| 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) |
(23) Closing of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
on Wednesday, February 20, 2019
In view of the official closing of the Federal Government offices in
the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including the United States Patent
and Trademark Office (USPTO), on Wednesday, February 20, 2019, the USPTO
will consider Wednesday, February 20, 2019, to be a "Federal holiday within
the District of Columbia" under 35 U.S.C. § 21 and 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.6, 1.7,
1.9, 2.2(d), 2.195, and 2.196. Any action or fee due on Wednesday,
February 20, 2019, will be deemed as timely for the purposes of, e.g.,
15 U.S.C. §§ 1051(d), 1058, 1059, 1062(b), 1063, 1064, 1126(d), and 1141k,
or 35 U.S.C. §§ 119, 120, 133, and 151, if the action is taken, or the fee
paid, on the next succeeding business day on which the USPTO was open, that
is, Thursday, February 21, 2019 (37 C.F.R. §§ 1.7(a) and 2.196), no later
than 11:59 pm EST.
As indicated in the preceding paragraph, the USPTO will consider
actions or fees due on Wednesday, February 20, 2019, to be timely if taken
or paid on the next business day on which the USPTO was open, that is,
Thursday, February 21, 2019. An actual filing date of Wednesday,
February 20, 2019, also was available under existing procedures.
Specifically, 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.6(a)(2), 2.195(a)(4), 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 C.F.R.
§§ 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 Wednesday, February 20, 2019, in accordance with 37 C.F.R.
§§ 1.10 or 2.198, will be deemed filed on Wednesday, February 20, 2019
(as shown by a "date accepted" of Wednesday, February 20, 2019, 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 or mailing or
transmission in accordance with 37 C.F.R. § 1.8 and 2.197, see MPEP § 512
and TMEP § 305.02, respectively.
In addition, 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.6(a)(4) and 2.195(a)(2) 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 Wednesday,
February 20, 2019, 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 Electronic Filing System (EFS-Web) and
filed in compliance with the EFS-Web Legal Framework will receive the date
indicated on the Acknowledgement Receipt. See MPEP § 502.05 and the USPTO
website. Trademark filings properly filed through TEAS, TEASi, and ESTTA
will receive the date indicated in the e-mail 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 1, 2019 ANDREI IANCU
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
[1460 OG 262]
Top of Notices (23) December 26, 2023