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ARTICLE · 23 AUGUST 2016

USPTO Sued Over December 2015 Holidays

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The USPTO's operating status webpage still provides information on the December 22 power outage and subsequent computer failures...

United StatesIntellectual Property
Courtenay Brinckerhoff
Courtenay Brinckerhoff
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Elm 3DS Innovations, LLC has sued the USPTO in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to challenge its authority to declare that December 22-24, 2015 were “holidays” because the USPTO had experienced a power outage that impacted its electronic filing systems. Elm asserts that it was harmed by this allegedly ultra vires action because it led the USPTO to accept petitions for Inter Partes Review of Elm patents after the statutory period of 35 USC § 315(b) had expired. If the USPTO’s authority to declare the holidays is not upheld, such a decision could have a far-reaching impact.

The December 2015 “Holidays”

The USPTO’s operating status webpage still provides information on the December 22 power outage and subsequent computer failures:

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