Missed US Patent and Trademark Deadlines Because of COVID-19

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If you miss a deadline in a filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office between now and the end of April 2020, a temporary (30 day) extension of time may apply to allow the late fee to be waived.

In both the trademark deadlines and fees and patent deadlines and fees, the effective date of the extension permitted is March 27, 2020 and ends April 30, 2020.

However, the request for an extension must include a statement that the delay in filing or payment was due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Specifically, it must identify that a practitioner, applicant, registrant, or other person associated with the filing or fee was personally affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, such as, through office closures, cash flow interruptions, inaccessibility of files or other materials, travel delays, personal or family illness, or similar circumstances, so that the outbreak materially interfered with timely filing or payment.

Current petition procedures for requesting extensions generally may be used for these COVID-19 extension requests to revive an abandoned application or reinstate a cancelled/expired registration (pursuant to 37 CFR subsections 2.66 and 2.46). However, for COVID-19 requests, the fees for the petitions are waived.

For Patents, the types of deadlines for which the relief is to be granted are found at:

https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Patents%20CARES%20Act.pdf

For Trademarks, the types of deadlines for which the relief is to be granted are found at:

https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/TM-Notice-CARES-Act.pdf

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