37 C.F.R. § 2.195 Receipt of trademark correspondence.

1. (a) Date of receipt and Priority Mail Express® date of deposit. Trademark correspondence received in the Office is given a filing date as of the date of receipt except as follows:
2. (1) The Office is not open for the filing of correspondence on any day that is a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday within the District of Columbia. Except for correspondence transmitted electronically under paragraph (a)(2) of this section or transmitted by facsimile under paragraph (a)(3) of this section, no correspondence is received in the Office on Saturdays, Sundays, or Federal holidays within the District of Columbia.
3. (2) Trademark-related correspondence transmitted electronically will be given a filing date as of the date on which the Office receives the transmission.
4. (3) Correspondence transmitted by facsimile will be given a filing date as of the date on which the complete transmission is received in the Office unless that date is a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday within the District of Columbia, in which case the filing date will be the next succeeding day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday within the District of Columbia.
5. (4) Correspondence filed in accordance with § 2.198 will be given a filing date as of the date of deposit as Priority Mail Express® with the United States Postal Service.
6. (b) Correspondence delivered by hand. Correspondence may be delivered by hand during hours the Office is open to receive correspondence.
7. (c) Facsimile transmission. Except in the cases enumerated in paragraph (d) of this section, correspondence, including authorizations to charge a deposit account, may be transmitted by facsimile. The receipt date accorded to the correspondence will be the date on which the complete transmission is received in the Office, unless that date is a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday within the District of Columbia. See§ 2.196. To facilitate proper processing, each transmission session should be limited to correspondence to be filed in a single application, registration or proceeding before the Office. The application serial number, registration number, or proceeding number should be entered as a part of the sender’s identification on a facsimile cover sheet.
8. (d) Facsimile transmissions are not permitted and if submitted, will not be accorded a date of receipt, in the following situations:
9. (1) Applications for registration of marks;
10. (2) Drawings submitted under § 2.51, § 2.52, § 2.72, or § 2.173;
11. (3) Correspondence to be filed with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, except notices of ex parte appeal;
12. (4) Requests for cancellation or amendment of a registration under section 7(e) of the Trademark Act; and certificates of registration surrendered for cancellation or amendment under section 7(e) of the Trademark Act; and
13. (5) Madrid-related correspondence submitted under § 7.11, § 7.21, § 7.14, § 7.23, § 7.24, or § 7.31.
14. (e) Interruptions in U.S. Postal Service.
15. (1) If the Director designates a postal service interruption or emergency within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. 21(a), any person attempting to file correspondence by Priority Mail Express® Post Office to Addressee service who was unable to deposit the correspondence with the United States Postal Service due to the interruption or emergency may petition the Director to consider such correspondence as filed on a particular date in the Office.
16. (2) The petition must:
17. (i) Be filed promptly after the ending of the designated interruption or emergency;
18. (ii) Include the original correspondence or a copy of the original correspondence; and
19. (iii) Include a statement that the correspondence would have been deposited with the United States Postal Service on the requested filing date but for the designated interruption or emergency in Priority Mail Express® service; and that the correspondence attached to the petition is the original correspondence or a true copy of the correspondence originally attempted to be deposited as Priority Mail Express® on the requested filing date.
20. (3) Paragraphs (e)(1) and (e)(2) of this section do not apply to correspondence that is excluded from the Priority Mail Express® procedure pursuant to § 2.198(a)(1).

Correspondence transmitted through TEAS is considered to have been filed on the date the USPTO receives the transmission, in Eastern Time, regardless of whether that date is a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday within the District of Columbia. 37 C.F.R. §2.195(a)(2).

For paper correspondence, the date of actual receipt in the USPTO is assigned as the filing date of all correspondence. 37 C.F.R. §2.195(a). However, under 37 C.F.R. §§2.195(a)(1) and (3), no paper correspondence is "received" in the USPTO on Saturdays, Sundays, or Federal holidays within the District of Columbia. See TMEP §308 regarding response periods that end on a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday within the District of Columbia.

The filing date of a fax transmission ( see TMEP §306.06 is the date the complete transmission is received in the USPTO, unless that date is a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday within the District of Columbia, in which case the filing date is the next succeeding day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or Federal holiday within the District of Columbia. 37 C.F.R. §2.195(a)(1), (3). However, if the communication is properly filed using the "certificate of transmission" procedure under 37 C.F.R. §2.197, the USPTO looks to the date on the certificate to determine whether the filing is timely. TMEP § 306.05(c).

Similarly, if a document is mailed to the USPTO using the "certificate of mailing" procedure under 37 C.F.R. §2.197 ( TMEP §§305.02–305.02(h)), the filing date is the date of receipt in the USPTO, but the USPTO looks to the date on the certificate to determine whether the filing is timely. TMEP §305.02(e).

See TMEP §1904.01(b) regarding the filing date of a request for an extension of protection of an international registration to the United States under §66(a) of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §1141f(a).

When a document is filed electronically, the USPTO generally receives it within seconds after filing. TEAS almost immediately displays a "Success" page that confirms receipt. This page may be printed or copied-and-pasted into an electronic record for storage, and used as evidence of filing should any question arise as to the filing date of the document.

The USPTO places a bar code label indicating the date of receipt on every application, part of an application, amendment, letter, or other document submitted to the USPTO on paper. The label is referred to as the "Mail Room Date" label, and it establishes the date of receipt (i.e., the filing date) of any document. Before 1998, the USPTO used a stamp, known as the "Office Date Stamp," to indicate the date of receipt of incoming documents.

For documents filed on paper, a party may obtain a receipt by enclosing a self-addressed, stamped postcard identifying the document. The USPTO will place a label indicating the receipt date on the card and return it to the party who filed the document.

The identifying data on the postcard should be complete and specific. The nature of the document being filed (e.g., application, affidavit, amendment, appeal, petition); the name of the applicant or registrant; the mark; the application filing date or registration date; and the application serial number, registration number, or proceeding number should be included if available. Each specific element of the filing should be listed on the postcard (e.g., written application, drawing page, fee, specimen) so that the postcard can be used as evidence that the element was submitted if the element is lost or disassociated from the record.

The party submitting the postcard is responsible for placing proper postage on the self-addressed postcard, and for ensuring that the proper mailing address appears on the postcard. See TMEP §303.02(c)(i) regarding the use of postage meters.

If a postcard with proper postage accompanies application documents that are mailed to the USPTO, a bar code label indicating the serial number assigned to the application will be applied to the postcard.

If the postcard accompanies application documents that are hand delivered, the bar code label will not be applied to the postcard because the application has not yet been serialized. Therefore, if application documents are hand carried, the applicant may submit a second postcard with proper postage so that, upon serialization, the USPTO may send the additional card, with a bar code label indicating the serial number, to the applicant.

When documents for more than one application or registration are filed under a single cover, a return postcard should be attached to each document for which a receipt is desired.

The party submitting a return receipt postcard ( see TMEP §303.02(c)) is responsible for placing proper postage on the self-addressed postcard. Proper postage means that it has a stamp(s) in the correct amount or a meter stamp postmark that complies with USPS requirements.

The USPS provides in its Domestic Mail Manual that the date in a meter postmark must be the actual date of deposit, with limited exceptions, and that meter postmarks used to prepay reply postage must not show the date. The USPS will not accept for mailing a post card that contains a postage meter date more than ten days old. Thus, a return receipt postcard containing a dated meter postmark may not be delivered by the USPS, because the postcard will be mailed by the Office substantially after the date on which the meter postmark is printed on the card.

Therefore, to ensure the receipt of a confirmation post card, the party filing the postcard should: (1) affix postage stamps to their postcards, or purchase already-stamped post cards from the USPS; or (2) if a postage meter is used, ensure that the meter postmark does not show the date, and follow the instructions in the postage meter license agreement regarding prepay reply postage. See notice at 1246 TMOG 42 (May 8, 2001).