The 2020 Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC) Annual Report is now available online.
The report includes information on trademark policies, goals, performance, budget, and fees. TPAC prepares the report to be transmitted to the President, Secretary of Commerce, and the judiciary committees of the Senate and House of Representatives within 60 days following the end of each fiscal year.
To learn more about TPAC, please visit the TPAC page on the USPTO website.
The 2020 Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) Annual Report is now available online.
The report includes information on patent policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees. PPAC prepares the report to be transmitted to the President, Secretary of Commerce, and the judiciary committees of the Senate and House of Representatives within 60 days following the end of each fiscal year.
To learn more about PPAC, please visit the PPAC page on the USPTO website.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) requests your feedback on three newly issued Federal Register Notices.
State sovereign immunity
The Sovereign Immunity Study notice is intended to aid the USPTO in the preparation of a report requested by Congress on the extent to which trademark and patent rights holders experience infringement by states and state entities without the availability of adequate state law remedies and on the extent to which that infringement may be based on intentional or reckless conduct.
Comments close on December 21, 2020.
Secondary infringement liability in e-commerce
The Secondary Trademark Infringement Liability in the E-Commerce Setting notice requests stakeholder input on changing how secondary infringement liability standards are applied to e-commerce platforms.
Your feedback will help the USPTO make recommendations to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on ways to address the problems of online counterfeiting. Comments close on December 28, 2020.
National consumer awareness campaign on counterfeiting
The Development of a National Consumer Awareness Campaign on Combating the Trafficking in Counterfeit and Pirated Products notice seeks information from stakeholders on developing a national consumer awareness campaign between public and private sectors to educate consumers about the risks of counterfeit and pirated goods.
Your feedback will help the USPTO make recommendations to the DHS about developing the national consumer awareness campaign. Comments close on January 4, 2021.
The Office of Education at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) hosts a monthly virtual professional development workshop for K-12 educators interested in integrating intellectual property (IP), innovation, and invention activities into their STEM/STEAM curriculum.
Educators will learn about different types of IP including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.
Sessions will be held on the last Tuesday of each month from 6:00pm to 7:30pm ET.
To attend this
workshop click here. To learn more about the USPTO Office of Education, please visit USPTO Kids or contact education@uspto.gov.
Federal Register
Vol. 85, No. 223
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
PROPOSED RULES
Request for Comments:
Discretion to Institute Trials Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board,
Register today to join the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Israel Patent Office (ILPO) for a webinar on current developments in trademarks at the two national intellectual property offices. Speakers will include Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, and Ofir Alon, ILPO Director. Senior trademark officials from both offices will also speak.
This free program will take place Thursday, December 3, from 10-11:30 a.m. ET. For more information and to register, visit the event page on the USPTO website.
Federal Register
Vol. 85, No. 222
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Patent and Trademark Office
NOTICES
Development of a National Consumer Awareness Campaign on Combating the Trafficking in Counterfeit and Pirated Products,
The USPTO is extending the time to submit comments in response to the Request for Comments on Discretion to Institute Trials Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. A notice of extension has been submitted to the Federal Register and the Office anticipates it publishing shortly. The new comment deadline will be Thursday, December 3. This extends the original deadline of Thursday, November 19 by two weeks.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is setting and adjusting Trademark and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board fees for the first time in nearly three years through its Final Rule, effective January 2, 2021. This represents the end of a multi-year review and adjustment process.
Consistent with federal fee-setting standards, in December 2018, the USPTO began its biennial review of fees, costs, and revenues, and found that fee adjustments were necessary to address increasing costs and to provide necessary resources for Trademark operations, including implementing the USPTO 2018-2022 Strategic Plan.
In August 2019, the USPTO published a Federal Register notice to announce plans to exercise its fee-setting authority to set or adjust Trademark fees. In September 2019, the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC) held a public hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, inviting members of the public to submit written and/or oral comments on fee adjustments. The TPAC considered the public comments from this hearing, which were made available on the USPTO website. On October 31, 2019, the TPAC provided a written report setting forth the comments, advice, and recommendations of the public and the committee regarding the proposed fees.
The USPTO considered and analyzed all comments, advice, and recommendations received from the TPAC and then, on June 19, 2020, published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding setting and adjusting Trademark fees. The USPTO received and considered comments from the public. Responses to the comments are included in the Final Rule.
More recently, the USPTO also considered the state of the U.S. economy, the operational needs of the agency, and the comments and advice received from the public in determining when to implement the Final Rule. The USPTO made adjustments based on all of these considerations, which is also consistent with the USPTO’s many other efforts to provide various types of relief to stakeholders, including certain deadline extensions and fee waivers. Ultimately, the goal of the USPTO is to ensure not only that businesses and entrepreneurs can weather the economic downturn, but also that they can hit the ground running as it passes.
The overall strategy of the Final Rule is to balance a reasonable and affordable fee schedule with sufficient multi-year revenue to recover the aggregate costs of maintaining the USPTO’s trademark-related operations and accomplishing the USPTO’s trademark-related strategic goals.
The Final Rule enables the USPTO to continue to enhance the quality of trademark examination, achieve optimal examination times, invest in modernizing trademark information technology systems and infrastructure, and provide stability to USPTO operations, even in times of financial fluctuations.
To learn more about the fee changes, please visit the Summary of FY 2020 Final Trademark Fee Rule page of the USPTO website.
Monday, November 16 (7-9 a.m. ET)
USPTO Director Andrei Iancu
Trilateral (USPTO, Japan Patent Office, European Patent Office) Meeting
Impact of COVID and a new vision and framework for Trilateral Cooperation
Monday, November 16 (11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET)
USPTO Director Andrei Iancu
Southern University School of Law faculty and students
Expanding American innovation
Tuesday, November 17 (2-2:30 p.m. ET)
USPTO Director Andrei Iancu
International Trademark Association (INTA) 2020 Annual Meeting
Fireside chat on “Innovation and the Future of IP”
Wednesday, November 18 (5:30-6:30 p.m. ET)
USPTO Deputy Director Laura Peter
Georgia Intellectual Property Alliance
Fireside chat on “The Necessity of Expanding Innovation”
Thursday, November 19 (12:40-1:40 p.m. ET)
USPTO Director Andrei Iancu
Howard University faculty and students
Expanding American innovation
Thursday, November 19 (2-3 p.m. ET)
USPTO Director Andrei Iancu
University of Montana faculty and students
Expanding American innovation
Thursday, November 19 (9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET)
USPTO Director Andrei Iancu
Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) Quarterly Meeting
Opening remarks
Thursday, November 19 (9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET)
USPTO Deputy Director Laura Peter
Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) Quarterly Meeting
Artificial intelligence (AI) remarks
Thursday, November 19 (4 p.m. ET)
USPTO Director Andrei Iancu
The Sedona Conference
Keynote on AI, PTAB, and innovation during COVID
Thursday, November 19 (8-9 p.m. ET)
USPTO Director Andrei Iancu
Colorado IP Inn of Court Meeting
Fireside chat on agency initiatives, Q&A session
Friday, November 20 (11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET)
USPTO Director Andrei Iancu
Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) Life Sciences Committee Annual Conference
Panel on AI, PTAB, and innovation during COVID
All events to be held in a virtual format. Events open to the public are noted with a link. Other events are shared for advisory purposes only. Follow our social media to stay up-to-date with highlights from these engagements and others. Questions from the media can be directed to Press Secretary Paul Fucito at Paul.Fucito@uspto.gov.
Federal Register
Vol. 85, No. 215
Thursday, November 5, 2020
Patent and Trademark Office
NOTICES
Sovereign Immunity Study,
Federal Register
Vol. 85, No. 213
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Patent and Trademark Office
RULES
International Trademark Classification Changes,
Federal Register
Vol. 85, No. 206
Friday, October 23, 2020
Patent and Trademark Office
NOTICES
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and
Approvals: Patent Examiner Employment Application,
Federal Register
Vol. 85, No. 206
Friday, October 23, 2020
Patent and Trademark Office
NOTICES
Substantive Submissions Made During Prosecution of the Trademark Application,
The fee schedule provides information and fee rates for our products and services. For additional information, please call the USPTO Contact Center at 571-272-1000 or 800-786-9199, or visit the PCT fees in US dollars page of the USPTO website.
Are you a trademark attorney who wants to know more about the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) rules covering practitioner recognition, signatures, declarations, and what steps we take when we suspect rules are violated? Register today for our free webinar on November 10, from 3-4:30 p.m. ET, to learn about: