The Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on April 28, 2020 signed a Notice of Extended Waiver for certain deadlines associated with trademark-related filings, if the missed deadline resulted from situations relating to COVID-19. Due dates between March 27 and May 31, 2020 are extended until June 1, 2020. The order supersedes a previous order dated March 13, 2020 and includes the same list of applicable filings as follows:
- Response to Office action or notice of appeal;
- Statement of use or extension of time for same;
- Notice of opposition or extension of time to file a notice of opposition;
- Priority filings basis for foreign national or Madrid Protocol trademarks;
- Affidavit of use or excusable nonuse; and
- Renewal application.
Any delay in filing or payment caused by the COVID-19 outbreak for a practitioner, applicant, registrant, or other related person associated who was personally affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, through office closures, cash flow interruptions, inaccessibility of files or other materials, travel delays, personal or family illness, or similar circumstances, such that the outbreak materially interfered with timely filing or payment, will be covered by the extension.
For all other situations where the COVID-19 outbreak has prevented or interfered with a filing before the TTAB, a request or motion for an extension or reopening of time, as appropriate, can be submitted.
The Office continues to provide relief in the form of a waiver of the petition fee to revive abandoned applications or reinstate canceled and expired registrations. Eligible applications and registrations include those that became abandoned (or canceled/expired) as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
In the meantime, the USPTO is open for the filing of trademark and TTAB documents and fees. The waiver is available only if the delay was due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The full text of the official notice can be found here.
If you have any questions, please contact our COVID-19 Task Force.
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