611.05(a) Notice of Incomplete Response when Authority of Person Signing Response Is Unclear
If it appears that a response to an examining attorney’s Office action is signed by an improper party, the examining attorney must treat the response as an incomplete response, and grant the applicant 30 days, or to the end of the response period set forth in the previous Office action, whichever is longer, to perfect the response, pursuant to 37 C.F.R. §2.65(a)(2). See TMEP §718.03(b). The applicant must submit a response signed by the individual applicant, someone with legal authority to bind a juristic applicant (e.g., a corporate officer or general partner of a partnership), or a qualified practitioner. These same principles and procedures apply to responses to Office actions issued by other USPTO employees (e.g., staff in the Post Registration Section, ITU/Divisional Unit, Madrid Processing Unit, or Office of Petitions).
See also TMEP §712.03.