Contact Information for USPTO Customers Affected by Hurricane Katrina Patents
USPTO customers in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina who have questions or problems regarding patent applications or other patent proceedings should contact the Office of Patent Legal Administration at 877-PTO-NORL (877-786-6675) or eugenia.jones@uspto.gov. For questions or problems regarding Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) matters, please contact Craig Feinberg at 571-272-9797 or craig.feinberg@uspto.gov.
The content of and status information for USPTO files of published and patented applications are available on the USPTO web site via public PAIR at http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair. The content of and status information for other applications are maintained in confidence and are available on the USPTO web site only to persons having authority to access the application via private PAIR. Additional information on private PAIR is available at http://www.uspto.gov/main/faq/p120pair016.htm.
Trademarks
USPTO customers in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina who have questions or problems regarding trademark applications or registrations should contact Janis Long at 571-272-9573 or janis.long@uspto.gov. For questions or problems regarding Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) matters, please contact David Mermelstein at 571-272-4292 or david.mermelstein@uspto.gov.
The contents of USPTO files for trademark applications, many registrations, and international applications filed under the Madrid Protocol, are available on the USPTO website at http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/tow. If a party needs a file that is not available on the USPTO web site, the party may e-mail a request to add the contents of that file to the USPTO database to TM_Scanning@uspto.gov.
Status information about trademark applications, registrations and international applications filed under the Madrid Protocol is also available on the USPTO web site at http://tarr.uspto.gov.
Information about TTAB proceedings is available in the TTABVue database at http://ttabvue.uspto.gov//ttabvue.
Patent and Trademark Customers:
United States Postal Service Interruption and Emergency under 35 U.S.C. 21(a) [PDF] (02SEP2005)
Office Actions and Notice of Allowances Previously Mailed to Areas of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi Affected by Hurricane Katrina [signed 15Sept2005] [PDF] (15SEP2005) (This notice supercedes the one that was signed 09/14/05)
Provides notice that the USPTO is withdrawing and re-issuing Office Actions, Notices of Allowance and other Office notices in which a reply to an Office action is outstanding as of September 1, 2005, and has not yet expired, in applications with correspondence addresses from the specified zip codes impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Customers will be able to view the notice in Private or Public PAIR to determine the start date of their new period for reply.
Provides notice that the USPTO will sua sponte waive the surcharge in 37 CFR 1.20(i) for accepting a delayed maintenance fee payment for those patentees who were unable to timely pay a patent maintenance fee due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina and are filing a petition under 37 CFR 1.378(c).
Ethics FAQs for Practitioners in Response to Hurricane Katrina
Provides advice to patent practioners regarding ethics considerations for shared office arrangements and temporary displacement due to Hurricane Katrina (13SEP2005)