| Mail Issues, Office Closures, Postal Emergencies, etc. |
Referenced Items (1, 2, 3, 4, 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, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110) |
(10) Closing of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
on Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Due to the official closing of federal government offices in the
Washington, D.C., metropolitan area on Tuesday, December 24, the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) considers that date a "Federal
holiday within the District of Columbia" under 35 U.S.C. 21 and 37 CFR 1.6,
1.7, 1.9, 2.2(d), 2.195, and 2.196. Since Wednesday, December 25, was also
a holiday, any action or fee due on Tuesday, December 24, or Wednesday,
December 25, will be deemed as timely for the purposes of 15 U.S.C.
1051(d), 1058, 1059, 1062(b), 1063, 1064, 1126(d), 1141g, and 1141k, or
35 U.S.C. 119, 120, 133, and 151, if the action was taken or the fee was
paid no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, December 26, which was the
next business day the USPTO was open (37 CFR 1.7(a) and 2.196).
An actual filing date of Tuesday, December 24, or Wednesday,
December 25, was also available under existing procedures. Specifically,
37 CFR 1.6(a)(2), 2.195(b), and 2.198 provide that any correspondence
properly deposited in the Priority Mail Express service of the United
States Postal Service (USPS), in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10 or 2.198, will
be deemed filed on the date of deposit (as shown by the "date accepted" on
the mailing label) with the USPS. Thus, any correspondence properly
deposited in the Priority Mail Express service of the USPS on Tuesday,
December 24, or Wednesday, December 25, in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10 or
2.198, will be deemed filed on its respective date of deposit (as shown by
a "date accepted" of Tuesday, December 24, or Wednesday, December 25, on
the mailing label). See the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP)
§ 513 and the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) § 305.03. For
correspondence being mailed or transmitted with a certificate of mailing or
transmission in accordance with 37 CFR 1.8 and 2.197, see MPEP § 512 and
TMEP § 305.02, respectively.
That said, in general, trademark customers may not submit any trademark
filings through the USPS. With limited exceptions, all trademark
correspondence must be submitted through the Trademark Electronic
Application System (TEAS). 37 CFR 2.23(a). Additionally, in general,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) customers may not submit any TTAB
filings through the USPS. With limited exceptions, all TTAB correspondence
must be submitted through the Electronic System for Trademark Trials and
Appeals (ESTTA). See Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure
(TBMP) § 110. As for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), in general,
customers may not submit documents in connection with the inter partes
disputes established under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA)
through the USPS. Unless otherwise specifically authorized by the PTAB, all
AIA documents must be submitted through the Patent Trial and Appeal Case
Tracking System. See 37 CFR 42.6(b).
As for patent- and trademark-related correspondence transmitted
electronically to the USPTO, pursuant to 37 CFR 1.6(a)(4) and 2.195(a),
those papers will be deemed 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 Tuesday,
December 24, or Wednesday, December 25, will be deemed filed in the USPTO
on the date the USPTO received the electronic transmission. Patent
correspondence successfully received by the USPTO through the USPTO patent
electronic filing system (Patent Center) and filed in compliance with the
Legal Framework for Patent Electronic System will receive the date
indicated on the Acknowledgement Receipt. See, e.g., MPEP § 502.05.
Trademark and TTAB filings properly filed through TEAS, the Trademark
Electronic Application System International (TEASi), and ESTTA will receive
the date indicated in the email confirmation sent at the time of a
successful filing. See TMEP § 301 and TBMP § 110.09 regarding electronic
filing.
January 7, 2025 DERRICK L. BRENT
Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
Acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
[1531 OG 116]
Top of Notices (10) December 30, 2025