Extensions for Filing Deadlines for Patent and Trademark Applications and Maintenance Documents
These sections provide the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office with the authority to temporarily extend or modify deadlines for certain filing requirements. Each of these offices has utilized these new powers to issue temporary rules extending deadlines by thirty days for individuals and entities that have been personally affected and materially prevented by the outbreak from meeting filing deadlines. Such deadlines include the inability to pay certain filing fees due to cash flow problems, except that companies with more than 500 employees are ineligible for extended deadlines for patent maintenance filings.
Extensions for Copyright Filings
Copyright owners seeking to terminate transfers of ownership in their copyrights receive some leeway in order to serve their notice of termination as well as record the notice of termination, provided the delay was due to the outbreak and the owner acts promptly to complete the process once the disruption is completed. Similar leeway is also granted to copyright applicants who fail to register their copyright within three months of the first publication of the work and delayed submission of deposit copies.
