Questions or concerns regarding your submissions may be directed to the Assignment Services Division at etas@uspto.gov or 571-272-3350. Technical questions should be emailed to etas@uspto.gov
You need a web browser that is capable of uploading files to a server and a scanner or software, which will prepare your supporting legal documents in TIFF or PDF format. The ETAS system has been tested with Netscape Communicator 4.7 and Internet Explorer 5.5.
Image files in TIFF format can be prepared either from a paper source using an optical scanner, or from a word processing software, using a TIFF printer driver.
TIFF image files are required to be letter size (8.5"x11"), 300dpi, single page, black and white images with portrait orientation. The size of an image file must be 2550 by 3300 pixels (the ETAS system accepts files that are within 5% deviation). Most TIFF format encodings, such as Uncompressed, RLE, Packbits, Deflate, CCITT Group3 and Group4, are recognized by the system and transformed to CCITT Group 4 TIFF files.
During the submission process, when the system successfully recognizes an uploaded TIFF file, a thumbnail image will be displayed at the bottom of the attachments web page indicating successful attachment/upload of the file. If the server does not recognize the tiff image an error message will be displayed on the web page, indicating the file has not be uploaded as an attachment to the assignment.
If JavaScript is enabled in your browser's settings, clicking the radio buttons is not required but may be performed. If JavaScript has been disabled in your browser's settings you must select the radio button when displayed with a data element to ensure the proper value is captured.
The back and forward buttons provided by your computer's browser SHOULD NOT be used to navigate through the assignment web screens. Users should use either the named links shown at the top of each form or the back and next screen button to navigate through the web forms.
Required data elements are identified by the asterisk * symbol displayed in red next to the data elements label. Data entry is limited to US-ASCII characters.
The Assignment Services Division does not examine the substance of documents submitted for recording. The act of recording a document is a ministerial act, and not a determination of the document's validity or of its effect on title to an application or registration. The Office will determine the effect of a document only when an assignee attempts to take an action in connection with an application or registration (e.g., when an assignee files a statement of use or an affidavit or declaration of use under 15 U.S.C. §1058). 37 C.F.R. §3.54.
Most of the Assignment web screens are formatted as follows: to the left is the label for the data element and to the right a data entry box for entering more detailed data or a list of choices will be displayed for the user to select from for the appropriate data elements.
This web page consists of the following data types: nature of conveyance, telephone number, correspondent's mailing address, fax number, e-mail address and the name of the submitter.
You may select one of the pre-formatted nature of conveyance types or you may select the conveyance type "Other" and enter text that describes the interest conveyed or transaction to be recorded. Data entry is limited to 240 characters.
If the nature of conveyance is an "Assignment", "Merger", "Change of Name", "Nunc Pro Tunc" or "Assignment of the entire interest and goodwill", you should check the appropriate box above.
Please note if the the "Other" field is used for the following conveyance types: "Assignment", "Merger", "Change of Name", "Nunc Pro Tunc" or "Assigns the entire interest and goodwill", the Trademark database will not be automatically updated with the change in ownership information.
Correspondence information contains the following data elements:
Data entry is limited to 20 characters. Optional element.
Enter the name to whom correspondence should be addressed. This field is limited to 40 characters. Required element.
Correspondent's mailing address must, at a minimum, provide the correspondent name, the correspondent street address, correspondent city, state or country (not both) and postal code. An internal address may be provided if desired. Postal code is required for state, territories or provinces listed in the drop down list. Data entry for correspondent name, street and internal address components is limited to 40 characters. City is limited to 20 characters. Postal code is limited to 9 characters for US addresses, 15 characters for non-US addresses.
Enter the street address to where correspondence may be delivered for the named correspondent. This field is limited to 40 characters. Required element.
Enter the internal mail address, such as suite, building name, mail stop, etc. for correspondent. This field is limited to 40 characters. Optional element.
Enter the city name for correspondent address. This field is limited to 20 characters. Required element.
To complete the correspondent address a value from either the State or Country
drop down lists is required.
NOTE: Assignment recordation practices allow entry of a State Name or a
Country Name, but not both.
If the correspondent address is within the United States, a U.S. territory, or Canadian province you must select a name from the drop-down list provided for the State address element. You may enter the first character of the state name, province or territory to advance to the first state name matching the entered character. By entering the same letter repetitive times, the system will cycle through the list of state names that begin with the same letter. This field is limited to the values contained in the drop down list for the State data element.
If the correspondent address is outside of the United States, U.S. territories or Canada, select a country name from the drop-down list provided. Enter the first character of the state name, province or territory to advance to the first state name matching the entered character. By entering the same letter repetitive times, the system will cycle through the list of state names that begin with the same letter. This field is limited to the values shown in the drop down list for the Country data element.
For US states and territories a postal code is required. Enter the 5 or 9 digit postal code for a U.S. mailing address. This field is limited to 10 characters for US codes (a hyphen is permitted in the 6th position). Entry of a postal code for foreign countries is optional. Non-US postal codes are limited to 15 positions.
Provide the e-mail address to which the confirmation of receipt will be sent. Data entry is limited to 129 characters.
Provide a US or Canada fax number to which the official notice of recordation/non-recordation will be delivered. This field is limited to a 10-digit telephone number. International fax phone numbers may be not be provided at this time.
Provide the name of the person preparing the Assignment Recordation Coversheet form. This element is required and provides the Assignment Division with a contact name should questions arise from the submission.
A conveying party may be one or more individuals or a business or organization. Required entry.
Identify the party or parties conveying the interest. Indicate the entity and the date of execution of each conveying party. A "Formerly" statement for each conveying party may be provided.
To view the data entered or to enter another conveying party click the "ADD" button after completing the conveying party data. Users may also enter conveying party data and click the "Add and Go to Next Screen" button to proceed to the next web form.
Select the radio button next to the label "Individual" to choose entity type or begin entering data in the one of the data elements associated with an individual's name. At a minimum, the first and last name must be provided.
When recorded an individual's name is stored in the Assignment Historical Database in the following format:
Last name, first name, middle name/initial, suffix, prefix
For example Dr. Henry T. Doolittle, Sr would be recorded as
Doolittle, Henry T., Sr., Dr.
Conveying party names entered in the prescribed format, facilitate the search capabilities provided for the searching of assignment party names.
Select the radio button next to the label "Company" or begin entering data in the data entry box displayed to the right of the label. Company Name is limited to 240 characters.
Business names that begin with the words, "The" or "A" should be entered as follows:
Candy Store, The
University Names should be entered as follows:
Maryland, University of
Names similar to the examples provided entered in a different format will be recorded as entered. Conveying party names entered in the prescribed format, facilitate the search capabilities provided for the searching of assignment party names.
Select an entity type that describes the entity of the entered conveying party. You may select one of the pre-formatted entity types or provide text that describes the conveying party's entity type. Text entry is limited to 240 characters. Required element.
If Citizenship for an individual is provided it must be selected from the the Country drop down list. Optional element.
If Citizenship for an entity type other than Individual is provided, select the name of the state or country of registration from the appropriate drop down list. Optional element.
Enter a "Formerly" statement that identifies the name by which the individual or company previously operated under for the conveying party if applicable. Data entry is limited to 240 characters. Optional element.
Enter the date on which the assignment document was executed. The format for date of execution is MM/DD/YYYY. For example, to enter March 29, 2003, put 03/29/2003 in the input field.
After completing the data input for a conveying party click the "ADD" button to review the data entered or to enter another conveying party or click "Add and Go to next screen" button. Entered information is displayed on the bottom of the screen. If the data entered is incorrect, click the "Edit" button to the right of the conveying party information and modify the data elements as required. All data entered will be displayed prior to beginning the fee payment process.
If required, additional conveying parties may be entered.
A receiving party may be one or more individuals or a business or organization. Required entry.
Identify the party or parties receiving the interest. Indicate the entity and address of each receiving party. A "Composed Of" statement and/or one of the following types of statements may be provided for each receiving party (i.e., Doing Business As, Also Known As or Trading As).
When a receiving party is domiciled outside of the United States a designation of Domestic Representative may be provided. Domestic Representative data elements will only be displayed when a Country name is selected. The Domestic Representative information is not required but may be submitted by selecting the check box for Designation of Domestic Representative. When this box is checked, the following data elements are required, Domestic Representative Name, Street Address, City, State and Postal Code. Only one Designation of Domestic Representative may be submitted for a single assignment submission.
To review the data entered or to enter another receiving party click the "ADD" button after completing the receiving party data. Users may also enter receiving party data and click the "Add and Go to Next Screen" button to proceed to the next web form.
Select the radio button next to the label "Individual" to choose entity type or begin entering data in the one of the data elements associated with an individual's name. At a minimum, the first and last name must be provided.
When recorded an individual's name is stored in the Assignment Historical Database in the following format:
Last name, first name, middle name/initial, suffix, prefix
For example Dr. Henry T. Doolittle, Sr would be recorded as
Doolittle, Henry T., Sr., Dr.
Receiving party names entered in the prescribed format, facilitate the search capabilities provided for the searching of assignment party names.
Select the radio button next to the label "Company" or begin entering data in the data entry box displayed to the right of the label. Data entry is limited to 240 characters.
Business names that begin with the words, "The" or "A" should be entered as follows:
Candy Store, The
University Names should be entered as follows:
Maryland, University of
Names similar to the examples provided entered in a different format will be recorded as entered. Receiving party names entered in the prescribed format, facilitate the search capabilities provided for the the searching of assignment party names.
Select an entity type that describes the entity of the entered receiving party. Select one of the pre-formatted entity types or provide text that describes the receiving party's entity type. Text entry is limited to 240 characters. Required element.
Enter the text describing the "Composed Of" statement. Data entry is limited to 240 characters. Optional element.
Enter the text describing the "Doing Business As" statement. You do not need to insert the letters "DBA" before the text (or name); the computer will automatically insert those letters before the text when the information is recorded. Data entry is limited to 240 characters. Optional element.
Enter the text describing the "Also Known As" statement. You do not need to insert the letters "AKA" before the text (or name); the computer will automatically insert those letters before the text when the information is recorded. Data entry is limited to 240 characters. Optional element.
Enter the text describing the "Trading As" statement. You do not need to insert the letters "TA" before the text (or name); the computer will automatically insert those letters before the text when the information is recorded. Data entry is limited to 240 characters. Optional element.
If Citizenship for an individaul is provided it must be selected from the the Country drop down list. Optional element.
If Citizenship for an entity type other than Individual is provided, select the name of the state or country of registration from the appropriate drop down list. Optional element.
Enter the street address to where the receiving party may be contacted. This field is limited to 240 characters. Required element.
Enter the internal mail address, such as suite, building name, mail stop, etc. for the receiving party. This field is limited to 240 characters. Optional element.
Enter the city name for the receiving party. This field is limited to 20 characters. Required element.
To complete the receiving party correspondence address a value from either the State or Country
drop down lists is required.
NOTE: Assignment recordation practices require entry of either a State Name
or a Country Name, but not both.
If the receiving party correspondence address is within the United States, a U.S. territory, or Canadian province you must select a name from the drop-down list provided for the State address element. You may enter the first character of the state name, province or territory to advance to the first state name matching the entered character. By entering the same letter repetitive times, the system will cycle through the list of state names that begin with the same letter. This field is limited to the values contained in the drop down list for the State data element.
If the receiving party correspondence address is outside of the United States, U.S. territories or Canada, you must select a country name from the drop-down list provided. Enter the first character of the state name, province or territory to advance to the first state name matching the entered character. By entering the same letter repetitive times, the system will cycle through the list of state names that begin with the same letter. This field is limited to the values shown in the drop down list for the Country data element.
For US states and territories a postal code is required. Enter the 5 or 9 digit postal code for a U.S. mailing address. This field is limited to 10 characters for US codes (a hyphen is permitted in the 6th position). Entry of a postal code for foreign countries is optional. Non-US postal codes are limited to 15 positions.
The Domestic Representative information is not required but may be submitted by selecting the check box for Designation of Domestic Representative. When this box is checked, the following data elements are required: Domestic Representative Name, Street Address, City, State and Postal Code. Only one Designation of Domestic Representative may be submitted for a single assignment submission.
Enter the name of the Domestic Representative. This field is limited to 40 characters.
Enter the street address of the Domestic Representative. This field is limited to 40 characters.
Enter the internal mail address, such as suite, building name, mail stop, etc. for the Domestic Representative. This field is limited to 40 characters. Optional
Enter the city name for the Domestic Representative. This field is limited to 20 characters.
Select a state name from the state drop down list.
You may enter the first character of the state name, province or territory to advance to the first state name matching the entered character. By entering the same letter repetitive times, the system will cycle through the list of state names that begin with the same letter. This field is limited to the values contained in the drop down list for the State data element.
Enter the 5 or 9 digit postal code for the U.S. mailing address. This field is limited to 10 characters (a hyphen is permitted in the 6th position).
After completing the data input for a receiving party click the "ADD" button to review the data entered or to enter another receiving party or click "Add and Go to next screen" button. Entered information is displayed on the bottom of the screen. If the data entered is incorrect, click the "Edit" button to the right of the receiving party information and modify the data elements as required. All data entered will be displayed prior to beginning the fee payment process.
If required, additional receiving parties may be entered.
Indicate the property number for the U.S trademark property by entering either the US Serial Number or the US Registration number. For a registered trademark provide either the registration number or the serial number but DO NOT provide both. Entry of the registration number and the serial number will be treated as two separate properties being assigned. The system will prevent duplicate entry of like numbers, but does not have the ability to determine the relationship between a registration number and a serial number. The total number of properties entered and all entered property numbers will be displayed on the rendered coversheet and the Confirmation Receipt screen.
Enter the two-digit series code followed by the six-digit serial number assigned to a trademark application. The earliest series code begins with 70. A slash "/" or hyphen "-" may be placed between the series code and the serial number. A trademark series code may not begin with the number 0.
Enter the registration number for a registered US trademark. Data entry is limited to seven digits. Registration numbers less than seven digits may also be entered.
This web form provides the ability to paste a list of property numbers. Indicate the property number for a U.S trademark application by entering either the US Serial Number or the US Registration number, but not both. Entry of the registration number and the serial number will be considered as two separate properties being assigned. The system will prevent duplicate entry of like numbers, but does not have the ability to determine the relationship between a registration number and a serial number. A space or a carriage return must be placed between bulk listings of numbers. The system makes every attempt to prevent users from entering ill-formed property numbers. A slash "/" or hyphen "-" may be placed between the series code and the serial number. A trademark series code may not begin with the number 0.
From this page users may select a
TIFF file for attachment from their computer workstations.
One or more attachments may be provided. The TIFF files should be attached in the page
order of the assignment. Attached TIFF files will be recorded in the order shown on the
screen.
NOTE: Change of Name assignment does not require attachments.
This web page is used to validate all entered assignment data. The data displayed should be carefully reviewed to prevent errors in your recordation. This is the last opportunity to make data entry corrections. Assignment Services Division personnel may not recall your submission in order to prevent recordation nor will changes to the data be performed by the USPTO. If data presented is recorded and is in error, a new assignment filing along with the necessary fees for recording will be required to implement corrections. The fee payment process is the next step prior to the USPTO receiving the assignment. When the fee payment process begins, corrections to entered data may not be performed. This is the last review available.
The fee payment process is controlled by the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office Revenue Accounting and Management System. Questions or concerns about the fee payment process should be directed to the Office of Finance at daadmin@uspto.gov or (571)-272-6500.
This screen will be displayed upon completion of the fee payment process. Fee payment amount is shown at the bottom of the Confirmation Receipt. Additionally, a unique identifier has been assigned to the electronically filed assignment and a record of this number, namely ETAS ID, should be retained in the event it is necessary to contact the Assignment Services Division regarding your submission. This Confirmation Receipt will be sent to the e-mail address provided.