717.02 Permitted Paper Filings: Non-Receipt of Mailed Office Action
If an applicant notifies the USPTO that the applicant did not receive a mailed Office action, either before or after the expiration of the response period, the examining attorney must check to determine whether the action was sent to the correct correspondence address. See TMEP §§609–609.03. See TMEP §301.01 regarding the limited exceptions when paper submissions may be submitted.
No USPTO error. If the Office action was sent to the correspondence address of record, and there is time remaining in the response period, the examining attorney should direct the applicant to view the full record on the TSDR portal on the USPTO website at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/, and advise the applicant that the deadline for response runs from the original issue date and that a response must be received in the USPTO before this deadline to avoid abandonment.
If the response period has expired, the examining attorney should advise the applicant that the application is abandoned, and that the applicant may file a petition to revive if the applicant can meet the timeliness requirements in 37 C.F.R. §2.66(a). See TMEP §§1714–1714.01(g) regarding petitions to revive. In either situation, the examining attorney should enter an appropriate Note to the File in the application record documenting the discussion.
USPTO error. If there is evidence in the record that the USPTO sent the Office action to the wrong address due to a USPTO error (see TMEP §717), and the application has not been abandoned, the USPTO will reissue the action and provide the applicant with a new response period. The examining attorney should first ensure that the correspondence address has been corrected, and then email the internal TM Clerical Support mailbox, stating that the Office action was sent to the wrong address, and requesting that the Office action be reissued with a new response period. The deadline for response will run from the new issue date. If the application had been abandoned, it will be reinstated and the Office action reissued. See TMEP §1712.01 regarding reinstatement of applications that are abandoned due to USPTO error.