Trademark Registration Certificates to Go Digital-Only June 7, Says PTO

The Patent and Trademark Office will discontinue issuing paper trademark registration certificates, making them digital-only beginning June 7, says a notice for Monday’s Federal Register. Public comments the agency received “indicated a strong preference” for issuing the certificates in a “digital format,” it said. Certificates issued digitally will bear the "electronic signature" of the PTO director, plus a digital seal, "which will authenticate the registration," it said. The change will make the certificates “more accessible for trademark owners” and reduce the time it takes to receive them in the mail, it said. It also will promote PTO’s efforts “to positively impact the environment by reducing the use of paper,” it said. Trademark owners who file their initial applications before June 7 will qualify to order one “presentation copy” of their certificates for free once their registrations are approved; others will pay $25 a copy. They’re single-page condensed versions of issued registration certificates, suitable for framing, printed on heavy paper with a gold foil seal, it said.