Top of Notices Top of Notices   (13)  December 30, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1409 CNOG  29 

Mail Issues, Office Closures, Postal Emergencies, etc Referenced Items (5, 6, 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, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
(13)       Closing of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
                           on Monday, March 17, 2014

   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), on Monday, March 17, 2014, the USPTO will consider
Monday, March 17, 2014, to be a "Federal holiday within the District of
Columbia" under 35 U.S.C. § 21 and 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.6, 1.7, 1.9, 2.2(d),
2.195, and 2.196. Any action or fee due on Monday, March 17, 2014, will be
considered as timely for the purposes of, e.g., 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051(b), 1058,
1059, 1062(b), 1063, 1064, and 1126(d), or 35 U.S.C. §§ 119, 120, 133, and
151, if the action was taken, or the fee paid, on the next succeeding
business day on which the USPTO was open; that is, Tuesday, March 18, 2014
(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 certain
correspondence deposited in the Express Mail Service (now "Priority Mail
Express") 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" or "date accepted" on the mailing label) with
the USPS. Thus, any paper or fee properly deposited in the Express Mail
Service ("Priority Mail Express") of the USPS on Monday, March 17, 2014,
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 ("Priority Mail
Express") of the USPS (as shown by a "date-in" or "date accepted" of
March 17, 2014, on the mailing label).

   37 C.F.R. §§ 1.6(a)(4) and 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 on Monday, March 17,
2014, will be considered filed in the USPTO on the date the USPTO received
the electronic transmission. Patent correspondence successfully received by
the USPTO through the Electronic Filing System (EFS-Web) and filed in
compliance with the EFS-Web Legal Framework will receive the date as
indicated on the Acknowledgement Receipt. See the Manual of Patent
Examining Procedure (MPEP) § 502.05 and the USPTO Web site at
www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/New_legal_framework.jsp.
Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) filings will receive the
date indicated in the e-mail confirmation sent at the time of a successful
filing.

April 8, 2014                                               MICHELLE K. LEE
                                     Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for
                           Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the
                                  United States Patent and Trademark Office

                                  [1402 OG 107]