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) |
(12) Closing of the
United States Patent and Trademark Office from
Monday, February 8, 2010, through Thursday, February 11, 2010
In view of the official closing of the Federal Government offices in the
Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including the United States Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO), from Monday, February 8, 2010, through Thursday,
February 11, 2010, the USPTO will consider each day from Monday, February 8,
2010, through Thursday, February 11, 2010, to be a "Federal holiday within
the District of Columbia" under 35 U.S.C. § 21(b) and 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.6, 1.7,
1.9, 2.2(d), 2.195 and 2.196. Any action or fee due from Monday, February 8,
2010, through Thursday, February 11, 2010 (or the preceding Saturday
(February 6, 2010) or Sunday (February 7, 2010)) will be considered as timely
for the purposes of, e.g., 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051(b), 1058, 1059, 1062(b), 1063,
1064, 1126(d), or 35 U.S.C. §§ 119, 120, 133 and 151, if the action is taken,
or the fee is paid, on the next succeeding business day on which the USPTO
is open, that is, Friday, February 12, 2010. 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.7(a) and 2.196.
37 C.F.R. §§ 1.6(a)(2), 2.195(a)(4) and 2.198 provide that correspondence
deposited in the Express Mail Service of the United States Postal Service
(USPS) in accordance with 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.10 or 2.198 will be considered
filed on the date of deposit (as shown by the "date-in" on the Express Mail
mailing label) with the USPS. Thus, any paper or fee properly deposited in
the Express Mail Service ofthe USPS from Monday, February 8, 2010, through
Thursday, February 11, 2010, in accordance with 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.10 or 2.198
will be considered filed on its respective date of deposit in the Express
Mail Service of the USPS (as shown by a "date-in" of February 8, 2010,
February 9, 2010, February 10, 2010, or February 11, 2010, on the Express
Mail mailing label).
37 C.F.R. § 1.6(a)(4) and 37 C.F.R. § 2.195(a)(2) provide that patent and
trademark related correspondence transmitted electronically to the USPTO
will be considered filed in the USPTO on the date the USPTO received the
electronic transmission. Thus, any patent and/or trademark-related
correspondence transmitted electronically to the USPTO will be considered
filed in the USPTO on the date the USPTO received the complete electronic
transmission, even if the USPTO is closed on that day. Correspondence
successfully received by the USPTO through the patent Electronic Filing
System (EFS-Web) will receive the date as indicated on the Acknowledgement
Receipt. Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) filings will receive
the date indicated in the e-mail confirmation sent at the time of a
successful filing.
February 17, 2010 DAVID J. KAPPOS
Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director of the
United States Patent and Trademark Office
[1352 OG 146]