(197)                       Department of Commerce
                          Patent and Trademark Office

                                 37 CFR Part 2
                        [Docket No. 960621181-6181-01]
                                 RIN 0651-AA89

                Elimination of Requirement for Proof of Service
                 in Consented Requests for Extensions of Time
                        to File a Notice of Opposition

Agency: Patent and Trademark Office,
Commerce. 
Action: Final Rule
Summary: This rule deletes the requirement for proof of service when a
request for an extension of time to oppose registration of a trademark
is based upon a statement that applicant has consented to the request.
This rule will simplify opposition proceedings by eliminating an
unnecessary requirement.
Effective Date: July 15, 1996. This rule will be applicable to all
relevant correspondence filed with the Office on or after the effective
date.
For Further Information Contact: David Sams by telephone at (703)
308-9330, by facsimile transmission at (703) 308-9333, or by mail marked
to his attention and addressed to the Assistant Commissioner for
Trademarks, Box TTAB, 2900 Crystal Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22202-3513.
Supplementary Information: Section 2.102(c)(2), which provides for an
extension of time for filing an opposition under 37 CFR Part 2, is
revised to delete the requirement that proof of service be included in
consented extension requests. This change permits potential opposers to
request an extension of time to oppose aggregating more than 120 days
from the date of publication based on a written statement that the
applicant or its authorized representative has consented to the request.
The Office believes that the requirement for proof of service is
unnecessary when the applicant has assertedly consented to the filing of
the extension request. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board sends a copy
of the request together with the Board's action thereon to the
applicant, which may file a request for reconsideration of the Board's
action if necessary.
   The Patent and Trademark Office has determined that this
revision is procedural and remedial in nature, and this revision is
therefore being published as a final rule. 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A) & (B).
This rule is not a significant rule for the purposes of Executive Order
12866. No notice of proposed rulemaking is required for this rule under
5 U.S.C. 553 or any other law, so a regulatory flexibility analysis is
not required and has not been prepared. 5 U.S.C. 603(a).

List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 2

   Administrative practice and procedure, Conflicts of interest, Courts,
Inventions and patents, Lawyers.
   
   For the reasons set forth in the preamble, and pursuant to the
authority contained in 15 U.S.C. 1123 and 35 U.S.C. 6, part 2 of title
37 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as set forth below:

PART 2 - RULES OF PRACTICE IN TRADEMARK CASES

1. The authority citation for 37 CFR Part 2 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1123; 35 U.S.C. 6, unless otherwise noted.

2. Section 2.102(c)(2) is revised to read as follows:

   2.102--Extension of time for filing an opposition.

*****
   
   (c) ***
   (2) a written request by the potential opposer or its authorized
representative stating that the applicant or its authorized
representative has consented to the request, or 

*****

July 2, 1996                                            BRUCE A. LEHMAN
                                    Assistant Secretary of Commerce and
                                 Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks

                                [1189 TMOG 14]