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) |
(16) Closing of the United States
Patent and Trademark Office on
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
In view of the official closing of the Federal Governmentoffices in
the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including the United States Patent
and Trademark Office (USPTO), on Tuesday, January 2,2007, the day proclaimed
by President Bush as a National Day ofMourning, the United States Patent
and Trademark Office will considerTuesday, January 2, 2007 a "Federal holiday
within the District of Columbia" under 35 U.S.C. Sec. 21 and 37 C.F.R. Secs.
1.6, 1.7, 1.9, 2.2(d), 2.195, and 2.196. Any action or fee due on Tuesday,
January 2, 2007, will be considered as timely for the purposes of, e.g., 35
U.S.C. Secs. 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 was open, that
is, Wednesday, January 3, 2007.
37 C.F.R. Secs. 1.6(a)(2) and 2.195(a)(4) provide that correspondence
deposited as Express Mail in accordance with 37 C.F.R. Sec. 1.10 or 2.198
will be considered as filed on the date of deposit with the United States
Postal Service (USPS). Thus, any paper or fee properly deposited in
accordance with 37 C.F.R. Sec. 1.10 or 2.198 with the Express Mail service
of the USPS on Tuesday, January 2, 2007 (that is, as shown by a "date-in"
of Tuesday, January 2, 2007, on the Express Mail mailing label) will be
considered filed in the USPTO on its date of deposit in the Express Mail
service of the USPS.
37 C.F.R. Sec. 2.195(a)(2) provides that trademark-related correspondence
transmitted electronically to the USPTO will be considered filed in the
USPTO on the date the USPTO receives the electronic transmission. Thus,
trademark-related correspondence transmitted electronically on Tuesday,
January 2, 2007, will be considered filed in the USPTO on the date the USPTO
received the electronic transmission. Correspondence successfully received by
the USPTO through the patent Electronic Filing System will receive the date
as indicated on the Acknowledgment Receipt.
February 28, 2007 JON W. DUDAS
Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director of the
United States Patent and Trademark Office
[1316 OG 123]