United States Patent and Trademark Office OG Notices: 19 October 2004

                New Mailing Addresses for Paper Submissions of
                       Trademark-Related Correspondence

AGENCY: Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office
("Office") is amending its rules to provide for new mailing
addresses for trademark-related correspondence submitted on paper. The
Office is also amending some of the rules that govern the submission of
documents pursuant to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement
Concerning the International Registration of Marks ("Madrid
Protocol") in the United States. Specifically, the Office is:
Removing the requirement that international applications, subsequent
designations, responses to notices of irregularity issued by the
International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization
("IB"), and requests for transformation be filed through the
Trademark Electronic Application System ("TEAS"); limiting the
requirement that fees payable to the IB for international applications,
subsequent designations, and requests to record changes of ownership in
the International Register be paid at the time of submission only if
the document is filed through TEAS; and designating new mailing
addresses for trademark-related correspondence and paper-filed
international applications, subsequent designations, responses to
notices of irregularity, requests to record changes in the
International Register, requests for transformation, and petitions to
the Director to review an action of the Office's Madrid Processing Unit
("MPU").

DATES: Effective Date: October 4, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cheryl L. Black, Office of the
Commissioner for Trademarks, by telephone at (703) 308-8910, ext. 153,
or by e-mail to cheryl.black@uspto.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

New Mailing Addresses for Paper Submissions of Trademark-Related
Documents

   The Office's Trademark Operation, as well as its Trademark
Trial and Appeal Board, are currently housed at 2900 Crystal Drive in
Arlington, Virginia, and Sec. 2.190 requires that all trademark-related
correspondence filed on paper, except for requests to record documents
in the Assignment Services Division and requests for copies of
trademark documents, be sent to that location.

   The Trademark Operation and the Trademark Trial and Appeal
Board are moving to a new facility in Alexandria, Virginia. It is
expected that this move will commence on or about October 4, 2004, and
will be completed on or about November 9, 2004. The Office is therefore
amending Sec. 2.190 to provide for new mailing addresses for all
paper-filed trademark-related correspondence, except for requests to
record documents in the Assignment Services Division and requests for
copies of trademark documents.

   The Office continues to encourage trademark applicants and
registrants to file documents with the Trademark Operation via the
Trademark Electronic Application System ("TEAS"), available at
http://www.uspto.gov, and to file documents with the Trademark Trial
and Appeal Board via the Electronic System for Trademark Trials and
Appeals ("ESTTA"), available at http://estta.uspto.gov.

September 17, 2004                                            JOHN W. DUDAS
                                            Under Secretary of Commerce for
                                  Intellectual Property and Director of the
                                  United States Patent and Trademark Office