Modification to Temporary Postponement of Electronic Filing and Payment Rules for Certain Madrid Protocol-Related Rules

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is modifying a temporary postponement of those provisions of the Trademark Rules of Practice that require electronic transmission to the USPTO of applications for international registration, responses to irregularity notices, and subsequent designations submitted pursuant to the Madrid Protocol. That postponement was announced in a document published in the Federal Register on October 24, 2003. The USPTO is also modifying a temporary suspension, announced in the same Federal Register document, of those provisions of the Rules of Practice that allow payment of fees charged by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (IB) to be submitted through the USPTO, and those provisions of the Trademark Rules of Practice that require that all fees for international trademark applications and subsequent designations be paid at the time of filing. The temporary postponements and the temporary suspensions of the Rules of Practice, as well as the modifications to these postponements and suspensions that are announced herein, are in effect from November 2, 2003, to January 2, 2004. If it becomes necessary to extend the suspensions and postponements, and/or the modifications thereto, the USPTO will issue a notice announcing these extensions at least 10 business days before the extensions commence. The modifications announced herein are procedural in nature and do not affect any substantive rights.