602.01(a) Attorney Identification Information Required
37 C.F.R. §2.17 Recognition for representation.
(b)(3) Bar information required. A practitioner qualified under §11.14(a) of this chapter will be required to provide the name of a State, as defined in §11.1 of this chapter, in which he or she is an active member in good standing, the date of admission to the bar of the named State, and the bar license number, if one is issued by the named State. The practitioner may be required to provide evidence that he or she is an active member in good standing of the bar of the specified State.
37 C.F.R. §2.22 Requirements for a TEAS Plus application.
(a)(20) A trademark/service mark application for registration on the Principal Register under section 1 and/or section 44 of the Act that meets the requirements for a filing date under §2.21 will be entitled to a reduced filing fee under 37 C.F.R §2.6(a)(1)(iv) if it includes: An applicant whose domicile is not located within the United States or its territories must designate an attorney as the applicant’s representative, pursuant to 37 C.F.R §2.11(a), and include the attorney’s name, postal address, email address, and bar information.
37 C.F.R. §2.32 Requirements for a complete trademark or service mark application.
(a)(4) The application must be in English and include the following: When the applicant is, or must be, represented by an attorney, as defined in §11.1 of this chapter, who is qualified to practice under §11.14 of this chapter, the attorney’s name, postal address, email address, and bar information.
If the applicant is represented by an attorney qualified under 37 C.F.R §11.14, or is required to appoint such an attorney due to its foreign domicile, the applicant must include the individual attorney’s name, postal address, email address, and bar information in a Section 1 or 44(a) application, or in a subsequent submission in a Section 66(a) application. 37 C.F.R §2.11(a), 37 C.F.R §2.22(a)(20), 37 C.F.R §2.32(a)(4).
The bar information for the attorney includes (1) the name of the U.S. state, Commonwealth, or territory, or the District of Columbia, in which he or she is an active member in good standing; (2) the date of his or her admission to the bar in the named U.S. state, Commonwealth, or territory, or District of Columbia; (3) the bar license number, if one is issued by the U.S. state, Commonwealth, or territory or the District of Columbia; and (4) a statement that he or she is an active member in good standing of the bar of the listed U.S. state, Commonwealth, or territory or District of Columbia.
This information must be provided for the attorney of record (i.e., the primary attorney). The attorney must provide the number used by the U.S. state, Commonwealth, or territory that licenses the attorney, which number may be called by different names, including a bar, membership, account, or identification number.
The majority of the TEAS forms include specific fields to enter attorney bar information for the attorney of record. If an applicant’s or registrant’s attorney’s bar information and/or the statement that the attorney is an active member in good standing of the referenced bar is omitted or incomplete, the examining attorney will issue an Office action requiring the attorney bar information and/or statement of active bar membership in good standing.
In cases where attorney bar information is required and all other outstanding issues may be resolved by examiner’s amendment, the examining attorney may email or call the attorney about the outstanding issues, obtain his or her bar information, and ask that he or she agree to a statement of good standing, if it is not already in the record. An associate attorney authorized to represent the applicant may also authorize an examiner’s amendment for the primary attorney or record’s bar information and a statement of good standing.
Attorney bar information entered in the bar information fields on the "Attorney Information" page of TEAS forms will be hidden from public view. The USPTO makes an effort to mask these fields only as a courtesy, to make it harder for the data to be scraped for improper or other purposes, not because the data is private. If entered anywhere else in the TEAS forms, the attorney bar information will not be hidden. Attorney bar information is a matter of public record, and attorneys should be aware that this information may sometimes be available on filings. If the examining attorney obtains the bar information to enter it by examiner’s amendment, the amendment will not include the specific information but rather will indicate only that the bar information has been provided. If an applicant emails the attorney bar information to the USPTO, an examining attorney must follow the normal procedure for making relevant email communications part of the record and will not hide such information, unless the applicant’s attorney requests that it be hidden. See TMEP §709.04.