| Mail Issues, Office Closures, Postal Emergencies, etc. |
Referenced Items (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, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119) |
(61) June 2020 Update Regarding Certain Patent-Related Timing Deadlines under
the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and Other Relief
Available to Patent Applicants and Patentees
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recognizes that
the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed significant hardships on many of our
stakeholders. As a result, the USPTO has waived certain fees under existing
authority, through the March 16, 2020 Notice, and has extended certain
Patent and Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) deadlines three times under
the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), through
the March 31, 2020 notice, the April 28, 2020 Notice and the May 27, 2020
notice. As businesses begin to reopen or resume operations, some
stakeholders will continue to require relief, particularly small businesses
and individuals. By this notice, under the CARES Act authority and its
existing authority, the USPTO will extend or otherwise begin to direct
relief as described below. Further, although some relief provided in past
notices is ending, other extensions of time and other relief remain
available to those who need it on a case-by-case basis.
(1) CARES Act Relief for Certain Fee Payments by Small and Micro
Entities:
For small and micro entities only, any:
a) basic filing fee, search fee, examination fee, and late filing
surcharge (37 CFR § 1.16(f), 1.16(g), or 1.492(h)) due in reply to
an Office notice issued during pre-examination processing;
b) basic national fee;
c) issue fee; or
d) maintenance fee;
due between, and inclusive of both, March 27, 2020, and September 29,
2020, will be considered timely if paid on or before September 30, 2020,
provided that the payment is accompanied by a statement that the delay in
payment was due to the COVID-19 outbreak, as defined in the April Notice.
(2) Relief by Petitions for an Extension of Time, Petitions to Revive,
and Petitions to Accept Delayed Maintenance Fees
In addition to the relief in section (1) above, other extensions of time
and other relief remain available to those who need it on a case-by-case
basis. Such requests can be submitted through one of the following
petitions, together with the applicable petition fees (unless waived
pursuant to section (3) below):
a) extensions of time under 37 CFR § 1.136 remain available for
filing replies to Office actions and notices issued during patent
application processing or examination;
b) petitions under 37 CFR § 1.137 to revive an application remain
available if an inability to file or pay patent-related documents
or fees by their due date has resulted in the abandonment of an
application or termination or limiting of prosecution in a
reexamination proceeding; and
c) petitions under 37 CFR § 1.378 to accept a delayed maintenance
payment remain available if a maintenance fee has not been paid by
its due date.
(3) Waiver of the Petition to Revive Fee
As explained in the April 28, 2020 notice, and extended in the May 27,
2020 notice, the USPTO has waived the fee for petitions to revive for
patent applicants or patent owners who, because of the COVID-19 outbreak,
were unable to timely submit a filing or payment such that the application
became abandoned or the reexamination prosecution became terminated or
limited. By this notice, the USPTO requires that all such petitions to
waive the petition fee in 37 CFR § 1.17(m) be filed by July 31, 2020.
 Top of Notices (61) December 28, 2021 |
US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE |
1493 CNOG 98 |
The notice entitled "May 2020 Update Regarding Certain Patent-Related
Timing Deadlines under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security
Act and Other Relief Available to Applicants, Patent Owners, and Others,"
published May 27, 2020, did not specify a time limit within which a
petition under 37 CFR § 1.137(a) must be filed to be eligible for the
waiver of the petition fee in 37 CFR § 1.17(m). This notice supersedes the
May notice to the extent that any petition under 37 CFR § 1.137(a) must be
filed by July 31, 2020, to be eligible for the waiver of the petition fee
in 37 CFR § 1.17(m).
(4) PTAB
For proceedings before the PTAB, a request for an extension of time
where the COVID-19 outbreak has prevented or interfered with a filing
before the PTAB can be made by contacting the PTAB at (571) 272-9797 or by
email at Trials@uspto.gov (for AIA trials),
PTAB_Appeals_Suggestions@uspto.gov (for PTAB appeals), or
InterferenceTrialSection@uspto.gov (for interferences).
Comments and Contact Information
The USPTO recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impose
various hardships, especially on small businesses and individuals, and will
continue to evaluate the evolving situation around the COVID-19 outbreak
and the impact on the USPTO's operations and stakeholders. At this time,
however, the USPTO does not anticipate any further broad-based extensions
beyond what is outlined in this Notice.
Comments and patent-related inquiries concerning this notice may be sent
by email to Covid19PatentsRelief@uspto.gov. If email submission of comments
is not feasible due to a lack of access to a computer and/or the internet,
please call the Office of Patent Legal Administration at 571-272-7704 for
special instructions.
June 29, 2020 ANDREI IANCU
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
[1476 OG 182]