Top of Notices Top of Notices   (22)  December 31, 2019 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1469 CNOG  52 

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, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100)
(22)     Closing of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
        on Monday, January 25, 2016, and Tuesday, January 26, 2016

   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, January 25, 2016, and Tuesday, January
26, 2016, the USPTO will consider Monday, January 25, 2016, and Tuesday,
January 26, 2016, 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, January 25, 2016, or Tuesday,
January 26, 2016, 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, Wednesday, January 27, 2016 (37 C.F.R. §§ 1.7(a) and 2.196).

   As indicated in the preceding paragraph, the USPTO will consider actions
or fees due on January 25, 2016, or January 26, 2016, to be timely if taken
or paid on the next business day on which the USPTO was open, that is,
Wednesday, January 27, 2016. An actual filing date of January 25, 2016, or
January 26, 2016, was also available under existing procedures.
Specifically, 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.6(a)(2), 2.195(a)(4), and 2.198 provide that
certain correspondence deposited in the Priority Mail Express® 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 accepted" on the mailing label) with the USPS. Thus, any paper
or fee properly deposited in the Priority Mail Express® service of the USPS
on January 25, 2016, or January 26, 2016, in accordance with 37 C.F.R.
§§ 1.10 or 2.198, will be considered filed on its respective date of deposit
in the Priority Mail Express® service of the USPS (as shown by a "date
accepted" of January 25, 2016, or January 26, 2016, on the mailing label).

   In addition, 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- or trademark-related
correspondence transmitted electronically to the USPTO on Monday, January
25, 2016, or Tuesday, January 26, 2016, 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 indicated on the Acknowledgement Receipt.
See the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) § 502.05 and the USPTO
website. Trademark filings properly filed through TEAS, TEASi, and ESSTA
will receive the date indicated in the e-mail confirmation sent at the time
of a successful filing. See the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure
(TMEP) § 301 and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure
(TBMP) § 110.09 regarding electronic filing.

February 10, 2016                                           MICHELLE K. LEE
                  Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
                  Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office

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