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I filed an appearance on behalf of a client and the client, upon
receiving the notification from the USPTO, mistakenly wrote back to
the USPTO (as the email suggested they do) to say they hadn't
authorized it. What I expected would happen is that the USPTO would
do ... something?<br>
<br>
Instead, the PTO said that, because there was not previously an
attorney for the matter, they would recognize me as the attorney.
All correspondence would go to me and if the client had any problem
with that they would have to take it up with me directly. <br>
<br>
Which I suppose is right? But does that mean that if you are
unrepresented, and someone maliciously files an appearance, the
unrepresented owner is expected to sort it out directly with some
malfeasor? I guess the client could then file its own change of
representation form to move it back, but the email sent to the
client (on which I was copied) didn't explain that possibility. <br>
<br>
The client, in their original email to the PTO, did make a
misstatement, which was this: "A brief explanation of your
relationship to the named applicant/registrant of record - We are
not related." I think they read the question as any relationship to
the <i>newly named attorney</i>, not the person's role at the
trademark applicant. So it could be that the PTO's non-response was
because the person who complained said they had no relationship to
the applicant, so whatever was happening was none of their
business. But if that was the reason not to act on the complaint,
the PTO should have said that.<br>
<br>
Pam<br>
<div class="moz-signature"> <br>
Pamela S. Chestek<br>
Chestek Legal<br>
300 Fayetteville St.<br>
Unit 2492<br>
Raleigh, NC 27602<br>
+1 919-800-8033<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:pamela@chesteklegal.com">pamela@chesteklegal.com</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.chesteklegal.com">www.chesteklegal.com</a><br>
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