803.05 Domicile and Email Addresses of Applicant

The application must specify the applicant’s domicile and email addresses. 37 C.F.R. §2.32(a)(2); In re Chestek PLLC, 92 F.4th 1105, 1113, 2024 USPQ2d 297, at *8 (Fed. Cir. 2024) (domicile address requirement affirmed). Applicant must keep these addresses current and promptly update the USPTO when these addresses change.37 C.F.R §§2.23, 2.189. See TMEP §803.05(b) regarding certain filers that may be exempt from the requirement to provide an email address.

803.05(a) Domicile Address

Applicants must provide and keep current the address of their domicile. 37 C.F.R §§2.32(a)(2), 2.189; In re Chestek PLLC, 92 F.4th 1105, 1113, 2024 USPQ2d 297, at *8 (Fed. Cir. 2024) (domicile address requirement affirmed). An applicant’s domicile address is required for a complete application. 37 C.F.R §2.32(a)(2).

For a natural person, domicile is the permanent legal place of residence, which is the place the person resides and intends to be the person’s principal home. 37 C.F.R §2.2(o). For a juristic entity, domicile is the principal place of business, which is the entity’s headquarters where its senior executives or officers ordinarily direct and control the entity’s activities and is usually the center from where other locations are controlled. 37 C.F.R §§2.2(o) -(p). See TMEP §601.01 regarding determining domicile.

An applicant’s domicile address will determine whether the applicant is required to be represented before the USPTO by an attorney who is an active member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a U.S. state, Commonwealth, or territory (a qualified U.S. attorney). 37 C.F.R §§2.11(a), 11.1, 11.14(e); see TMEP §§601, 602. An applicant whose domicile is not located within the United States or its territories must be represented by a qualified U.S. attorney. 37 C.F.R §2.11(a). An applicant whose domicile is within the United States or its territories may represent itself in prosecuting an application or may be represented by a qualified U.S. attorney. See TMEP §601 regarding representation requirements for mark owners based on domicile.

An applicant generally must provide its domicile street address. See 37 C.F.R §2.189; In re Chestek PLLC, 92 F.4th at 1113, 2024 USPQ2d 297, at *8. Domicile addresses should include the United States Postal Service ZIP code or its equivalent for addresses outside the United States. An address that does not identify an actual street address or that functions as a mail forwarding address generally may not serve as a domicile address. See TMEP §601.01(c) for more information.

The TEAS application forms include a dedicated field for the applicant’s domicile address and a separate field for the applicant’s mailing address. Only address information entered in the "Domicile Address" field on the TEAS form is hidden from public view. Therefore, if an applicant enters the same address in the TEAS form fields for its mailing address and its domicile address, that address will be publicly viewable.

For joint applicants, the application must set forth the domicile address for each party.

For a partnership, corporation, association, or other firm, only the domicile address of the business must be set forth and not the addresses of individual partners, officers, or members, unless the entity asserts it does not have a fixed physical address. See TMEP §601.01(c)(iv)(A) regarding the option for juristic entities asserting no fixed physical address to provide the name, title, and domicile address of a person with legal authority to bind the entity.

When necessary, the USPTO may require the applicant to furnish information or declarations to confirm the applicant's domicile address in order to determine if the applicant is subject to the requirement to be represented by a qualified U.S. attorney. 37 C.F.R §2.11(b). See TMEP §601.01(b) for more information.

803.05(b) Email Address

Applicants must provide and maintain a valid email address. See 37 C.F.R §§2.23(b), 2.32(a)(2). The applicant’s email address is a filing-date requirement and is required even if the applicant has appointed a qualified U.S. attorney, so that the USPTO can contact the applicant if representation ends. See 37 C.F.R §2.21(a)(1); TMEP §202.

The applicant may provide an email address of its choice, including an email specifically created for receiving USPTO correspondence. If the applicant is represented by a qualified U.S. attorney, the email address listed in the owner field may not be identical to the listed email address of its attorney.

The email address listed in the owner field for trademark applicants while represented by a qualified U.S. attorney will not be publicly viewable. The USPTO makes an effort to mask this field only as a courtesy to make it harder for the data to be scraped for solicitation or other purposes, not because the data is private. Only the email address of the attorney will always be publicly viewable, and the USPTO will use the attorney’s email address for correspondence. Owners should be aware that their email addresses may be made public at any time if and when their counsel is removed from a case for any reason, and are highly encouraged to use email addresses that they use only for USPTO trademark correspondence. All electronic filers are on notice that they have no expectation of privacy in the email addresses they use in trademark filings.

The email address listed in the owner field for trademark applicants who are not represented by a qualified U.S. attorney will be used by the USPTO for correspondence and will be publicly viewable as the correspondence email address. To avoid receiving unsolicited communications at a personal or business email address, applicants may wish to create an email address specifically for communication and correspondence related to their trademark filings at the USPTO.

For in-house counsel and attorneys representing themselves in a matter, the TEAS forms will require two different email addresses: one for the owner email address field and one for the attorney email address field. For technical reasons related to the TEAS forms, these addresses cannot be identical.

Section 66(a) applications. The requirement for an applicant to provide and maintain a valid email address also applies to applications filed under Trademark Act Section 66(a). 37 C.F.R §§2.23(b), 7.25(a). This is not a filing-date requirement for an initial Section 66(a) application, because these are transmitted to the USPTO by the International Bureau (IB) and generally do not include an email address for receiving USPTO correspondence. In addition, if a Section 66(a) application is otherwise in condition for approval for publication upon first action, the examining attorney may approve the application for publication and should not require the applicant to appoint an attorney authorized to practice before the USPTO or to provide an email address. However, the applicant will be required to appoint an attorney authorized to practice before the USPTO and provide an email address in any subsequent submissions. See TMEP §601.01(a)regarding applicants with a non-U.S. domicile and §714.05 regarding the deadline within which all refusals and/or requirements must be notified to the IB.

Certain treaty filers exempt from email requirement. If the applicant is a national of a country that has acceded to the Trademark Law Treaty, but not to the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, the requirement to provide the applicant’s email address does not apply. 37 C.F.R §§2.21(c), 2.23(c); see TMEP §301.02(c).