The following improvements were made by the United States Patent and Trademark Office to the Electronic Trademark Assignment System (“eTAS”) during fiscal year 2014. These enhancements are designed to facilitate filing and recording assignments with the Assignment Recordation Branch.
- NEW CONVEYANCE TYPES: Added three new Conveyance Types to improve database specificity and reduce the need to file two documents in the case of a merger involving a name change:
- Merger and Change of Name” allows customers to select both conveyance types in a single submission
- Entity Conversion
- Court Order
ORDER OF RECORDATION: Added a method for customers to designate the order of recordation for multiple, related assignment submissions.
PHONE COMMUNICATION: Introduced new service in which the USPTO will contact customers by phone: (1) to resolve recordation issues rather than issuing a Non-Recordation Notice, and (2) to help identify potential typographical errors that might result in the filer having to file a subsequent corrective assignment.
ELECTRONIC RESUBMISSION: Added electronic resubmission capability allowing customers who receive a Non-Recordation Notice to resubmit the corrected paperwork electronically.
COUNTRY CODES: Updated and reordered country codes in the eTAS (1) to be consistent with other USPTO systems such as the Trademark Electronic Application System and (2) to enable the USPTO to add and delete countries from the list.
SPECIAL CHARACTERS: Added the ability for customers to enter special characters in the name fields in eTAS. For example, customers may now enter a corporation called XYZ*, Inc. as a name.
NOTICE DELIVERY: Instituted delivery of recordation notices via three methods in succession: (1) first attempt is via email, (2) if email is unsuccessful, then send via fax and, (3) if fax is unsuccessful, then send via postal mail.
VERIFICATION: Added a statement to the validation page requiring a filer to verify that he/she is aware that the unauthorized use of eTAS is a misrepresentation to the federal government, is prohibited and is subject to criminal and civil penalties. This change was made in an attempt to prevent the filing of false transfers against another’s property.