Domestic Representation in the United States Patent & Trademark Office for
Foreign Rightsholders & Agents

We have more than 30 years of experience representing Foreign Rightsholders, Law Firms, and Foreign Associates and Agents in the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Let us handle your:

• New Filings

• Intent-To-Use Applications

• Office Action Responses (Including Madrid Protocol)

• Maintenance And Renewals for U.S. National Registrations

• Special Issues Related To Maintenance And Renewal

• Maintenance And Renewal For U.S. Designated International Registrations

• Recordation of Title Changes

Foreign Rightsholders

If you are a foreign rightsholder who wants to file new trademark applications, please see our United States Trademark Registration page. If you wish to hire us as a domestic representative for existing applications or registrations, please email us with the serial or registration number of your mark, and the services you require.

Law Firms, Associates, and Agents

If you are a law firm, associate, or agent who represents foreign rightsholders, please email us for a table of our fees. Our fees include government charges as well as our responses to Office Actions (see “Office Action Responses" below). Our flat rate services do not include opposition proceedings, cancellation actions, coexistence agreements, concurrent use proceedings, or for intent‑to‑use applications, requests to divide. There is no extra charge for filing an application on multiple bases (e.g. use, intent to use, foreign application, and foreign registration); or for a design or color mark.

New Filings

In order to file an application, we need the following information:

1. The owner’s legal name, place of formation or citizenship, and legal address;

2. If the mark is a design, a black and white JPG image. We do not generally recommend registration of design marks in color unless the color is distinctive. For further instructions see our Drawing Requirements page.

3. A description of the goods/services for which registration is sought. Please note that the USPTO now requires applicants to comply with the 11th Edition of the Nice Agreement, along with the USPTO amendments. For more information, see our goods & services page.

4. The filing basis:

   1. For applications based on use, indicate whether the mark is in use in the United States, and if so, provide:

      • the date of first use anywhere;

      • the date of first use in commerce in the U.S., and

      • a specimen showing use of the mark in each class of goods/services for which application is sought. See ourSpecimen Requirements page for further information.

   2. If the mark is not in use, and not filed on the basis of a foreign priority, then it will be filed on the basis of intent to use;

   3. For foreign-based applications, provide all foreign application and registration priority information.

Once you provide the above information, we will prepare “confirmation instructions” detailing the proposed filing. Prior to filing, we will conduct a limited “knock-out” search for identical trademarks in the USPTO and will notify you if there are any obvious obstacles to registration. Full availability &/or registrability searches are done by specialized search companies, which we can recommend.

Intent-To-Use Applications

Before intent-to-use trademark applications can be registered, they must be converted to a use basis. If the mark is not already in use following the USPTO’s approval, extensions of the application must be filed every six months until use commences. However, if you are filing based on a foreign registration or pending application, you do not need to place your trademark in use in the United States in order for a registration to issue. Be advised, however, that non-use in the United States for three years following registration constitutes prima facie abandonment of your mark.

Office Action Responses

Our flat-fee rate for Office Action responses covers non-substantive office action refusals, as well as providing our services as Attorney of Record and Domestic Representative. In non-Madrid Protocol filings, applicants may be required to pay additional charges if the applicant has designated complicated lists of goods and services that are determined by the USPTO to fall under different classes. Our flat-fee rate does not, as stated above, include oppositions, cancellations, or litigation involving third parties.

We will, without charge, review any USPTO Office Action refusing and offer our recommendations on how to proceed. If you want us to review an Office Action that you received, you only need to email us the U.S. Serial Number or International Registration Number.

Maintenance and Renewal for U.S. National Registrations

In order to file applications for Maintenance (filed during the sixth year of the initial term) and Renewal (filed every 10 years), we need the following information:

1. The registration number of the mark

2. A specimen (evidence) showing use of the mark for at least one of the goods and services in each class of the registration

3. Whether there is an ownership change, and if so, the new owner’s legal name, place of formation or citizenship, and legal address. In the event of change of ownership, an assignment will have to be filed prior to filing the maintenance or renewal; and

4. For Maintenance applications, confirmation that the mark has been in continuous use for at least five years from the registration date.

Typically, when a registered mark has been in continuous use for at least five years from the registration date, a combined affidavit of use and incontestability may be filed together, thereby conferring additional rights in the mark.

Special Issues Related to Maintenance and Renewal

In order to file maintenance and renewal applications, the registrant must provide specimens showing use of the mark (a) as registered, and (b) as actually used for the goods and services.

Please also note that the USPTO conducts regular audits of maintenance and renewal applications, and sometimes requires the registrant to submit specimens showing use on some — and sometimes all — for the goods and services listed in the registration. It is essential that you tell us before any maintenance or renewal applications are filed if you are not using the mark in connection with all of the goods and services in your registration. Should the maintenance or renewal application be audited, and goods or services need to be deleted there is a surcharge to comply with the USPTO requirements of deleting the goods and services that evidence cannot be provided of $350.00 per class.

Maintenance and Renewal for U.S. Madrid Protocol Registrations

All United States designations under the Madrid Protocol must file renewals with WIPO and Section 71 affidavits of use in the USPTO (filed during the sixth year of the first term of the registration and every ten years from the time of renewal).

For these filings, we will need: (1) the registration number (or international registration number) for the mark, and (2) a specimen showing use of the mark in the United States commerce for at least one of the goods and services in each class of the registration. All changes of ownership for Madrid registrations are done through WIPO.

Recordation of Title Changes

To prepare and file an assignment, change of name, merger, etc. the following information is required:

• For assignments, the Assignor’s (or Seller’s) and Assignee’s (or Buyer’s) full legal names, place of formation or citizenship, and legal addresses. Also, if known, the names of the persons who will sign on behalf of the Assignor and Assignee, and such persons’ official titles.

• For all changes (including assignments), the properties that are involved (e.g., the registration numbers or application serial numbers of the marks);

• The date of the transaction, if different from the date of signing; and

• Any other information that may be relevant to our understanding of the requested changes.

For name changes, we need a copy of government documents effectuating the name change, showing the name before and after, as recorded in the official records. If you have any questions about the proper documentation, please email us.

Regarding our rates for recordation of title changes, if there are many properties to be assigned, we will discount accordingly. We do not need original signed documents. A PDF or scanned image will suffice for filing purposes. We recommend that a “short form” assignment is filed at the USPTO rather than a document memorializing the full transaction. Recordations can be turned around very quickly, often in one day.

Contact Us Today

Gordon E. R. Troy, PC is located in West Windsor, Vermont, but serves clients all over the United States including New York, New York Washington DC, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Fransisco, California, as well as international clients.