T.M.E.P. § 711
Deadline for Response to Office Action

Executive summary:

This document contains one section of the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (the "TMEP"), Fourth Edition (April 2005). This page was last updated in June 2007. You may return to one either the section index, or to the key word index. If you wish to search the TMEP, simply use the search box that appears on the bottom of every page of BitLaw--be sure to restrict your search to the TMEP in the pop-up list.

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711 Deadline for Response to Office Action

The statutory period for response to an examining attorney's Office action is six months. 15 U.S.C. 1062(b); 37 C.F.R. 2.62. The examining attorney has no discretion to shorten or extend this period. The applicant must file a response within six months of the mailing date of the Office action, unless the examining attorney has issued a supplemental action resetting the period for response. See TMEP §711.02 regarding supplemental Office actions.

To expedite processing, the Office recommends that responses to Office actions be filed through TEAS, at http://www.uspto.gov/teas/index.html. Responses to Office actions in §66(a) applications cannot be filed through TEAS.

See TMEP §310 for information about computing the response period; TMEP §§305.02 and 306.05 for certificate of mailing and certificate of facsimile transmission procedures to avoid lateness; and TMEP §§718.02 and 718.03 et seq. regarding abandonment for failure to respond to an Office action.