Top of Notices Top of Notices   (19)  December 26, 2023 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1517 CNOG  54 

Mail Issues, Office Closures, Postal Emergencies, etc. Referenced Items (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127)
(19)     Closing of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
                        on Friday, January 7, 2022

   Due to the closing of federal government offices in the Washington,
D.C., metropolitan area, including the United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO), on Friday, January 7, as a result of inclement weather, the
USPTO will consider Friday, January 7, to be a "Federal holiday within the
District of Columbia" under 35 U.S.C. 21 and 37 CFR 1.6, 1.7, 1.9, 2.2(d),
2.195, and 2.196. Thus, any action or fee due on Friday, January 7, will be
deemed as timely for the purposes of 15 U.S.C. 1051(d), 1058, 1059,
1062(b), 1063, 1064, 1126(d), 1141g, and 1141k; or 35 U.S.C. 119, 120, 133,
and 151, if the action was taken or the fee was paid no later than
11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, January 10, which was the next business day the
USPTO was open (37 CFR 1.7(a) and 2.196).

   An actual filing date of Friday, January 7, was also available under
existing procedures. Specifically, 37 CFR 1.6(a)(2), 2.195(b), and 2.198
provide that any correspondence properly deposited in the Priority Mail
Express® service of the United States Postal Service (USPS), in accordance
with 37 CFR 1.10 or 2.198, will be deemed filed on the date of deposit (as
shown by the "date accepted" on the mailing label) with the USPS. Thus, any
correspondence properly deposited in the Priority Mail Express® service of
the USPS on Friday, January 7, in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10 or 2.198,
will be deemed filed on Friday, January 7 (as shown by a "date accepted" of
Friday, January 7, on the mailing label). See the Manual of Patent
Examining Procedure (MPEP) § 513 and the Trademark Manual of Examining
Procedure (TMEP) § 305.03. For correspondence being mailed or transmitted
with a certificate of mailing or transmission in accordance with 37 CFR 1.8
and 2.197, see MPEP § 512 and TMEP § 305.02, respectively. It must be noted
that, in general, trademark customers may not submit any trademark filings
through the USPS. With limited exceptions, all trademark correspondence
must be submitted through the Trademark Electronic Application System
(TEAS). 37 CFR 2.23(a). It also must be noted that, in general, Trademark
Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) customers may not submit any TTAB filings
through the USPS. With limited exceptions, all TTAB correspondence must be
submitted through the Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals
(ESTTA). See Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure (TBMP)
§ 110.

   In addition, 37 CFR 1.6(a)(4) and 2.195(a) provide that patent- and
trademark-related correspondence transmitted electronically to the USPTO
will be deemed filed in the USPTO on the date the USPTO received the
electronic transmission. Thus, any patent- or trademark-related
correspondence transmitted electronically to the USPTO on Friday,
January 7, will be deemed filed in the USPTO on the date the USPTO received
the electronic transmission. Patent correspondence successfully received
by the USPTO through the USPTO's patent electronic filing systems (EFS-Web
or Patent Center) and filed in compliance with the Legal Framework for
Patent Electronic System will receive the date indicated on the
Acknowledgement Receipt. See, e.g., MPEP § 502.05. Trademark and TTAB
filings properly filed through TEAS, the Trademark Electronic Application
System International (TEASi), and ESTTA will receive the date indicated in
the email confirmation sent at the time of a successful filing. See TMEP
§ 301 and TBMP § 110.09 regarding electronic filing.

January 13, 2022                                           ANDREW HIRSHFELD
                                 Performing the Functions and Duties of the
                  Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
                  Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office

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