Notice Concerning Safety of USPTO Mailings

   As has been previously announced, non-trademark communications
mailed from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
before October 20, 2001, were routed through the U.S. Postal Service's
Brentwood Sorting Station in Washington, D.C., where workers are
diagnosed as having contracted anthrax. On October 22, 2001, the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advised us that it was highly
unlikely that mail passing through the Brentwood postal facility was
contaminated and poses any threat. It is our understanding that the CDC
continues to reevaluate risks associated with transmission of mail. For
the most current information on mail safety, please contact the
official websites for CDC and the U.S. Postal Service.

   The Brentwood Station is now closed, and USPTO mailings, both incoming
and outgoing, are currently being routed through another station.

October 25, 2001                                         NICHOLAS P. GODICI
                                                  Acting Under Secretary of
                                     Commerce for Intellectual Property and
                                                     Acting Director of the
                                  United States Patent and Trademark Office