Top of Notices Top of Notices   (65)  December 29, 2020 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1481 CNOG  111 

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, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113) 
(65)   Relief Available to Patent and Trademark Applicants, Patentees
          and Trademark Owners Affected by the Coronavirus Outbreak

   The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) considers the
effects of the Coronavirus outbreak that began in approximately January
2020 to be an "extraordinary situation" within the meaning of 37 CFR 1.183
and 37 CFR 2.146 for affected patent and trademark applicants, patentees,
reexamination parties, and trademark owners.

Patent-Related Correspondence - Petitions to Revive

   For patent applicants or patent owners who were unable to timely reply
to an Office communication due to the effects of the coronavirus outbreak,
which resulted in the application being held abandoned or the reexamination
prosecution terminated or limited, the USPTO will waive the petition fee in
37 CFR 1.17(m) when the patent applicant or patent owner files the reply
with a petition under 37 CFR 1.137(a). See 35 U.S.C. § 41(a)(7). The
inclusion of a copy of this notice with the reply required to the
outstanding Office communication will be treated as a representation that
the delay in filing the reply was due to the effects of the Coronavirus
outbreak, and as a request for sua sponte waiver of the petition fee under
37 CFR 1.17(m). In addition, the petition under 37 CFR 1.137(a) must
include a statement that the delay in filing the reply required to the
outstanding Office communication was because the practitioner, applicant,
or at least one inventor, was personally affected by the Coronavirus
outbreak such that they were unable to file a timely reply. The USPTO
advises any patent applicant or patent owner who seeks to file a petition
to revive under 37 CFR 1.137(a) with a request to waive the petition fee
under 37 CFR 1.17(m) due to the effects of the Coronavirus outbreak, to
promptly file the petition under 37 CFR 1.137(a) (including the required
statement) accompanied by the required reply (but not the petition fee
under 37 CFR 1.17(m)) and a copy of this notice. The petition under
37 CFR 1.137(a) must be filed not later than two months of the issue date
of the notice of abandonment or the notification that reexamination
prosecution has been terminated under 37 CFR 1.550(d) or 37 CFR 1.957(b) or
limited under 37 CFR 1.957(c) in order to be entitled to a waiver of the
petition fee under 37 CFR 1.17(m). If the patent applicant or patent owner
did not receive a notice of abandonment or notification that reexamination
prosecution has been terminated under 37 CFR 1.550(d) or 37 CFR 1.957(b) or
limited under 37 CFR 1.957(c), the petition must be filed not later than
six months after the date the application became abandoned or the
reexamination prosecution was terminated or limited in order to be entitled
to a waiver of the petition fee under 37 CFR 1.17(m). A petition to revive
under 37 CFR 1.137(a) due to the effects of the Coronavirus outbreak may be
submitted via EFS-Web using document code PET.RELIEF or by mail directed to
Mail Stop Petition, Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria,
VA 22313-1450.

   If the provisions set forth in the notice do not apply, relief may be
available on petition to the USPTO. The specific type of petition would
depend on the facts of the situation and the relief sought.

Patent-Related Correspondence - Contact Information

   Patent-related inquiries concerning this notice may be directed to the
Office of Patent Legal Administration at (571) 272-7704 ((571) 272-7703 for
reexamination), or by e-mail to PatentPractice@uspto.gov.

Trademark-Related Correspondence

   For trademark applications and registrations that were abandoned or
canceled/expired due to inability to timely respond to a trademark-related
Office communication as a result of the effects of the Coronavirus
outbreak, the USPTO will waive the petition fee (set by regulation, rather
than statute) to revive the abandoned application or reinstate the
Top of Notices Top of Notices   (65)  December 29, 2020 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1481 CNOG  112  

canceled/expired registration. For abandoned applications, the Trademark
Electronic Application System (TEAS) "Petition to Revive Abandoned
Application" form should be used. For canceled/expired registrations, the
TEAS "Petition to the Director" form should be used. In all cases, the
petition must include a statement explaining how the failure to respond to
the Office communication was due to the effects of the Coronavirus
outbreak. The petition must be filed not later than two months of the
issue date of the notice of abandonment or cancellation. 37 CFR 2.66(a)(1),
2.146(d)(1). If the applicant or registrant did not receive a notice of
abandonment or cancellation, the petition must be filed not later than six
months after the date the trademark electronic records system indicates
that the application is abandoned or the registration is canceled/expired.
37 CFR 2.66(a)(2), 2.146(d)(2).

   Trademark-related inquiries concerning this notice may be directed to
the Trademark Office of Petitions by telephone at (571) 272-8950, or by
e-mail at TMPolicy@uspto.gov.

General Information Regarding Patent-Related and Trademark-Related
Statutory Time Periods and Requirements

   This notice does not grant waivers or extensions of dates or
requirements set by statute. Note, the following patent-related time
periods are not extendable by petition: (1) the period set forth in
35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) to file a nonprovisional patent application claiming
the benefit of a prior-filed foreign application; (2) the period set forth
in 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) during which a nonprovisional application claiming
the benefit of a prior filed provisional application must be filed in order
to obtain benefit of the provisional application's filing date; (3) the
copendency requirement of 35 U.S.C. § 120 between a parent application
which issues as a patent and a later filed child application, which
requires that the child application be filed prior to issuance of the
parent application; (4) the three-month time period to pay the issue fee
set forth in 35 U.S.C. § 151; and (5) the 35 U.S.C. § 304 two-month time
period from the date of patentee service, for a requester to file, in an
ex parte reexamination, a reply to a statement filed by the patentee. The
following statutory trademark-related time periods are not extended and
statutory fees are not waived:  (1) the 36-month period set forth in
15 U.S.C. § 1051(d) within which a statement of use must be filed and the
associated fee(s); (2) the periods set forth in 15 U.S.C. §§ 1058, 1141(k)
for filing affidavits of continued use or excusable nonuse and the
associated fee(s); (3) the period set forth in 15 U.S.C. § 1059 for filing
a renewal and the associated fee(s); and (4) the periods set forth in
15 U.S.C. §§ 1063 and 1064 for filing an opposition or cancellation
proceeding at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

March 31, 2020                                                 Andrei Iancu
                  Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
                  Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office

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