Although our system may still be working the day of your deadline, you might not be able to access a specific form or pay your fee online. Use this page to learn how to file your trademark documents and pay your fee if you can’t do so online and today is your deadline.
If you need help determining if any of these situations apply to you, contact the Trademark Assistance Center. For patent submissions, see filing patents documents during an outage page.
If you can access the Petition to Director online
You can complete the Petition to Director form and submit your documents electronically. You must include:
- A verified statement, which is included in the petition, about why you couldn’t electronically file using the appropriate form before your deadline
- Evidence showing the appropriate form to submit your filing was unavailable, for example, a screenshot of the error message you’re receiving
- The documents you are trying to file, printed from the form previews page
- An electronic petition filing fee, along with any other fees needed for your documents. In your filing, you may request a refund of the petition fee if you couldn’t file electronically due to a USPTO system error.
We’ll email a filing receipt to you when we receive your documents.
If you cannot access the Petition to Director online
You can file on paper in these limited circumstances:
- Our systems status and availability page shows there is planned maintenance or a USPTO system outage.
- There is an unexpected widespread USPTO outage. You don't need to pay a petition fee in this situation. (This option doesn't include personal technical issues.)
- You’re experiencing a widespread disastrous event.
If you aren’t sure whether you can submit documents on paper because you can’t access our system, and the systems status and availability page doesn’t show an unexpected outage, email our support team for help.
We don’t provide a filing receipt for paper submission. Keep a copy of all documents you sent to us for your records. This includes your paper cover sheet (if you mailed your documents) or, the date-stamped receipt (if you hand-delivered your documents).
You can use the Trademark Status & Document Retrieval (TSDR) system to confirm when we receive your filing. For paper submissions, there may be a delay before you see the filing in our system.
How to submit your documents on paper
If your deadline is today and you can't submit your filing online, you can file on paper. You must include a petition.
We'll consider your submission to be timely files if it's deposited in a U.S. Postal Service collection box on your filing deadline. You must use our cover sheet, to certify that you've filed on your deadline.
The cover sheet also includes a checklist of what you need to submit and information on how to pay your fees. Be sure to:
- Pay the paper petition filing fee, along with any other paper filing fees needed for your documents.
- In your submission, you may include a request for a refund of the petition fee if you couldn’t file electronically due to a widespread USPTO system error or a widespread disastrous event.
- Go to our form previews page to download and complete your trademark documents, including the Petition to Director form. You can complete your forms by hand or type your answers. Don’t forget to sign your forms.
| If you file using: | Then send your submission to: |
|---|---|
| USPS | Commissioner for Trademarks P.O. Box 1451 Alexandria, VA 22313-1451 |
| Hand delivery or courier service | Trademark Assistance Center We accept documents between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays. However, these hours may change during local emergencies or government closures that affect our office. If you’re hand-delivering trademark correspondence after hours, see TMEP section 307. |
Send your documents through the U.S. Postal Service
With this method, your filing deadline will be the day you sign the certificate of mailing on the cover sheet and mail your submission, not the date we receive it.
Send your documents to:
Commissioner for Trademarks
P.O. Box 1451
Alexandria, VA 22313-1451
Hand deliver your documents or use a courier
With this method, your filing deadline will be the day we receive your documents, not the date you sign the coversheet and mail your submission. So, using non-USPS services, such as FedEx or UPS, may result in a later filing date.
Send or deliver your documents to:
Trademark Assistance Center
Madison Building East
Concourse Level-Room C55
600 Dulany St.
Alexandria, VA 22314
We accept documents between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays. However, these hours may change during local emergencies or government closures that affect our office. If you’re hand-delivering trademark correspondence after hours, see TMEP section 307.
Contact us for help
System issues
Our team can help with identifying and solving system-related issues. If you’re unsure whether the reason you’re unable to submit is because of a problem on your end or ours, email our support team. Include the following with your message:
- Your name
- Your telephone number
- Your application serial number or registration number
- A description of your issue, including the name of the trademarks form you are having problems with, for example, a Response to Office Action Form, Request for Extension of Time to File a Statement of Use, etc.
- A screenshot of any error message you are receiving
If today is your filing deadline, include “Filing deadline today” in the subject line of your email.
USPTO.gov account issues
If you have case-specific, password reset, or MyUSPTO questions, contact the contact the Trademark Assistance Center at 800-786-9199 (press 1) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET Monday through Friday (excluding federal holidays). For more information, see our MyUSPTO and USPTO.gov account FAQs page.