The United States Patent and Trademark Office, as of approximately 10:30 a.m., September 11, 2001, has been closed for official business as a result of an order by the Office of Personnel Management. In the emergency situation of this day, the Patent and Trademark Office will consider September 11 a "federal holiday within the District of Columbia" under 35 U.S.C. § 21(b). Although normally the Patent and Trademark Office does not consider days on which the agency is closed for only part of the day as a federal holiday, it is making an exception for the unusual circumstances of this date. As a result of the closing of public transportation and particular circumstances in the immediate vicinity of the Office, parties are discouraged from coming to the Patent and Trademark Office in order to make filings on September 11.
Any action or fee due on September 11, 2001, will be considered as timely for the purposes of, e.g., 35 U.S.C §§ 119, 120, 133 and 151, if the action is taken, or the fee paid, on the next succeeding business day on which the Patent and Trademark Office is open. 37 C.F.R. § 1.6(a)(2) provides that correspondence deposited as Express Mail in accordance with 37 C.F.R. § 1.10 will be considered filed on the date of its deposit.
11 September 2001
ORIGINAL SIGNED /s/
NICHOLAS P. GODICI
Acting Undersecretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director of the
United States Patent and Trademark Office