The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently announced a plan that will invariably make the lives of patent and trademark owners and their counsel easier. Starting in late January of 2015, the USPTO will send courtesy email reminders to registered email addresses reminding them of important post-registration events. The USPTO will send reminders for Section 8 and 71 declarations as well as Section 9 renewals with links to its Trademark Status & Document Retrieval database.
This program is designed to streamline post-registration processes and reallocate USPTO resources from missed deadlines and revival petitions to substantive registration and maintenance issues.
While dealing with the USPTO can sometimes be a frustrating proposition, it appears that America’s intellectual property office is taking steps to ease the burden.
Contact the attorneys in our Intellectual Property Practice Group for assistance with intellectual property registration, protection and maintenance.