UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS

                         UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
                          INTERRUPTION AND EMERGENCY

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has informed the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that as a result of the
tragic event in New York City on September 11, 2001, all post offices
in the borough of Manhattan are closed on September 12, 2001. These
post offices will remain closed until further notice.

The USPTO is designating the interruption in the service of the
USPS in the borough of Manhattan as a postal service interruption and
an emergency within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. 21(a). Accordingly, the
USPTO will consider the provisions of 37 C.F.R. 1.6(e) as now in
effect. As soon as the USPTO receives further information from the USPS
as to when postal services in the borough of Manhattan will be resumed,
the USPTO will post the information on the USPTO website at
www.uspto.gov and a final notice will be published in the
Official Gazette regarding the postal interruption in New York City.

It would be appreciated if members of the public would bring to
the USPTO's attention any other post office closings related to current
events. Such information can be brought to the USPTO's attention by
contacting Eugenia Jones by e-mail at eugenia.jones@uspto.gov or
telephone at 703-306-5586, or by contacting Carol Smith by e-mail at
carol.smith@uspto.gov or by telephone at 703-308-8910 (ext 149).

                  UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS
                       RELATING TO EXPRESS MAIL SERVICE

Where the USPS refuses to accept the deposit of mail for delivery by
express mail.

In some cases, due to the recent emergency, certain post offices
are refusing to accept the deposit of mail for delivery by Express Mail
service. The USPTO is also designating this interruption in the Express
Mail service of the USPS as a postal service interruption within the
meaning of 35 U.S.C. 21(a) and 37 C.F.R. 1.6(e). In addition, if a
party attempts to deposit correspondence for delivery to the USPTO with
the USPS by Express Mail under 37 CFR 1.10 ("Express Mail Post Office
to Addressee") and the USPS refuses to accept such correspondence,
the party is advised to take the following action: mail the
correspondence to the USPTO by registered or first class mail with a
statement by the person who originally attempted to deposit the
correspondence with the USPS by Express Mail. The statement must
indicate the date on which the person attempted to deposit the
correspondence with the USPS and that the USPS refused to accept the
correspondence. The statement must be signed in accordance with 37 CFR
10.18. The correspondence should be mailed as set out in 37 CFR 1.1(a)
and include the special box designation: BOX FILING DATE.

Where mail is put into an Express Mail "Drop Box" and given an
incorrect "date in".

In some cases a person may use an Express Mail "drop box"
without realizing that the local post office is not accepting Express
Mail. In that situation, the provisions of 37 CFR 1.10(d) may apply.
Usually 37 CFR 1.10(d) is invoked where correspondence is placed in an
Express Mail "drop box" prior to the last pick up that is scheduled
for the drop box for that day, but the USPS enters an incorrect
"date-in" on the Express Mail mailing label, usually the next day's
date. To invoke 37 CFR 1.10(d), however, a petition must be
corroborated either by evidence from the USPS or by evidence that came
into being after deposit and within one business day of the deposit of
the correspondence in the Express Mail drop box (e.g., a
copy of a log book indicating that the correspondence was deposited on
the date in question). See MPEP 513 and TMEP 702.02(e).

Alternative Procedure Invoking "Extraordinary Circumstances"

If a party can demonstrate that due to extraordinary
circumstances the above procedures could not be followed, it will be
necessary to file a petition under 37 C.F.R. 1.183 (patent matter) or
2.146(a)(5) and 2.148 (trademark matter) to waive the requirements of
37 C.F.R. 1.10 to permit the USPTO to accord the correspondence a
filing date as of the date that Express Mail deposit was attempted.
Such a petition must be accompanied by a statement by the person who
originally attempted to deposit the correspondence with the USPS by
Express Mail, stating the date that the deposit was attempted and that
the USPS refused to accept the correspondence, and be signed by such
person subject to the conditions prescribed in 37 CFR 10.18.

Certificates of Mailing Under 37 CFR 1.8

Parties submitting correspondence to the USPTO are reminded that
37 CFR 1.8 (certificate of mailing or transmission practice) does not
provide for according a filing date as of the date of deposit with the
USPS to correspondence submitted under 37 CFR 1.8. Therefore, it would
be inappropriate to file a petition under 37 CFR 1.183 or 2.146(a)(5)
and 2.148 to waive the requirements of 37 CFR 1.8.

September 13, 2001                                       NICHOLAS P. GODICI
                                                  Acting Under Secretary of
                                     Commerce for Intellectual Property and
                                       Acting Director of the United States
                                                Patent and Trademark Office