The power of attorney is the document everyone remembers to legalize. But a surprising share of foreign IP work turns on corporate documents: proving the applicant company exists, that the signer had authority, or that the company that owns the registration is the same one that changed its name two mergers ago. These documents have their own quirks in the legalization chain.
The Usual Suspects
- Certificate of incorporation / registration. Requested when a foreign office wants proof the applicant exists as a legal entity. Issued by the state of incorporation, which matters: the apostille must come from that state's Secretary of State, regardless of where your company operates.
- Certificate of good standing. Common in recordals and assignments. These are dated documents — some receiving offices want them issued within the last 3–6 months, so don't legalize one months ahead of use.
- Board resolutions and officer certificates. Prove the person who signed the POA or assignment had authority to do it. As private documents, they're notarized first, then follow the standard chain.
- Name-change and merger documents. Needed to fix a chain of title before an assignment or renewal can record. Often several documents across several states — each routing through its own state's apostille authority.
Why These Trip Filers Up
Two reasons. First, the issuing state controls the routing — a Delaware certificate of good standing can only be apostilled in Delaware, even if every other document in your package is going through Virginia. Second, public and private documents follow different first steps: a state-issued certificate is already a public document and goes straight to authentication, while a board resolution needs a proper notarization first — with the notary statement done correctly for that state (state-by-state reference here).
Building the Package
A recordal or assignment package often means POA + corporate documents + a USPTO certified copy, each on its own path, all needing to arrive together. That coordination is most of what we do. To price a multi-document package, enter the pieces in our free estimate tool, or reach out to our team and we'll help you figure out exactly which documents your associate's request actually requires.
The Patent Place specializes in obtaining certified documents from the USPTO and legalizing intellectual property documents for use in countries around the world.