ARTICLE
8 October 2013

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) remains open - for now

SF
Spruson & Ferguson

Contributor

Established in 1887, Spruson & Ferguson is a leading intellectual property (IP) service provider in the Asia-Pacific region, with offices in Australia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. They offer high-quality services to clients and are part of the IPH Limited group, which includes various professional service firms operating under different brands in multiple jurisdictions. Spruson & Ferguson is an incorporated entity owned by IPH Limited, with a strong presence in the industry.
Following from the recent political partisanship in the US there has been a shutdown of non-essential government services.
Australia Intellectual Property

Following from the recent political partisanship in the US there has been a shutdown of non-essential government services. While such a shutdown is not without precedence, there is a heightened uncertainty in the present situation about a possible political solution being readily forthcoming. While it is accepted that politics is the art of the possible, the rhetoric from the protagonists remains at this stage further apart than ever.

So far the USPTO remains open and is receiving documents for new and existing applications. However, this is being sustained by extra-ordinary measures, and will not be able to continue indefinitely. The USPTO provided on its website the following notice:

During the general government shutdown that began October 1, 2013, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will remain open, using prior year reserve fee collections to operate as usual for approximately four weeks. We continue to assess our fee collections compared to our operating requirements to determine how long we will be able to operate in this capacity during a general government shutdown. We will provide an update as more definitive information becomes available.
Should we exhaust these reserve funds before the general government shutdown comes to an end, USPTO would shut down at that time, although a very small staff would continue to work to accept new applications and maintain IT infrastructure, among other functions.

While this shutdown should progress in an orderly manner and all rights should be preserved, if you do have a pressing commercial need for any of your matters before the USPTO to be progressed, please contact one of our attorneys as soon as possible.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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