Patent and Trademark Office Consolidated Notices December 31, 2024 1529 Item cons012

Top of Notices (12) December 31, 2024

US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

Mail Issues, Office Closures, Postal Emergencies, etc.

Referenced Items (1, 2, 3, 4, 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, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126)

(12)     Closing of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
                       on Tuesday, January 16, 2024

   Due to the official, weather-related closing of federal government
offices in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area on Tuesday, January 16,
the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) considers that date a
"Federal holiday within the District of Columbia" under 35 U.S.C. 21 and
37 CFR 1.6, 1.7, 1.9, 2.2(d), 2.195, and 2.196. Thus, any action or fee due
on Tuesday, January 16, will be deemed as timely for the purposes of
15 U.S.C. 1051(d), 1058, 1059, 1062(b), 1063, 1064, 1126(d), 1141g and
1141k, or 35 U.S.C. 119, 120, 133, and 151, if the action was taken or the
fee was paid no later than 11:59 pm ET on Wednesday, January 17, which was
the next business day the USPTO was open (37 CFR 1.7(a) and 2.196).

   An actual filing date of Tuesday, January 16, was also available under
existing procedures. Specifically, 37 CFR 1.6(a)(2), 2.195(b), and 2.198
provide that any correspondence properly deposited in the Priority Mail
Express® service of the United States Postal Service (USPS), in accordance
with 37 CFR 1.10 or 2.198, will be deemed filed on the date of deposit (as
shown by the "date accepted" on the mailing label) with the USPS. Thus, any
correspondence properly deposited in the Priority Mail Express® service of
the USPS on Tuesday, January 16, in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10 or 2.198,
will be deemed filed on Tuesday, January 16 (as shown by a "date accepted"
of Tuesday, January 16, on the mailing label). See the Manual of Patent
Examining Procedure (MPEP) § 513 and the Trademark Manual of Examining
Procedure (TMEP) § 305.03. For correspondence being mailed or transmitted
with a certificate of mailing or transmission in accordance with 37 CFR 1.8
and 2.197, see MPEP § 512 and TMEP § 305.02, respectively. That said,
in general, trademark customers may not submit any trademark filings
through the USPS. With limited exceptions, all trademark correspondence
must be submitted through the Trademark Electronic Application System
(TEAS). 37 CFR 2.23(a). Additionally, in general, Trademark Trial and
Appeal Board (TTAB) customers may not submit any TTAB filings through the
USPS. With limited exceptions, all TTAB correspondence must be submitted
through the Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals (ESTTA). See
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure (TBMP) § 110.

   As for patent-and trademark-related correspondence transmitted
electronically to the USPTO, pursuant to 37 CFR 1.6(a)(4) and 2.195(a),
those papers will be deemed filed in the USPTO on the date the USPTO
received the electronic transmission. Thus, any patent- or trademark-
related correspondence transmitted electronically to the USPTO on Tuesday,
January 16, will be deemed filed in the USPTO on the date the USPTO
received the electronic transmission. Patent correspondence successfully
received by the USPTO through the USPTO patent electronic filing system
(Patent Center) and filed in compliance with the Legal Framework for Patent
Electronic System will receive the date indicated on the Acknowledgement
Receipt. See, e.g., MPEP § 502.05. Trademark and TTAB filings properly
filed through TEAS, the Trademark Electronic Application System
International (TEASi), and ESTTA will receive the date indicated in the
email confirmation sent at the time of a successful filing. See TMEP § 301
and TBMP § 110.09 regarding electronic filing.

January 30, 2024                                         KATHERINE K. VIDAL
                  Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
                  Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office

                              [1519 OG 223]