VIRGINIA - As part of the agency's efforts to mitigate threats and protect the integrity of the US intellectual property system, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued sanctions against a foreign filing firm for improperly entering signatures in trademark submissions, a press release stated by the USPTO. 

The USPTO issued a precedential administrative Final Order for Sanctions against Stelcore Management Services, LLC on June 13, 2025. The order sanctions respondents and terminates trademark application proceedings in which respondents improperly entered the applicant and attorney signatures and provided false signatory information as well as false attorney information. 

The order explains that improper signatures made with intent to circumvent the USPTO rules are not correctable and may invalidate the trademark application or registration. The final order shows the harm to the trademark register from improper signatures by concluding that “[f]alse signature information substantially prejudices the USPTO’s ability to carry out its mandate to register only those marks for which the appropriate factual foundation supports registration.” 

The Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) will be updated in November to include this order.