37 CFR 2.163 — Rules of Practice in Trademark Cases
Current through: 2024-07-01

Acknowledgment of receipt of affidavit or declaration.

§ 2.163 Acknowledgment of receipt of affidavit or declaration. The Office will issue a notice as to whether an affidavit or declaration is acceptable, or the reasons for refusal. (a) If the affidavit or declaration is filed within the time periods set forth in section 8 of the Act, deficiencies may be corrected after notification from the Office if the requirements of § 2.164 are met. (b) A response to the refusal must be filed within six months of the date of issuance of the Office action, or before the end of the filing period set forth in section 8(a) of the Act, whichever is later. The response must be signed by the owner, someone with legal authority to bind the owner (e.g., a corporate officer or general partner of a partnership), or a practitioner qualified to practice under § 11.14 of this chapter, in accordance with the requirements of § 2.193(e)(2). (c) If no response is filed within this time period, the registration will be cancelled, unless time remains in the grace period under section 8(a)(3) of the Act. If time remains in the grace period, the owner may file a complete, new affidavit. [75 FR 35976, June 24, 2010, as amended at 76 FR 69133, Nov. 8, 2011] § 2.163, Nt. Effective Date Note: At 86 FR 64332, Nov. 17, 2021, § 2.163 was amended by revising paragraphs (b) and (c) and adding paragraphs (d) and (e), effective Dec. 1, 2022. At 87 FR 62032, Oct. 13, 2022, the effective date was delayed to Oct. 7, 2023. At 88 FR 62463, Sept. 12, 2023, the effective date was delayed indefinitely. For the convenience of the user, the added and revised text is set forth as follows: § 2.163 Acknowledgment of receipt of affidavit or declaration. (b) A response to the refusal must be filed within three months of the date of issuance of the Office action, or before the end of the filing period set forth in section 8(a) of the Act, whichever is later. The response must be signed by the owner, someone with legal authority to bind the owner (e.g., a corporate officer or general partner of a partnership), or a practitioner qualified to practice under § 11.14 of this chapter, in accordance with the requirements of § 2.193(e)(2). (c) Unless notified otherwise in the Office action, the three-month response period designated in paragraph (b) of this section may be extended by three months up to a maximum of six months from the Office action issue date, upon timely request and payment of the fee set forth in § 2.6(a)(28). To be considered timely, a request for extension of time must be received by the Office on or before the deadline for response set forth in the Office action. (d) When a timely response is a bona fide attempt to advance the examination of the affidavit or declaration and is a substantially complete response to the outstanding Office action, but consideration of some matter or compliance with a requirement has been omitted, the owner may be granted 30 days, or to the end of the time period for response to the action to which the substantially complete response was submitted, whichever is longer, to explain and supply the omission before the cancellation is considered. (e) If no response is filed within the time periods set forth in paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section, the registration will be cancelled, unless time remains in the grace period under section 8(a)(3) of the Act. If time remains in the grace period, the owner may file a complete new affidavit.