a section in the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) “Response to Office Action” form and “Request for Reconsideration after Final Action” form that requires the signature of a proper party. This section must be signed if you want to submit a declaration to verify a statement or assurance in your response. For example, when you file a substitute specimen, the USPTO requires a declaration to verify or attest to the statement that the specimen was in use in commerce at least as early as the application filing date, prior to the amendment to allege use filing date, or prior to the expiration of the deadline for filing a statement of use. If you want to submit a declaration, these TEAS online forms require two signatures – one in the “Declaration Signature” section and one in the “Response Signature” section. For the definition of a “Response Signature,” please see elsewhere in this glossary.
Only certain persons can sign the “Declaration Signature” section in these TEAS forms. If you are an individual applicant (that is, you are not a legally-organized business such as a partnership or corporation), the following are people who may sign your verified statement or assurances: (1) you; (2) someone with firsthand knowledge of the facts and actual or implied authority to act on your behalf; or (3) your attorney, if you are represented by one, who must be authorized to practice before the USPTO. If you are not an individual applicant, the following are people who are properly authorized to sign on your behalf: (1) someone with legal authority to bind a juristic applicant (e.g., a corporate officer of a corporate applicant, or a general partner of a partnership applicant); (2) someone with firsthand knowledge of the facts and actual or implied authority to act on your behalf; or (3) your attorney, if you are represented by one, who must be authorized to practice before the USPTO.