USPTO Announces Further Filing Relief for Small and Micro Entities
Last updated July 2, 2020
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has announced additional relief measures due to the coronavirus outbreak. Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ("CARES Act"), the USPTO has been granted authority to waive fees and extend deadlines ordinarily covered by statutes. Using that authority, the USPTO recently issued a number of notices granting extensions to certain PTAB deadlines and waiving fees for various filings. Due to the continuing challenges caused by COVID-19, particularly to small businesses and individual inventors, the USPTO will be providing further relief.
On June 29, 2020, the USPTO announced that applicants who qualify as small and micro entities for filing purposes will have the opportunity to extend the deadline for the payment of various fees. The extension applies to basic filing fees, search fees, examination fees, issue fees, and maintenance fees that are due to be paid between March 27, 2020 and September 29, 2020. These fees will be considered timely if paid before September 30, 2020 and accompanied by a statement that the delay in payment is due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Additionally, the fee to file a petition to revive a patent application has been waived in certain circumstances due to a failure to timely file or submit a fee payment. Such petitions must be filed by July 31, 2020, and are also required to be accompanied by a statement that the delay in payment is due to the COVID-19 outbreak
The full text of the USPTO statement can be found here.
For more information relating to this announcement or to patent priority claims, please contact one of the authors listed below.
For additional information pertaining to the coronavirus outbreak, please visit CSG’s COVID-19 Resource Center.
This publication contains general information on recent legal developments and is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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