Top of Notices   (86)  December 31, 2019

US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

Print This Notice 1469 CNOG  174

Mail Issues, Office Closures, Postal Emergencies, etc.

Referenced Items (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100)

(86)                    Termination of the Waiver of
                    Provisions of 37 CFR 1.8 and 1.10 for
                       Correspondence Intended for the
                United States Patent and Trademark Office but
                      Addressed to Washington, DC 20231

   Effective on April 4, 2005, the provisions of 37 CFR 1.8 (Certificate of
Mailing) and 1.10 ("Express Mail") will nolonger be waived for correspondence
addressed to the United StatesPatent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Washington,
DC 20231. On May 1, 2003, the USPTO changed its address for certain correspondence
to P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450. See 37 CFR 1.1 and Correspondence
with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, 68 Fed. Reg. 14332 (March
25, 2003), 1269 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 159 (Apr. 22, 2003). To allow applicants
time to become accustomed to the new address in Alexandria, VA, the USPTO
waived the provisions of 37 CFR 1.8 and 1.10 such that correspondence addressed
to Washington, DC 20231 would be treated as acceptable under37 CFR 1.8 and
1.10 for otherwise compliant Certificates of Mailing and "Express Mail".

   The United States Postal Service (USPS) has ceased forwarding to the USPTO
correspondence addressed to Washington, DC 20231.Additionally, the USPTO
will no longer arrange for the delivery to Alexandria, VA of correspondence
addressed to Washington, DC 20231 after April 3, 2005. Thus, after April 3,
2005, all correspondence addressed to the Washington, DC 20231 address will be
returned to sender marked by the USPS as undeliverable. Such mail returned to
the sender by the USPS will not be considered proof of prior filing or mailing
under 37 CFR 1.8(b) or 1.10(e) since the correspondence was not mailed in
accordance with 37 CFR 1.1.

   Pursuant to 37 CFR 1.1, correspondence intended for the USPTO must be mailed
to P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, except as  otherwise provided.

   1. Correspondence intended for the USPTO, unless directed otherwise, must
be addressed to:

        Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
        P.O. Box 1450
        Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

   2. Correspondence in patent-related matters to organizations reporting to
the Commissioner for Patents must be addressed to:

        Commissioner for Patents
        P.O. Box 1450
        Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

   3. Correspondence in trademark-related matters, except documents sent to
the Assignment Services Division for recordation, requests for copies of
trademark documents, and documents directed to the Madrid Processing Unit,
must be addressed to:

        Commissioner for Trademarks
        P.O. Box 1451
        Alexandria, VA 22313-1451

   The above addresses are the USPTO's three general mailing addresses for
mail delivered by the USPS; however, the USPTO has separate mailing addresses
for certain correspondence as set forth in the notice titled "Mailing and Hand
Carry Addresses for Mail to the United States Patent and Trademark Office"
(formerly, "Special Mail Stops For Patent Mail") that is published each week
in the Official Gazette Notices and posted on the USPTO Internet web site.

   Questions regarding this notice may be e-mailed to PatentPractice@uspto.gov,
or directed to the Inventors' Assistance Center (formerly the Patent Assistance
Center (PAC)) by telephone at 800-786-9199 or 703-308-4357.

March 1, 2005                                               JOSEPH J. ROLLA
                                                    Deputy Commissioner for
                                                  Patent Examination Policy

                                 [1292 OG 186]