Top of Notices   (20)  December 26, 2023

US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

Print This Notice 1517 CNOG  55

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)

(20)     Closing of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
                      on Thursday, February 18, 2021

   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 Thursday, February 18, due to inclement weather, the
USPTO will consider Thursday, February 18, 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 Thursday,
February 18, 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 Friday, February 19, which was the next
business day the USPTO was open (37 CFR 1.7(a) and 2.196).

   An actual filing date of Thursday, February 18, 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 Thursday, February 18, in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10 or 2.198,
will be deemed filed on Thursday, February 18 (as shown by a "date
accepted" of Thursday, February 18, 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).

   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 Thursday,
February 18, 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 filings
properly filed through TEAS, the Trademark Electronic Application System
International (TEASi), and the Electronic System for Trademark Trials and
Appeals (ESTTA) will receive the date indicated in the email confirmation
sent at the time of a successful filing. See TMEP § 301 and Trademark Trial
and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure § 110.09 regarding electronic filing.

March 4, 2021                                              ANDREW HIRSHFELD
       Commissioner for Patents, 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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