[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60667-60668]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19000]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No. PTO-T-2023-0037]


Requiring Identity Verification for Attorney-Sponsored Accounts

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) 
announces that beginning on January 20, 2024, all existing and new 
attorney support staff with an attorney-sponsored USPTO.gov account 
will be required to verify their identity to access trademark filing 
systems. The USPTO is making this change after discovering that some 
U.S.-licensed attorneys have sponsored accounts for individuals who are 
not directly supervised attorney support staff, and that many of these 
sponsored accounts appear to be shared by multiple foreign agents and 
attorneys. These actions violate the Trademark Verified USPTO.gov 
Account Agreement (Agreement).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Lavache, Office of the Deputy 
Commissioner for Trademark Examination Policy, USPTO, at 571-272-5881. 
You can also send inquiries to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In late 2019, as part of the USPTO's 
continuing efforts to protect the integrity of the U.S. trademark 
register, and to better protect its customers from scams and other 
fraudulent activities related to the trademark register, the USPTO 
began requiring customers to create a USPTO.gov account to access and 
submit electronic trademark forms. This enabled the USPTO to monitor 
trademark filing behavior and aided in enforcing the USPTO Trademark 
Rules of Practice regarding submissions in trademark matters. On August 
6, 2022, the USPTO began requiring existing and new account holders who 
occupy one of the appropriate user roles, including owner, U.S.-
licensed attorney, Canadian attorney, or Canadian agent, to verify 
their identity. See Trademarks USPTO.gov Account ID Verification 
Program (87 FR 41114). The USPTO also offered a user role for sponsored 
attorney support staff to establish USPTO.gov accounts when sponsored 
by a supervising U.S.-licensed (or a reciprocally recognized Canadian) 
attorney, and at the time did not require identity verification for 
sponsored support staff accounts. See 87 FR 41114.
    Since establishing the sponsored staff user roles, the USPTO has 
discovered that some U.S.-licensed attorneys have sponsored accounts 
for individuals who are not directly supervised attorney support staff, 
which violates the Agreement that applies to all USPTO.gov account 
holders. Many of these sponsored accounts appear to be used by multiple 
foreign agents and attorneys who file thousands of trademark 
applications involving violations of the USPTO's Trademark Rules of 
Practice, including the rules on signatures and certifications. Because 
the sponsored account user role has been subject to abuse that has 
undermined the integrity of the trademark register and such abuse can 
be significantly curtailed by requiring identity verification of 
sponsored account holders, the USPTO will now require all existing and 
new attorney support staff who are USPTO.gov account holders to verify 
their identity. On October 14, 2023, the USPTO will make identity 
verification available to attorney support staff account holders. It 
will become mandatory for such account holders on January 20, 2024. 
Requiring identity verification of sponsored accounts will help enforce 
the ``one person, one account'' rule, better enable the USPTO to 
restrict non-attorneys from submitting trademark filings, and prevent 
rule violations by filing entities and other unauthorized users. It 
will also allow the USPTO to better track and eliminate the use of 
sponsored accounts created for unsupervised use by non-attorney 
entities.
    Trademark applicants and registrants, or their attorneys and 
support staff, must register for and use a USPTO.gov account to access 
and submit trademark application and maintenance filings with the 
USPTO. Users of a USPTO.gov account and any other USPTO web page or 
system are required to comply with the Terms of Use for USPTO web 
pages. Further, to file trademark documents electronically, users must 
have their identities verified, and are further bound by the Agreement. 
A verified account can only be connected to one USPTO.gov trademark 
account.
    Once qualified U.S.-licensed attorneys have a trademark verified 
USPTO.gov account, they may sponsor the USPTO.gov accounts of directly 
supervised support staff. Attorneys who abuse the terms of sponsorship 
may have their sponsorship privileges--and potentially their own 
verified accounts--revoked. However, under the current system, support 
staff can simply create new accounts using unverified information and 
seek attorney sponsorship again, sometimes by the same attorney. 
Requiring identity verification of sponsored accounts will allow the 
USPTO to consistently enforce the Agreement and ensure that a user of a 
sponsored account cannot create multiple accounts or create a new 
account and again be sponsored.
    The following examples demonstrate the impact of the problems 
caused by the inappropriate use of sponsored accounts. In one instance 
of abuse, an attorney sponsored more than 30 different accounts used by 
individuals not under their direct supervision, and perhaps not even 
personally known to the attorney. In another example, an attorney 
sponsored multiple accounts for use by non-attorney trademark 
preparation or filing entities, which are not authorized to practice 
law, file submissions for clients, or represent parties before the 
USPTO in trademark matters. Several of these accounts have also been 
connected to known scams that have defrauded many trademark applicants. 
Each of these behaviors violates the terms of the Agreement to which 
each of these attorneys consented. In addition, some law firms are 
creating institutional accounts that appear to be intended for use by 
multiple people under generic names such as ``Admin Support.'' This 
practice impedes the ability of the USPTO to maintain an accurate 
filing history and violates the Agreement, even if no improper 
activities are intended.
    Under the revised procedures, both existing and new sponsored 
attorney support staff USPTO.gov account holders will need to verify 
their identity, using either the electronic or paper process, to access 
the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS). Identity 
verification will become available on October 14, 2023, for attorney 
support staff account holders to verify their identities. Existing 
unverified sponsored attorney support

[[Page 60668]]

staff USPTO.gov accounts will remain active, but will not be able to be 
used to access or submit trademark forms beginning on January 20, 2024, 
when identity verification will become mandatory for all users. As of 
January 20, 2024, only verified account holders will be able to access 
and submit trademark forms.
    The USPTO reminds attorneys that 37 CFR 11.503 establishes duties 
with respect to the supervision of non-practitioner assistants, and 37 
CFR 11.505 forbids a practitioner from assisting in the unauthorized 
practice of law.

Katherine K. Vidal,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-19000 Filed 9-1-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-16-P