USPTO SHORTENS RESPONSE TIME FOR OFFICE ACTIONS STARTING DECEMBER 3, 2022.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that starting December 3, 2022, trademark applicants will have three (3) months (was six (6) months) to respond to office actions. Note that this rule will apply to office actions that are issued after December 3, 2022.

The goal is for the USPTO to shorten the time that an applicant can receive a trademark registration, and give more time to respond to complex office actions.

Any post-registration (after receiving a registration) office action will still have a six month response time until October 7, 2023.

The new response period applies to application filings below:

Applies to:

Use in commerce application 1(a)

Intent to use application 1(b)

Foreign application 44(e)

Foreign application 44(d)

Does not apply to:

Madrid Protocol application 66(a)