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Mail Issues, Office Closures, Postal Emergencies, etc. Referenced Items (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, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124) 
(63)   Notice of the United States Patent and Trademark Office's COVID-19
         Outbreak Relief Relating to Restoring the Right of Priority or
                       Benefit to Patent Applicants

   On March 13, 2020, the President declared a national emergency under the
National Emergencies Act as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Subsequently, the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO) determined that the emergency prejudiced the rights of applicants,
patent owners, or others appearing before the USPTO in patent matters and
may have prevented them from filing documents or fees with the Office. The
Director also determined that the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak have
created an extraordinary situation for affected patent applicants and
patentees. Therefore, pursuant to subsection 12004(a) of the Coronavirus
Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and 37 CFR § 1.183, the
USPTO is extending the time period for petitioning for certain rights of
priority or benefit and waiving the associated petition fee.

Restoration of the Right of Priority to or Benefit of a Prior-Filed
Application

   Ordinarily, if an applicant seeks to claim priority to or benefit of a
prior-filed foreign or provisional application, the application seeking
priority or benefit must be filed within 12 months (or 6 months in the case
of a design application claiming foreign priority) of the prior-filed
application. After this period expires, the patent laws permit an applicant
two more months to file an application seeking priority or benefit in order
to be able to petition for restoration of the right to claim priority to or
benefit of a prior-filed foreign or provisional application under
37 CFR § 1.55(c) or 1.78(b), if the delay in filing the application seeking
priority or benefit was unintentional. See Manual of Patent Examining
Procedure 211.01(a) and 213.03. The petition fee under 37 CFR § 1.17(m) is
required for a petition under 37 CFR § 1.55(c) or 1.78(b).

   Pursuant to subsection 12004(a) of the CARES Act and 37 CFR § 1.183, the
USPTO provides the following additional relief:

Nonprovisional Applications and 35 U.S.C. §§ 119(a) and 172

   For any nonprovisional application seeking priority of a prior-filed
foreign application for which the 12-month time period under
35 U.S.C. § 119(a) (or 6-month time period under 35 U.S.C. § 172) ended
between, and inclusive of both, March 27, 2020, and July 30, 2020, the
USPTO will:

   1) Permit the two-month time period under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) for
      restoring the right of priority to a foreign application to run until
      the later of:
      a) July 31, 2020; or
      b) the expiration of the two-month period set forth in
         35 U.S.C. § 119(a); and
   2) Waive the petition fee in 37 CFR § 1.17(m) for a petition under
      37 CFR § 1.55(c);

   provided that the application seeking priority of a prior-filed foreign
application is accompanied by a petition under 37 CFR § 1.55(c) and a
statement that the failure to timely file the application was due to the
COVID-19 outbreak as defined in the USPTO's notice of April 28, 2020.

Nonprovisional Applications and 35 U.S.C. § 119(e)

   For any nonprovisional application seeking benefit of a prior-filed
provisional application for which the 12-month time period under
35 U.S.C. § 119(e) ended between, and inclusive of both, March 27, 2020,
and July 30, 2020, the USPTO will:
Top of Notices Top of Notices   (63)  December 27, 2022 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1505 CNOG  105  

   1) Permit the two-month time period under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) for
      restoring the benefit of a provisional application to run until the
      later of:
      a) July 31, 2020; or
      b) the expiration of the two-month period set forth in
         35 U.S.C. § 119(e); and
   2) Waive the petition fee in 37 CFR § 1.17(m) for a petition under
      37 CFR § 1.78(b);

   provided that the application seeking benefit of a prior-filed
provisional application is accompanied by a petition under 37 CFR § 1.78(b)
and a statement that the failure to timely file the application was due to
the COVID-19 outbreak as defined in the USPTO's notice of April 28, 2020.

International Applications

   The USPTO will waive the petition fee in 37 CFR § 1.17(m) for a petition
under 37 CFR § 1.452 to restore the right of priority for which the time
period for filing the international application ended between, and
inclusive of both, March 27, 2020, and July 30, 2020, provided that the
application:

   1) is filed within the two-month period set forth in 37 CFR § 1.452; and
   2) is accompanied by a petition under 37 CFR § 1.452 and a statement
      that failure to timely file the international application was due to
      the COVID-19 outbreak as defined in the USPTO's notice of April 28,
      2020.

   The USPTO strongly encourages patent applicants to file documents and
fees via the USPTO patent electronic filing systems (EFS-Web or Patent
Center). Patent applicants who file a petition under 37 CFR § 1.55(c),
1.78(b), or 1.452 in accordance with this notice and use the USPTO patent
electronic filing systems (EFS-Web or Patent Center) should use document
code PET.RELIEF for the petition. In addition, the USPTO highly recommends
using form PTO/SB/449 titled "Statement of Delay Due to COVID-19 Outbreak"
to make the required statement that the delay in filing was due to the
COVID-19 outbreak. Form PTO/SB/449 is available at https://www.uspto.gov/
patent/forms/forms-patent-applications-filed-or-after-september-16-2012.

Comments and Contact Information

   Comments and patent-related inquiries concerning this notice may be sent
by email to Covid19PatentsRelief@uspto.gov. If email submission of comments
is not feasible due to a lack of access to a computer and/or the internet,
please call the Office of Patent Legal Administration at 571-272-7704 for
special instructions.

June 11, 2020                                                  ANDREI IANCU
                  Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
                  Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office

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