The United States Patent and Trademark Office “USPTO” recently added Nonprovisional Plant Applications under 35 U.S.C. § 161 as a new submission type in Patent Center and has instructed practitioners that such plant patent applications should be filed under this new submission type. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the USPTO began permitting the filing of plant patent applications and follow-on documents via the USPTO patent electronic filing systems (now Patent Center) on a temporary basis until further notice (as an “extraordinary situation” within the meaning of 37 C.F.R. § 1.183).
