Patent Office Remains Open During Government Shutdown

• Oct 3 2013
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• Category: News

The United States Patent and Trademark Office remains open despite the general government shutdown that began October 1, 2013.  Using prior year reserve fee collections to operate, the Patent Office expects to run “business as usual” for approximately four weeks. Based on a comparison of fee collections to operating requirements, the Patent Office will determine how long we will be able to operate in this capacity if the general government shutdown continues. Should the reserve funds become exhausted before the general government shutdown comes to an end, the Patent Office would also shut down, although a very small staff would continue to work to accept new applications and maintain IT infrastructure, among other functions.