[author: Gail Podolsky]

For many years the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has provided the public with free access to its Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval (“TARR”) database. TARR allows users to monitor federal trademark applications and registrations. In addition to TARR, the USPTO provides a Trademark Document Retrieval (“TDR”) database, which allows users to view and download any and all documents contained in the electronic file wrapper for almost all trademark applications and many trademark registrations free of charge.

These databases are extremely helpful as they provide all relevant information on pending trademark applications and registrations, including the identity of the owner of the mark, the corresponding attorney, the goods and/or services covered by the application, the date the application was filed, the date of first use (if applicable), the registration number (if applicable), the registration date, the current status of the registration or application, and a summary of the prosecution history.

In September 2012, TARR and TDR will be deactivated and replaced with a new database called Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (“TSDR”) 2.0. The USPTO has issued the following timetable for transitioning to TSDR:

On September 1st, all existing direct (static) hyper-links displaying TARR information will be redirected to TSDR. On September 8th, all existing direct (static) hyper-links displaying TDR information will be redirected to TSDR. Soon thereafter, the web pages at http://tarr.uspto.gov/ and http://tdr.uspto.gov/ will no longer be accessible.

TSDR will contain the same information as the TARR and TDR databases and will provide some additional features. Most important, TSDR will also be freely accessible to the public. According to the USPTO website, the new features include:

• A new “Assignment Abstract of Title Information” section that allows users to both review trademark assignment details and filter assignment data by conveyance type.
• A TSDR document viewer that allows users to simultaneously review multiple documents (e.g., the Office action and subsequent responses) in separate windows.
• A listing of the application’s notice of allowance date.
• URLs featuring file-specific identifiers (serial number, registration number, etc.) that allow for direct access to specific case data and documents. These direct links to trademark application and registration data will make TSDR 2.0 function more like “old” TARR. Entry of the URLs shown in TSDR into the address bar of an Internet browser will result in the display of the requested status data or documents.
• Hyper-links to “parent” or “child” applications of cases that have divided.

These new features are designed to improve upon the former databases by providing better search capabilities and options. The new database will also make reviewing and printing prosecution related documents faster and easier. Anyone familiar with TDR understands the frustration of trying to view multiple documents in the prosecution history. This new database seeks to resolve this annoyance and provide a more user friendly format for searching and viewing the information it contains.