COVID-19: USPTO further extends certain filing and payment deadlines to June 1, 2020 for those affected by COVID-19 outbreak

In a Notice issued April 28, 2020, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) further extended certain filing and payment deadlines to June 1, 2020, provided that the filing is accompanied by a statement that the delay in filing or payment was due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This Notice supersedes the prior March 31, 2020 Notice that offered 30-day extensions to certain deadlines through April 30, 2020.

The USPTO remains open, and filings and payments only qualify for this extension if:

a practitioner, applicant, registrant, or other person associated with the filing or fee was personally affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, including, without limitation, 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.

This extension is available for responses to Office Actions, statements of use or requests for extension, notices of opposition or requests for extension of time to file a notice of opposition, priority filings, transformation of an extension of protection to the United States into a U.S. application, affidavits of use or excusable nonuse, and renewals.

This extension does not apply to matters before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), although those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak may request (in ex parte appeals) or bring a motion (for trial cases) for an extension of time.

The April 28, 2020 Notice also incorporates and supersedes the USPTO’s prior March 16, 2020, Notice, and states that the USPTO will continue to waive its usual petition fees to revive abandoned applications or reinstate cancelled/expired registrations that were abandoned/cancelled/expired on or before May 31, 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Petitions to revive such marks must include a statement that the delay in filing or payment that resulted in the abandonment/cancellation/expiration was due to the COVID-10 outbreak.

By David Byer and Eric Lee