If you erroneously submitted a document containing personal information or confidential documents other than a driver’s license, social security number, credit card account number, or banking account number that you do not wish to be part of the public record, you may petition the Director of the USPTO to remove it from public view for a fee of $100.00. Trademark Rule 2.25 provides that “documents filed in the Office by the applicant or registrant become part of the official record and will not be returned or removed.” The Director will waive this rule only if the petitioner can provide evidence that an extraordinary circumstance exists that warrants the removal of this information. As noted above, driver’s licenses, social security numbers, credit card information, and banking information may be removed upon an informal written request TMFeedback@uspto.gov. Payments properly made with a credit card, charge card or bank card via the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) are confidential as well as secure, and are never made part of any publicly viewable USPTO record.
The USPTO records must always include the trademark owner’s name and correspondence address and this information may be updated, but not removed. It also may be possible to provide redacted documents to replace portions of existing submissions that may be deemed personal or confidential if that information was not relied on during examination of the documents. Please note that after the USPTO renders a decision on the petition, the fee will not be refunded.
Last, as noted above, all documents submitted in connection with an application or registration become part of the record for that file. Therefore, if your petition is granted, the petition and redacted document will remain in the USPTO records, although the personal or confidential information will be hidden from public view.
You can file your petition through the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS). You should click on the overall “Petitions Forms” category from the TEAS front page and then select form number 3 (“Petition to the Director under Rule 2.146”).