Update: CARES Act Grants Authority for Adjustment of IP Deadlines

An update to this post was published April 7. 

The newly-passed CARES Act now authorizes the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) and the Register of Copyrights to “toll, waive, adjust, or modify” certain timing deadlines and provisions under trademark, patent, and copyright law in response to the Coronavirus outbreak. This addresses the issue previously raised by the USPTO, discussed in our original post below, that it was unable to grant waivers or extensions of certain trademark deadlines and fees because they are set by statute rather than regulation.

The USPTO Director and the Register of Copyrights may exercise the powers granted under the CARES Act by publicly publishing a notice to that effect. We will continue to monitor the situation and update this Blog with the latest news.

This post is an update to a previous post. 

Elizabeth M. Stamoulis
estamoulis@williamsparker.com
941-552-5546