On July 31, 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a final rule (Changes to the Trademark Rules of Practice to Mandate Electronic Filing, 84 FR 37081) that requires applicants and registrants to file all trademark submissions electronically using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), and to provide an email address for receiving USPTO correspondence, with limited exceptions. In addition, the final rule amends the requirements for specimens, in order to address concerns over fraudulent specimens.
The rule changes are effective February 15, 2020 (Changes to the Trademark Rules of Practice to Mandate Electronic Filing, 84 FR 69330). Since issuing the Examination Guide 1-20 the USPTO received requests for additional clarification. Accordingly, the USPTO issued a revised examination guide, which supersedes all prior guidance.
The revised examination guide can be found here: https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/TM-ExamGuide-MEF-1-20.pdf