305.03(e)    Certificate of Mailing under 37 C.F.R. §2.197 for Documents Sent by Priority Mail Express®

The certificate of mailing procedure of 37 C.F.R. §2.197  may be used for documents sent by Priority Mail Express® as well as documents sent by first-class mail.  Correspondence sent by Priority Mail Express® is deemed to meet the requirements of 37 C.F.R. §2.197(a)(1)  for postage as first-class mail, because the postage for Priority Mail Express® exceeds the postage required for first-class mail.  However, to use the certificate of mailing procedure for documents mailed by Priority Mail Express®, the filer must place a certificate meeting the requirements of 37 C.F.R §2.197(a)(2)  on the document prior to mailing.  See TMEP §§305.02–305.02(h) for further information about the certificate of mailing procedure.

The following wording is suggested for a certificate of mailing for a paper trademark document when correspondence is sent by Priority Mail Express®. See TMEP §305.01 regarding mailing address for this type of document and others.

Sample certificate of mailing for express mail with the following text "I hereby certify that this correspondence, [state the name of the document], which pertains to U.S. Application Serial/Registration No. or USPTO Reference No. [Enter the Number Here], is being deposited with the U.S. Postal Service as Priority Mail Express® in an envelope addressed to: Commissioner for Trademarks, P.O. Box 1451, Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1451 on the date shown below:" and lines for the typed or printed name of the signatory, the signatory's title, the signature, and the date.

When correspondence to which 37 C.F.R. §2.198(a)  applies is placed in a Priority Mail Express® drop box after the box has been cleared for the last time on a given day, it is considered to have been deposited as of the date of receipt indicated on the Priority Mail Express® mailing label by the USPS employee. See Communications with the Patent and Trademark Office, 61 Fed. Reg. 56,439, 56,445 (Nov. 1, 1996).