601.01(c)(iii) Reviewing General Arguments or Evidence Provided in Response to a Domicile Address Requirement
Examining attorneys and post-registration examiners must evaluate any arguments, including any explanations, or evidence regarding a domicile address on a case-by-case basis, whether included in the initial application or maintenance filing, or in a response.
Any assertion that the domicile address is in fact the applicant’s or registrant’s principal place of business (for a juristic entity) or the place the person resides and that is intended to be the person’s principal home (for a natural person) must be made in a formal written response.
Only in rare cases may an otherwise unacceptable type of domicile address (see TMEP §601.01(c)(i)) be accepted based on the applicant’s or registrant’s arguments. If uncertain about whether the provided domicile address should be accepted, the examining attorney should consult their managing or senior attorney. Post-registration examiners should consult their lead.
If a juristic applicant or registrant submits documentation such as an annual report identifying its principal office or business address as a post-office box or a registered agent address, such documentation does not establish that the address is the applicant’s or registrant’s domicile address. Examining attorneys and post-registration examiners must not accept such documentation as satisfying a domicile address requirement when the address is an unacceptable type of domicile address. See TMEP §601.01(c)(i) for presumptively unacceptable types of domicile addresses.
When a requirement for an acceptable domicile address is maintained or made final, the requirement may be satisfied by providing a new, acceptable domicile address. See TMEP §601.01(c)(ii) for information about evaluating a domicile address provided in response to a domicile address requirement. Alternatively, the applicant or registrant may file a petition to the Director to waive the domicile address requirement because of an extraordinary situation. See TMEP §1708.01.
If the applicant or registrant responds to the requirement to provide an acceptable domicile address by stating that they filed a petition to the Director to waive the domicile address requirement, the examining attorney or post-registration examiner must follow the procedures set forth in TMEP §601.01(c)(v). See TMEP §716.02(l) for circumstances when action may be suspended by the examining attorney pending a decision on a petition to the Director to waive the domicile address requirement.
If the applicant or registrant asserts they have "no fixed physical address," the examining attorney or post-registration examiner must follow the procedures set forth in TMEP §601.01(c)(iv).