United States Patent and Trademark Office OG Notices: 20 July 2004

                         Closing of the United States
                        Patent and Trademark Office on
                             Friday, June 11, 2004

   In view of the official closing of the Federal Government
offices in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, including the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), on Friday, June 11, 2004,
the day proclaimed by President Bush as a National Day of Mourning, the
United States Patent and Trademark Office will consider Friday, June
11, 2004, a "Federal holiday within the District of Columbia" under
35 U.S.C. 21 and 37 C.F.R. 1.6, 1.7, 1.9, 2.2(d), 2.195, and
2.196. Any action or fee due on Friday, June 11, 2004, 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 is paid, on the
next succeeding business day on which the USPTO was open, that is,
Monday, June 14, 2004.

   37 C.F.R. 1.6(a)(2) and 2.195(a)(4) provide that correspondence
deposited as Express Mail in accordance with 37 C.F.R. 1.10 or 2.198 will
be considered as filed on the date of deposit with the United States Postal
Service (USPS). Thus, any paper or fee properly deposited in accordance
with 37 C.F.R. 1.10 or 2.198 with the Express Mail service of the USPS on
Friday, June 11, 2004 (that is, as shown by a "date-in" of Friday,
June 11, 2004, on the Express Mail mailing label) will be considered filed
in the USPTO on its date of deposit in the Express Mail service of the
USPS. 37 C.F.R. 2.195(a)(2) provides that trademark-related correspondence
transmitted electronically to the USPTO will be considered filed in the
USPTO on the date the USPTO receives the electronic transmission. Thus,
trademark-related correspondence transmitted electronically on Friday,
June 11, 2004, will be considered filed in the USPTO on the date the
USPTO received the electronic transmission. Correspondence successfully
received by the USPTO through the patent Electronic Filing System will
receive the date as indicated on the Acknowledgment Receipt.

                                                               JON W. DUDAS
                                                  Acting Under Secretary of
                                     Commerce for Intellectual Property and
                                                     Acting Director of the
                                  United States Patent and Trademark Office