Patent Law

"Advisory (9JAN2009): January 19-20, 2009 are Federal holidays within the District of Columbia, under 35 U.S.C. 21(b) because January 19, 2009 is Martin Luther King, Jr?s birthday and January 20, 2009 is Inauguration Day. Any action or fee due on January 17-20, 2009, is to be considered timely if the action is taken, or the fee paid, on the next succeeding business day (January 21, 2009) which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or a Federal holiday. See MPEP 710.05 [and TMEP 308] for more information. The Electronic Business Center (EBC) will be closed on January 19-20, 2009? EFS-Web will be available on January 19-20, 2009."

In addition to this notice, the USPTO made available a corresponding announcement substantially similar to the foregoing but also including the following business-related information:

"Correspondence deposited in the Express Mail Service of the United States Postal Service (USPS) will be considered filed on the date of deposit (as shown by the "date-in" on the Express Mail mailing label) with the USPS. Any paper or fee properly deposited in the Express Mail Service of the USPS on Monday, January 19, 2009, or Tuesday, January 20, 2009, will be considered filed on its respective date of deposit in the Express Mail Service of the USPS (as shown by a "date-in" of January 19, 2009, or January 20, 2009, on the Express Mail mailing label, respectively)."

In addition,

"Patent and trademark-related correspondence transmitted electronically to the USPTO will be considered filed in the USPTO on the date the USPTO received the electronic transmission. Any patent and/or trademark-related correspondence transmitted electronically to the USPTO on Monday, January 19, 2009, or Tuesday, January 20, 2009, will be considered filed in the USPTO on the date the USPTO received the complete electronic transmission. Correspondence successfully received by the USPTO through the patent Electronic Filing System (EFS-Web) will receive the date as indicated on the Acknowledgment Receipt."

USPTO Announcement: LINK
35 U.S.C. § 21: LINK
MPEP § 710.05: LINK
TMEP § 308: LINK