Federal Government Shutdown Impacts Intellectual Property Registration in the United States

As the federal government shutdown rolls into its second week, I will take a moment to address the impact of the shutdown on intellectual property registration in the United States.  As stated on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website, the USPTO is fully operational on a provisional basis by drawing from prior year reserve funds.  The USPTO shall remain open for about four weeks.  If the government shutdown continues the USPTO will close when reserve funds are exhausted, however a small staff would continue to maintain IT infrastructure.

The U.S. Copyright Office remains closed.  As stated on the Copyright Office website, the Copyright Office will not be responding to inquiries, processing transactions, or making further updates to the website.  Copyright registration submissions are still being accepted, securing a date of receipt, but these applications will not be processed until the Copyright Office reopens.