United States Patent and Trademark Office OG Notices: 27 March 2007

                         Closing of the United States
                        Patent and Trademark Office on
                           Tuesday, January 2, 2007

   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 Tuesday, January 2,
2007, the day proclaimed by President Bush as a National Day of
Mourning, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will consider
Tuesday, January 2, 2007 a "Federal holiday within the District of
Columbia" under 35 U.S.C. Sec. 21 and 37 C.F.R. Secs. 1.6, 1.7, 1.9,
2.2(d), 2.195, and 2.196. Any action or fee due on Tuesday, January 2,
2007, will be considered as timely for the purposes of, e.g., 35 U.S.C.
Secs. 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, Wednesday, January 3, 2007.

   37 C.F.R. Secs. 1.6(a)(2) and 2.195(a)(4) provide that
correspondence deposited as Express Mail in accordance with 37 C.F.R.
Sec. 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. Sec. 1.10 or 2.198 with
the Express Mail service of the USPS on Tuesday, January 2, 2007 (that
is, as shown by a "date-in" of Tuesday, January 2, 2007, 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. Sec. 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 Tuesday, January 2, 2007, 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.

February 28, 2007                                              JON W. DUDAS
                                            Under Secretary of Commerce for
                                  Intellectual Property and Director of the
                                  United States Patent and Trademark Office