1902.07(f)    Responding to Notice of Irregularity Through the USPTO

Under Trademark Rule 7.14(e), 37 C.F.R. §7.14(e), an applicant may file a response to an IB notice of irregularity through the USPTO for forwarding to the IB before the IB’s response deadline.  However, receipt in the USPTO does not fulfill the requirement that the response be received by the IB before the IB response deadline.  Therefore, applicants should submit responses to the USPTO as soon as possible, and at least one month before the end of the IB response period.  The USPTO will not process any response received after the IB response deadline.

The IB does not have a form for responses to irregularity notices.  The TEAS Response to a Notice of Irregularity form must be used for this purpose.  

Permitted Paper Responses. Paper responses permitted to be filed with the USPTO for forwarding to the IB (see TMEP §1902.02(a)) should include with the response:  (1) the USPTO control number (U.S. Reference No.) assigned to the international application; and (2) a copy of the IB’s irregularity notice.  The applicant may include a self-addressed, stamped postcard with the response.  Upon receipt, the USPTO will place a label indicating the receipt date on the documents, and return the postcard to the applicant.  However, to be considered timely, the response must be received by the IB before the end of the response period set forth in the IB’s notice, and receipt in the USPTO does not fulfill the IB deadline requirement.

The applicant may mail the completed paper response form using the first-class mail service of the USPS to the address in TMEP §305.01. See §§305.02-305.02(h) regarding certificate of mailing procedures and §§305.03-305.03(e) regarding Priority Mail Express® procedures.

Alternatively, the applicant may deliver the application by hand or courier. See TMEP §307 regarding hand delivery of documents to the USPTO.

Responses may not be submitted by fax or email and, if submitted by such means, will not be accorded a date of receipt. See 37 C.F.R. §2.195(c).

See TMEP §1903.02 regarding payment of fees to the IB.

The USPTO will not process any response filed after the IB response deadline.  37 C.F.R. §7.14(e).