Top of Notices Top of Notices   (23)  December 29, 2015 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1421 CNOG  53 

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, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81)
(23)       Closing of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
                          on Wednesday, March 6, 2013

   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 Wednesday, March 6, 2013, the USPTO will
consider Wednesday, March 6, 2013, 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 Wednesday, March 6, 2013,
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, Thursday,
March 7, 2013 (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 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 of the USPS on Wednesday, March 6,
2013, 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 March 6, 2013, on the Express Mail 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 Wednesday,
March 6, 2013, will be considered filed in the USPTO on the date the USPTO
received the complete 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.

                                                          TERESA STANEK REA
           Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
           Acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office

                                 [1390 OG 49]