T.M.E.P. § 1002.01
Eligible Applicants Under ¤44(e)

Executive summary:

This document contains one section of the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (the "TMEP"), Fourth Edition (April 2005). This page was last updated in June 2007. You may return to one either the section index, or to the key word index. If you wish to search the TMEP, simply use the search box that appears on the bottom of every page of BitLaw--be sure to restrict your search to the TMEP in the pop-up list.

For more information on trademark law, please see the Trademark Section of BitLaw.

Previous Section (§1002) | Next Section (§1002.02)

1002.01 Eligible Applicants Under §44(e)

To be eligible for registration under §44(e), an applicant must meet the following requirements:

(1) The applicant's country of origin must either be a party to a treaty or agreement with the United States that provides for registration based on ownership of a foreign registration, or extends reciprocal registration rights to nationals of the United States (15 U.S.C. 1126(b)); and

(2) The applicant must be the owner of a valid registration in the applicant's country of origin (15 U.S.C. 1126(c) and (e)).

See TMEP §1002.04 regarding the applicant's country of origin, and TMEP §1002.03 and Appendix B for information about how to determine whether a particular country is a party to a treaty or agreement, or provides reciprocal registration rights to United States nationals.

If an applicant does not meet the above requirements, the examining attorney must refuse registration under §44(e). The applicant may amend the application to claim §1(a) or §1(b) as a basis. See TMEP §§806.03 et seq. regarding amendment of the basis.

An applicant domiciled in the United States cannot obtain registration under §44(e) unless the applicant is the owner of a registration from an eligible country other than the United States and the applicant can establish that the foreign country is the applicant's country of origin. See TMEP §1002.05.

See TMEP §§1004 et seq. for additional information about the requirements for registration under §44(e).