Top of Notices (10) December 28, 2010 | US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE | Print This Notice 1361 CNOG 21 |
Mail Issues, Office Closures, Postal Emergencies, etc. | Referenced Items (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) |
(10) Treatment of Correspondence Deposited as First Class Mail Pursuant to 37 CFR 1.8 and Returned by the U.S. Postal Service Due to heightened security concerns, effective September 1, 1996, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is requiring that all domestic first-class mail, bearing stamps and weighing sixteen ounces, or more, be presented to a retail clerk at a USPS office. All such mail that is not presented to a retail clerk at a USPS office (e.g., placed in a mailbox) will be returned by the USPS. The USPS has posted notice of this requirement on mailboxes. The "Express Mail" service of the USPS is not affected. 37 CFR 1.8 provides that certain correspondence will be considered timely filed by the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) if, among other things, it is deposited with the USPS by the due date, and includes a certificate of mailing that sets forth the date the person signing the certificate reasonably expected the correspondence to be mailed. Correspondence must be deposited with the USPS as first class mail in compliance with any and all applicable requirements of the USPS to be considered "[d]eposited with the U.S. Postal service" within the meaning of 37 CFR 1.8(a)(1)(i)(A). Correspondence presented to the USPS in a manner that does not comply with the applicable requirements of the USPS is not "[d]eposited with the U.S. Postal service" within the meaning of 37 CFR 1.8(a)(1)(i)(A) and is not entitled to any benefit under 37 CFR 1.8. To alleviate hardships caused by this change in USPS requirements, the PTO will treat correspondence returned by the USPS because of its size as "[d]eposited with the U.S. Postal service" within the meaning of 37 CFR 1.8(a)(1)(i)(A), so long as the correspondence was otherwise originally deposited with the USPS in compliance with 37 CFR 1.8(a)(1)(i) on or before December 1, 1996. Returned mailed that is either resubmitted to the USPS for delivery, or hand-delivered to the PTO, will be stamped by the PTO with the actual date of receipt in the PTO. The correspondence will, however, be accorded the benefit of any certificate of mailing under 37 CFR 1.8. Correspondence mailed after December 1, 1996, and returned by the USPS as not mailed in compliance with USPS requirements concerning mail weighing sixteen ounces or more will not be entitled to any benefit under 37 CFR 1.8. Because this change in USPS requirements does not affect the "Express Mail" service of the USPS, it does not affect correspondence filed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.10. Persons filing correspondence in a manner other than by the procedures set forth in 37 CFR 1.8 or 1.10 do so at their own risk. Questions concerning this notice should be directed to Senior Legal Advisor Robert W. Bahr at (703) 305-9285. October 10, 1996 BRUCE A. LEHMAN Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks [1192 OG 43]