Patent and Trademark Office December 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) makes corrections to a final rule published on October 14, 2021, that amended the rules of practice to permit higher-capacity physical media to be submitted to the USPTO. This rule fixes typographical errors.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is delaying indefinitely the implementation of the voluntary continuing legal education (CLE) certification. The USPTO anticipates providing at least 120 days' notice prior to any implementation of the voluntary CLE certification.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking comments on its plan to begin issuing electronic trademark registration certificates in the spring of 2022. Upon issuance, the electronic registration certificate will be the official registration certificate. After the USPTO begins issuing electronic registration certificates, trademark owners will have the option to order paper ``presentation'' copies for a fee. They will also continue to be able to order certified copies of their trademark registrations. This notice outlines the USPTO's plan and requests comments from U.S. trademark owners, practitioners, and other interested parties regarding their views about this plan.

The USPTO proposes to amend the patent rules of practice to provide that the receipt date of correspondence officially submitted electronically by way of the Office electronic filing system is the date in the Eastern time zone of the United States (Eastern Time) when the USPTO received the correspondence, rather than the date on which the correspondence is received at the correspondence address in Alexandria, Virginia. This is because the USPTO is expecting to provide physical servers for receiving electronic submissions in locations that are separate from the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. This proposed change will ensure consistency and predictability with respect to correspondence receipt dates as the date of receipt accorded to correspondence submitted electronically will not depend upon the location of USPTO servers. The USPTO is also proposing to amend the patent rules of practice to make other clarifying changes regarding the receipt of electronic submissions, including providing a definition for Eastern Time. These changes will harmonize the patent rules with the trademark rules and provide clarity regarding the date of receipt of electronic submissions.