1205.02(b) Request to Divide When Notice of Appeal is Submitted on Paper due to ESTTA Technical Problems or Extraordinary Circumstances
The following information applies in the rare circumstances when a notice of appeal is filed as a paper submission, because ESTTA is unavailable due to technical problems, or when extraordinary circumstances are present, and a request to divide is also filed. An applicant that files a request to divide or that has pending a request to divide at the time it files its notice of appeal should advise the Board of the request to divide in the notice of appeal.
If the applicant files with the notice of appeal or has pending at the time the appeal is filed only a request to divide, the Board will institute the appeal if the written explanation for paper filing is acceptable, suspend proceedings in it, and forward the application to the ITU/Divisional Unit of the Office for action on the request to divide. If the appeal applies to only one of the applications resulting from the division, then after the request to divide has been processed the application for which no appeal has been filed will be forwarded to the examining attorney for appropriate action, while the application to which the appeal applies will be returned to the Board. The Board will then resume proceedings in the appeal with respect to that application, and allow the applicant 60 days in which to submit its appeal brief. If the appeal applies to both applications, the Board will resume action in the appeals with respect to both applications. In the latter situation, the Board may consolidate the appeals.
If the applicant files a request to divide as well as a request for reconsideration/amendment with its notice of appeal (or if these requests are pending with the examining attorney at the time the notice of appeal is filed), the Board will institute the appeal if the written explanation for paper filing is acceptable, suspend proceedings in it, and remand the application to the examining attorney to arrange for processing of the request to divide and then to decide the request for reconsideration/amendment in the same procedure that is followed for any request for reconsideration or amendment. See TBMP § 1204 and TBMP § 1205. If registrability is not found on the basis of these documents, the examining attorney will return to the Board the application or applications containing the class or classes for which the appeal has been instituted. As for the application containing the class or classes for which no timely appeal was filed, unless the examining attorney issues a new final action with respect to that application, the applicant may not subsequently submit a notice of appeal.