Following CARES Act, USPTO and Copyright Office Directors Extend Certain IP Filing Deadlines
Both the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) and the U.S. Copyright Office have now announced that certain intellectual property filing deadlines and fees will be extended during the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, both Offices have cited special provisions included in the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act enacted last week, which provides the Directors of both Offices with the temporary authority to toll, waive, adjust, or modify filing deadlines.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Temporarily Extends Filing Deadlines
Businesses – currently facing immediate crises arising from the COVID-19 pandemic – may be temporarily distracted from issues that, in more ordinary times, would be important to them, such as protecting and maintaining their valuable intellectual property rights. IP owners, therefore, will be happy to learn that the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill just enacted by both houses of Congress and signed into law by the President will provide a respite to them by temporarily expanding the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) Director's power to extend filing deadlines for both patents and trademarks.