Articles Posted in Trademarks Issued

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

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Commerce Department’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) proposing to reduce fees for many new trademark applications and most renewals of registration. USPTO also proposes a new Trademark Electronic Application System Reduced Fee (TEAS RF) filing option in addition to reducing filing fees for both applications filed using the current Trademark Electronic Application System Plus (“TEAS Plus”) option and applications for renewal of a registration filed through Trademark Electronic Application System (“TEAS”).

“The proposed fee reductions advance the USPTO’s core mission of serving the public in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible,” said Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO Michelle K. Lee. “Lower fees will lessen the burden for entrepreneurs to obtain the crucial trademark protection they need to grow their businesses, while increased electronic processing improves agency efficiency.”

Prior to issuing the NPRM, the USPTO published a notice of inquiry to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on possible adjustments to trademark application fees. Public comments overwhelmingly favored a fee reduction with many expressing a desire for a lower-cost electronic filing option without any restrictions on the nature of the identification of goods and services, as is required under TEAS Plus.