The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced the availability of extensions under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act). The USPTO’s Notice of Waiver of Patent-Related Timing Deadlines and Notice of Waiver of Trademark-Related Timing Deadlines explain that the time to file certain documents or fees is being extended 30 days for certain deadlines occurring on March 27, 2020 through April 30, 2020. The late document or fee must include the “statement that the delay in filing or payment was due to the COVID-19 outbreak.”
In particular, the statement must make clear that a person “associated with the filing or fee was personally affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, including, without limitation, through office closures, cash flow interruptions, inaccessibility of files or other materials, travel delays, personal or family illness, or similar circumstances, such that the outbreak materially interfered with timely filing or payment” (emphasis added).