- Knowledge
Preface
On June 25th, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a new Final Order. Another practicing lawyer in the United States signed the "Resignation Oath" and was approved.
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Event background
The document lists the lawyer's violations, and after sorting them out, the editor has summarized several areas that need to be focused on:
1. Although the lawyer has obtained a lawyer's practice qualification in the United States, they have not registered and do not have patent agency qualifications.
2. The lawyer worked as a part-time lawyer at a Hong Kong company from August 2019 to September 2024 and began to participate in trademark registration work in the United States. However, prior to August 2019, the lawyer had no experience or training in trademark affairs, and was not familiar with the "US Lawyer Rules," USPTO Trademark Signature Rules, or USPTO.gov Account Rules.
3. During his tenure as a part-time lawyer at this Hong Kong company, the lawyer only acted as a nominal record lawyer, did not directly face clients, did not handle any trademark application related documents, and did not review or respond to trademark documents. The company uses her contact information in USPTO documents under her name and signature, and interfaces with clients for document processing and review.
4. In September 2019, the lawyer allowed the Hong Kong company to create an account on USPTO.gov in her name, so that the Hong Kong company could submit trademark documents to the United States Patent and Trademark Office under her name and signature as the applicant's registered lawyer. The respondent has no intention of using the account. During this period, the lawyer never viewed the USPTO.gov account information completed by this Hong Kong company; The lawyer never consulted the website terms of use of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to understand that account holders are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their account login information and are not allowed to share their account credentials with others. The lawyer has never used the USPTO.gov account created in her name to prepare or submit trademark documents to USPTO.
5. From the end of 2019 to September 2024, over 3000 trademark documents were submitted through her account, all of which were in her name as the record lawyer, and many of the documents carried her claimed electronic signature. From April 26, 2021 to September 13, 2024, her name appeared as the designated signatory, along with her electronic signature, in over a thousand trademark documents submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
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Main violations
1. Serving as a formal lawyer in trademark affairs, while(i) Not familiar with and/or violating the rules of American lawyers; (ii) Violation of USPTO trademark attribution rules; (ii) Violation of USPTO Account Agreement; (iv) Opening USPTO.gov accounts for unauthorized individuals; (v) Practicing without sufficient training at USPTO; (vi) Share her USPTO.gov account with others or provide access in other ways.
2. Assist others in practicing law in the jurisdiction.(i) Allow Hong Kong companies to create a USPTO.gov account in her name and use it to prepare, sign, and submit trademark documents at USPTO; (ii) Accept as compensation the use of her legal qualifications and signature by others to process trademark applications; (iii) Establish business relationships with officials of Hong Kong companies who are not employed or supervised by the lawyer, or are not authorized to practice law, and provide sponsorship for their USPTO.gov accounts; (iv) Failure to take appropriate measures to supervise and/or monitor related activities. Not regularly reviewing whether they are effectively utilizing USPTO.gov sponsorship accounts; (v) Not searching unauthorized trademark applications submitted by Hong Kong companies through the USPTO search system, allowing Hong Kong companies to continue using their credentials, signatures, and USPTO.gov accounts to prepare, sign, and submit trademark documents within USPTO (i.e. engaging in unauthorized practice activities)
3. Engaging in behavior that harms judicial administration is considered professional misconduct, including but not limited to:(i) Allow others to create USPTO.gov accounts in her name and use them to prepare, sign, and submit trademark documents at USPTO; (ii) Improper sharing or providing access to her own USPTO.gov account to others in any other way, resulting in an unauthorized submission; (iii) Establishing business relationships with non practitioners and sponsoring accounts for them, which are then used by these non practitioners to engage in unauthorized legal practice; (iv) Allow others to sign in trademark documents that list the respondent as the designated signatory and are submitted to USPTO; (v) Not searching for unauthorized trademark applications submitted in Hong Kong in the trademark search system, allowing Brealant to continue using her qualifications, signature, and USPTO.gOV account to prepare, sign, and submit trademark documents at USPTO (i.e. engaging in unauthorized practice);
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Final punishment result
Excluded from practicing at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in trademark and other non patent matters.
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We need to remind everyone
Since the lawyer voluntarily signed the 'Resignation Oath', there is no indication in the document that any punishment will be imposed on the trademark involved.
But it is still necessary to remind everyone that the lawyer has been approved to resign and is excluded from trademark affairs and other non patent affairs practices. Therefore, trademarks that are still in the application process may face a huge risk of indefinite registration. If you entrust this lawyer and their affiliated agency friends, you need to proactively inquire whether your trademark status is normal or consider whether you need to reapply for the trademark.
