NAPP is committed to promoting our organization and the NAPP brand, and NAPP encourages members to use NAPP markings in their business to promote their membership in NAPP and their professionalism, for example on business cards, email signature blocks, even NAPP Member websites by linking to the NAPP.org website. The NAPP Legal Affairs Committee drafted, proposed, and the Board has approved, the “NAPP Trademark User Agreement for NAPP Members and Small Firms Qualifying as NAPP Firms” (Agreement) defining the terms and conditions for such usage. (A similar agreement for NAPP Members practicing in association with large firms and corporate patent functions is still forthcoming.)

In particular, there are several definitions you need to be aware of:

• “NAPP Member” includes current, fully paid-up patent practitioner members (including best practices for risk reduction program (BPRR) compliant patent practitioner members), student members, and associate members, as defined in the NAPP Bylaws (as they may be amended from time to time). (For convenience, the present definitions are included as Appendix III along with some explanatory examples; however, the most recent definitions as they appear in the NAPP Bylaws shall control.)
• “NAPP Marks” includes any trademark, service mark, collective mark, and certification mark), registered or unregistered, owned by NAPP, including the marks and registrations referred to in Schedule A and any other mark owned by NAPP and shown on the NAPP.org website, brochures, mailers, or other documents (including electronic documents).
• “NAPP Firm” means a Small Firm (as defined herein) having at least 30 percent of its Qualified Persons qualifying as NAPP Members.
• “Qualified Persons” means individuals who are registered with either a state bar of a US state or the USPTO patent bar.
• “Small Firm” means a firm (including general practice or patent-focused law firms, and patent agent service firms) having from 1 to 10 Qualified Persons.

After accessing and completing the Agreement, please transmit the completed, signed Agreement electronically to our Executive Director, at [email protected], or by regular mail.

Please note: to use NAPP Marks, you must first access them using the “NAPP Trademark Access Procedure” referred to in the Agreement. Please click below to acknowledge you have downloaded and completed the User Agreement and sent it in to the NAPP Executive Director. Only then may you access the NAPP Trademark Access Procedure.

If you have any questions on these procedures, or encounter problems downloading the Agreement or the NAPP Marks for use, please contact our Executive Director at [email protected].

Thank you for your interest in NAPP!