Today, the USPTO issued regulations implementing the provisions of the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (“TMA”). The Regulations can be found here.
Practitioners should review the Regulations as soon as possible to familiarize themselves with the new Rules. Practitioners should take notice that the majority of the of the provisions take effect December 18, 2021. However, a handful of provisions, such as those relating to flexible periods to respond to office actions, will not take effect until December 1, 2022.