New Trademark Assignment Search to Launch

USPTO will deploy a new Trademark Assignment Search system beginning at midnight and ending at 2 a.m., Saturday, September 17 ET.

Trademark Assignment Search is a new application that provides more robust search features, including Basic Search, Quick Look-Up, and an Advanced Search, for trademark assignment search.

Posted at 10:28AM Sep 15, 2016 in Current Status  | 

TEAS, TEASi, and Systems Maintenances

TEAS and TEASi Maintenance

The USPTO will perform maintenance affecting the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) and Trademark Electronic Application System International (TEASi) beginning at 8 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m., Saturday, October 1 ET.

TEAS and TEASi will be unavailable during the maintenance period.

Because portable and e-signature forms allow 14 days for signature, it is important that you be aware of this scheduled outage so that you can plan ahead to avoid additional work. Users should file all recently created portable forms and e-signature forms by 7:59 a.m., Saturday, October 1, 2016 ET. Customers unable to do so will be required to start the process again with updated forms.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding the release, please contact TEAS@uspto.gov (link sends e-mail).

Systems Maintenance

The USPTO will perform systems maintenance, twice.

The first maintenance will begin at 12:01 a.m. and end at 3 p.m., Sunday, October 2 ET.

The second maintenance will begin at 12:01 a.m. and end at 11:59 p.m., Sunday, October 9 ET.

The USPTO.gov Accounts website will be unavailable during both maintenance periods.

The maintenances will cause an outage to Financial Manager and Patent Maintenance Fee Storefront. The maintenances will also cause interruption to payment processing for USPTO storefronts. Users of the following systems should save their work and not attempt to make a payment during the maintenance periods:

• Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS)
• Trademark Electronic Application System International (TEASi)
• Electronic Trademark Assignment Search (ETAS)
• Order Entry Management System (OEMS)
• Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals (ESTTA)
• Patent Trial and Appeal Board End to End (PTAB E2E)

For Patent Customers:

EFS-Web users may pay using the “Current USPTO Payment System” during the maintenance timeframe. See EFS-Web Fee Payment Quick Start Guide (pdf) for more info.

For Trademark Customers:

If your deadline is today and the document requiring a fee payment cannot be filed electronically, you must use an alternative method of filing. Please visit the Outage Page for information concerning Trademark alternative filing methods. Account holders will still be able to pay the required fees via those accounts. In addition, forms that do not require a fee payment can still be filed.If you have any questions, contact the TEAS Team by email at TEAS@uspto.gov.

For TTAB Customers:

If your deadline is today and a document requiring a fee payment cannot be filed electronically prior to midnight, you must submit your filing by mail. This outage does not impact ESTTA forms that do not require a filing fee. Oppositions or extensions of time to oppose § 66(a) applications must be filed electronically.

Systems Maintenance

The USPTO will perform maintenance affecting several systems beginning at 12:01 a.m. and ending at 8 a.m., Sunday, October 9 ET.

The following systems and systems that interface with these systems will be unavailable during the maintenance period:

The maintenance will also cause interruptions to payment processing for users of the Electronic Trademark Assignment Search (ETAS), the Order Entry Management System (OEMS) and the Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals (ESTTA) and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board End to End (PTAB E2E).

For EFS-Web Customers:

During the maintenance period, applicants may file new patent applications, new international design applications and documents and fees for national stage entry under 35 U.S.C. 371 via Priority Mail Express® from the United States Postal Service (USPS) in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10. Applicants may file other documents or fee payments by:

• First class mail with a certificate of mailing in accordance with 37 CFR 1.8, or
• Priority Mail Express ® from UPS in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10.

Please note that filing of a new international (PCT) application or a new application under 35 USC 111(a), except reissue, design or plant applications, other than by the Office’s electronic filing system requires payment of the non-electronic filing fee (37 CFR 1.16(t) and 1.445(a)(1)(ii)) in addition to the other required fees. The non-electronic filing fee is $400 ($200 for small and micro entities). Also please note that an international design application filed in paper may be subject to additional WIPO publication fees.

New patent applications, new international design applications, copies of the international (PCT) application and basic national fee necessary to enter the national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371, and documents that are required to establish the filing date of an application (e.g., a missing drawing figure or page of the specification) cannot be submitted by facsimile transmission, and certificate of mailing procedures under 37 CFR 1.8 do not apply to these documents. Patent correspondence, including new patent applications, new international design applications, and documents or fee payments, cannot be submitted via email.

If you have any questions regarding alternative filing methods, please contact the USPTO Inventor’s Assistance Center during business hours (Mon.-Fri., 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. ET) at 1-800-786-9199. Information regarding filing by first class mail with a certificate of mailing or by Priority Mail Express can also be found in the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), Sections 512 and 513. Applicants are strongly advised to transmit their electronic filings prior to the outage period to ensure that the submissions are correctly completed.

If you have questions, please contact the EBC at 1-866-217-9197 or ebc@uspto.gov.

For TEAS Applicants:

Please be advised that when a filing deadline that falls on Saturday or Sunday, the filing may be made on Monday. Visit 37 C.F.R. §2.196 for more information.

For additional information on filing during system outages, see the Trademark alternative filing methods webpage. If you have any questions regarding alternative filing methods for TEAS/TEASi, please contactTEAS@uspto.gov.

Posted at 09:00AM Sep 24, 2016 in Planned Events  |