1615.01 Division of Registration Based on Application Under §1 or §44 of the Trademark Act
If ownership of a registration has changed with respect to some but not all of the goods/services/classes, the owner is strongly encouraged to file a request that a registration be divided into two or more separate registrations, to ensure that USPTO records will accurately reflect current ownership information.
A party requesting division of a registration must: (1) record the change of ownership with the Assignment Recordation Branch of the USPTO; (2) file a request to divide; and (3) pay the fee required by 37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(8) for each new registration created by the division. 37 C.F.R. §2.171(b)(1).
The request must be signed by the individual owner of the registration, someone with legal authority to bind a juristic owner (e.g. ,a corporate officer or general partner of a partnership), or a qualified practitioner. 37 C.F.R. §2.171(b)(1), 2.193(e)(2); TMEP §611.03(b). If the owner is represented by a qualified practitioner, the practitioner must sign. 37 C.F.R. §§2.193(e)(2)(i), 11.18(a). If the owner is not represented by a qualified practitioner, the individual owner or someone with legal authority to bind a juristic (e.g., a corporate officer or general partner of a partnership) owner must sign. 37 C.F.R. §§2.193(e)(2)(ii), 11.14(e). In the case of joint owners who are not represented by a qualified practitioner, all must sign. 37 C.F.R. §2.193(e)(2)(ii). If the request does not meet these requirements, the Post Registration staff will issue an Office action granting the party who filed the request six months in which to comply with the requirements of the rule. If there is no response, the request to divide will be dismissed.
A party who requests division of a registration issued under the old United States classification system ( see TMEP §1401.02) must agree to adopt the international classification system for both the parent and child registration. See TMEP §1609.04 regarding amendment of classification.
Once the registration is divided, the USPTO will: (1) create a new registration number for the child registration and update the information about the parent and child registration in its automated records; (2) create a new registration certificate for the child registration and an amended registration certificate for the parent registration; (3) publish notice of both the parent and child registrations in the Official Gazette and scan both the child and amended parent registration certificates into TICRS; and (4) issue a registration certificate for the child registration to the new owner. The USPTO will not issue an amended registration certificate for the parent registration to the owner of the parent registration unless the owner submits a request and pays the fee required by 37 C.F.R. §2.6(a)(8).
A registration may be divided more than once.