107    How and Where to File Permitted Paper Filings and Fees

37 C.F.R. § 2.195  Filing date of trademark correspondence. The filing date of trademark correspondence is determined as follows:

  • (a) Electronic Submissions. The filing date of an electronic submission is the date the Office receives the submission, based on Eastern Time, regardless of whether that date is a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday within the District of Columbia.
  • (b) Paper Correspondence. The filing date of a submission submitted on paper is the date the Office receives the submission, except as follows:
    • (1) Priority Mail Express®. The filing date of the submission is the date of deposit with the USPS, if filed pursuant to the requirements of § 2.198.
    • * * * *
    • (3) Office closed. The Office is not open to receive paper correspondence on any day that is a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday within the District of Columbia.
  • (c) Email and facsimile submissions. Email and facsimile submissions are not permitted and, if submitted, will not be accorded a date of receipt.
  • (d) Interruptions in USPS. If the Director designates a postal service interruption or emergency within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. 21(a), any person attempting to file correspondence by Priority Mail Express® Post Office to Addressee service who was unable to deposit the correspondence with the USPS due to the interruption or emergency may petition the Director to consider such correspondence as filed on a particular date in the Office. The petition must:
    • (1) Be filed promptly after the ending of the designated interruption or emergency;
    • (2) Include the original correspondence or a copy of the original correspondence; and
    • (3) Include a statement that the correspondence would have been deposited with the USPS on the requested filing date but for the designated interruption or emergency in Priority Mail Express® service; and that the correspondence attached to the petition is the original correspondence or a true copy of the correspondence originally attempted to be deposited as Priority Mail Express® on the requested filing date.

The Board requires electronic filing using ESTTA for all submissions in Board proceedings. However, for those submissions that are permitted to be filed on paper due to the unavailability of ESTTA as a result of technical problems, or when extraordinary circumstances are present, the specific requirements for delivery of such submissions to the Office are set out below.

Documents relating to proceedings before the Board may be filed during regular office hours by hand delivery or by courier service to:

Trademark Assistance Center

James Madison Building - East Wing

Concourse Level, Room C55

600 Dulany Street

Alexandria,VA 22314

Such papers may also be filed by depositing them in the mail addressed to:

United States Patent and Trademark Office:

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

P.O. Box 1451

Alexandria,VA 22313-1451

Documents to be filed with the Board, including a notice of ex parte appeal, may not be filed by facsimile transmission ("fax"). If documents are filed with the Board by fax transmission, they will not receive a filing date. [ Note 1.]

The Board does not accept any filings by email. [ Note 2.] For information on filing submissions using ESTTA, the Board’s electronic filing system, see TBMP § 110.

For information on how to pay fees, see TBMP § 118.

NOTES:

 1.   37 C.F.R. § 2.195(c). See, e.g., Vibe Records Inc. v. Vibe Media Group LLC, 88 USPQ2d 1280, 1283 (TTAB 2008) (facsimile filing of notice of opposition not accepted).

 2.   37 C.F.R. § 2.195(c).