Overview
Congress passed the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 in December 2020 with the goal of simplifying trademark registration and enforcement in the United States. In November 2021, the USPTO implemented a Final Rule that reduced the deadline for responding to Office Actions from six months to three months, effective December 3, 2022, for applications filed under Sections 1 or 44 of the Trademark Act only. The new deadline does not apply to pre-registration Office Actions for applications filed under the Madrid Protocol. For applicants having trouble meeting the accelerated deadline, a one-time, three-month extension is available for $125. Failing to adhere to the new timeline will result in the abandonment of the application.
Post-registration Office Actions will also have a three-month deadline, with the option for one extension, but only for Office Actions issued after October 7, 2023, and this will apply to all registrations, including those based on the Madrid Protocol.
According to the USPTO, the purpose of this change is to reduce the overall time it takes to obtain a trademark registration by expediting the response time to Office Actions.
