The spread of COVID-19 has had an immense impact on our global environment. While the impact is great, we are still fully committed to helping our clients protect their intellectual property throughout this tumultuous time, and we will continue to stay on top of matters without interruption.
Questions relating to the coronavirus impact on your intellectual property matters can be directed to [email protected], and to receive our coronavirus email updates, click here.
Extension of Due Dates. The USPTO issued new notices regarding deadline extensions under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The notices are available here. The new notices apply to most patent and trademark matters and serve to extend the COVID-19 relief measures through May 31. To obtain the extension, any covered response or fee payment due within the March 27 to May 31 period must be filed on or before June 1, 2020 along with a COVID impact statement. The statement may be made via a form that is available here. The new notices provide Applicants with the option to get all overdue filings in by June 1, 2020 without being late or incurring any (additional) extension fee.
No Fee Prioritized Examination for Small and Micro Entities for COVID-Related Applications. The USPTO announced on May 8 that it now offers no-fee prioritized examination for patent applications claiming a product or process that is subject to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for use in the prevention and/or treatment of COVID-19. This includes new US applications and existing applications where an RCE request is being filed. Further information is available here and there is now a form for requesting the prioritized examination here.
COVID-19 Intellectual Property Resources
USPTO Form for Obtaining a COVID-19 Extension
Patents and Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) FAQs: Extension of Deadlines under the CARES Act
USPTO Prioritized Examination Program for Small and Micro Entity COVID-19 Related Inventions
Plant Patent Applications Can Be Filed with the USPTO Electronically
WIPO Launches Tool to Track IP Policy Information in Member States during COVID-19 Pandemic
