2.93(a). Office actions in these proceedings are substantively limited in scope to the question of use in commerce, but the registrant remains subject to the requirements of 37 C.F.R. §2.11 (requirement for representation), 37 C.F.R. §2.23 (requirement to correspond electronically), and 37 C.F.R. §2.189 (requirement to provide a domicile address). Thus, the registrant may be required to furnish domicile information as necessary to determine if the registrant must be represented by a U.S.-licensed attorney. In addition, registrants will be required to provide a valid email address for correspondence, if one is not already in the record, and to update the email address as necessary to facilitate communication with the USPTO.
See TMEP §301.01 regarding the mandatory electronic filing of trademark documents, §§601-601.01(c) regarding determining an owner’s domicile, and §1612 regarding the requirement for the correspondence e-mail and domicile address of registrant.