| 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) |
(8) Closing of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
on Monday, January 6, 2025, and Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Due to the official, weather-related closing of federal government
offices in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area on Monday, January 6,
2025, and Tuesday, January 7, 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) considers both dates 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. Any action or fee due on Monday, January 6, 2025, or Tuesday,
January 7, 2025, 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 Wednesday, January 8, 2025, which was
the next business day the USPTO was open (37 CFR 1.7(a) and 2.196).
An actual filing date of Monday, January 6, or Tuesday, January 7, 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 Monday, January 6, or Tuesday,
January 7, in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10 or 2.198, will be deemed filed on
Monday, January 6, or Tuesday, January 7 (as shown by a "date accepted" of
Monday, January 6, or Tuesday, January 7, 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 filings may not be submitted through
the USPS. With limited exceptions, all trademark correspondence must be
submitted through the trademark electronic filing system. 37 CFR 2.23(a).
Additionally, in general, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) filings
may not be submitted through the USPS. With limited exceptions, all TTAB
correspondence must be submitted through the TTAB's electronic filing
system. See Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure (TBMP)
§ 110. As for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), in general,
documents for inter partes proceedings established under the Leahy-Smith
America Invents Act (AIA) may not be submitted 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
(P-TACTS). 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 Monday,
January 6, or Tuesday, January 7, 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 their respective electronic filing systems
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 15, 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 236]
Top of Notices (8) December 30, 2025