The USPTO announced today that it will indeed be closed on Christmas Eve (Monday, December 24th), and since Christmas Day (Tuesday, December 25th) is a traditional Federal holiday, any action or fees due on those two days and on Saturday, December 22nd, and Sunday, December 23rd, will now be due on Wednesday, December 26th. According to the USPTO announcement, December 24th and 25th are deemed to be “Federal holiday[s] within the District of Columbia” under 35 U.S.C. § 21(b) and 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.6, 1.7, 1.9, 2.2(d), 2.195 and 2.196.

In addition, and according to the USPTO, “37 C.F.R. §§ 1.6(a)(2), 2.195(a)(4) and 2.198 provide that correspondence deposited in the Express Mail Service of the United States Postal Service (USPS) in accordance with 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.10 or 2.198 will be considered filed on the date of deposit (as shown by the “date-in” on the Express Mail mailing label) with the USPS. Thus, any paper or fee properly deposited in the Express Mail Service of the USPS on Monday, December 24, 2007 or Tuesday, December 25, 2007, in accordance with 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.10 or 2.198 will be considered filed on its respective date of deposit in the Express Mail Service of the USPS (as shown by a "date-in" of December 24, 2007 or December 25, 2007, on the Express Mail mailing label, respectively).”

Additional information regarding electronic transmissions (patent and/or trademark related), and documentation filed through the USPTO’s Electronic Filing System (EFS-Web) are discussed in the USPTO announcement link below.

USPTO Announcement: LINK
35 U.S.C. § 21: LINK
2007 Federal Holidays: LINK
2008 Federal Holidays: LINK