Law 360 Quotes Eric Perrott About Proposed USPTO Rule Change to Require Trademark Applicants from Outside the US to Engage a US Attorney

The USPTO is preparing to role out a new requirement that all foreign applicants must utilize U.S. attorneys when submitting documents (including filings) relating to a trademark.  This new rule hopes to cub the recent wave of foreign-based fraudulent applications, which can increase the operating costs of companies who have to spend funds towards legal expenses in policing their trademarks.

Law360 quoted Eric Perrott about the timing of this new rule, and the potential outcome resulting from its enactment:

““The proposal comes at a time when we are experiencing a large influx of questionable and fraudulent trademark applications,”

“They come from a number of places, but particularly from Chinese applicants.”

““When you have all these companies that are throwing words together, you need to spend a ton of money looking at these marks, figuring out which are real,”

“You’re going to be able to hold someone accountable if they’re making false claims.”

Source: Donahue, B.  “Do Foreign Trademark Applicants Need US Lawyers?”.  Law360.com.  October 23 2018.