The following is an edited transcript of my video What is a Presentation Copy of a Trademark Registration?
One of the recent changes at the USPTO in 2022 was the transition to electronic registration certificates. For any trademark that now becomes registered, the recipient automatically receives an electronic version of the registration certificate, and the USPTO no longer mails out a physical copy.
This concerns me. I’ve previously talked about where the savings in terms of the costs are bring passed along to users and filers, but another concern is that the USPTO now says if you don’t purchase a physical copy, you can order a free presentation copy (free only if your application was already pending at the time of the switch in June, 2022). If your application came along after that, you have to pay a small fee to get the presentation copy.
My concern is that the presentation copy is not valuable. In comparing a presentation copy and an actual registration certificate, it’s not as nice looking and it doesn’t contain all of the same information. It’s missing information about the history of the application, the goods and services that the application is tied to, and other important elements.
I’m a big believer in the value of registration certificates—framing them, hanging them to show your employees and your customers how important your brand is and how proud you are that you’ve protected it. The presentation copy falls a little short in my opinion.
What I recommend is to order a certified copy of the registration from the USPTO, which doesn’t cost much more than the presentation copy, and is a much more complete version of it. Check the USPTO website on how to order a certified copy of your registration.
