United States Patent and Trademark Office OG Notices: 18 July 2006
The Fee under 37 CFR 1.21(m) for Processing a Refused Payment may be Charged to a Deposit Account Authorized to be Charged In the event a payment is refused (including a check returned "unpaid") or charged back by a financial institution, the $50.00 processing fee under 37 CFR 1.21(m) may be charged to a deposit account based on a deposit account charge authorization present in the application file. For example, if the application contains a general authorization to charge all fees, or only certain fees including the fee for which payment was refused or charged back, the Office will charge the Sec. 1.21(m) fee to the specified deposit account. In addition, if the fee paper that accompanied the refused or charged back payment included an authorization to charge any payment deficiency to a deposit account, the Office will charge the Sec. 1.21(m) fee to the specified deposit account. In these situations, the Office may also charge to the specified deposit account the actual fee(s) for which the refused or charged back check or credit card payment was submitted. In the event a payment to replenish a deposit account is refused (e.g., for insufficient funds or due to a stop payment order), the $50.00 processing fee under 37 CFR 1.21(m) will be charged to the deposit account. Note that credit card payments are not accepted for replenishing deposit accounts. See Elimination of Credit Cards as Payment for Replenishing Deposit Accounts, 69 FR 43751 (July 22, 2004), 1285 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 101 (August 17, 2004) (final rule). A registered patent attorney or agent who repeatedly submits payments that are returned unpaid through no fault of the bank may expect to have the matter referred to the Office of Enrollment and Discipline. Questions regarding this notice may be directed to Jusu Jallah at 571-272-7473. MICHELLE PICARD Director, Office of Finance