The failure of Congress to pass appropriations legislation funding government operations on Friday resulted in a shutdown of the Federal government at midnight Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, January 20, 2018.  Prior to Saturday's shutdown, the most recent government shutdown had occurred on October 1-16, 2013.  Interestingly, the current shutdown, which is eighth time federal employees have been furloughed as a result of a gap in budget funding, began on the one-year anniversary of President Trump's inauguration.

While the shutdown involves the furlough of non-essential personnel and curtailment of agency activities and services, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a notice that the Office remains operational despite the shutdown.  The Office notes that it can "continue normal operations for a few weeks" because the Office has access to prior year fee collections.  However, the Office also notes that should it exhaust those funds before the shutdown comes to an end, the Office itself would have to shut down at that time, "although a very small staff would continue to work to accept new applications and maintain IT infrastructure, among other functions."

The failure of the Senate to come to an agreement to end the shutdown late Sunday evening means that the government shutdown will remain in effect until at least noon Eastern Time on Monday, when the Senate is expected to vote to end the shutdown (at least for now) with a short-term spending bill that would last three weeks.  If the shutdown persists until January 30, it could impact the President's second State of the Union address.  As reported by The Hill, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has suggested that the shutdown could last more than a week; the OMB Director, however, also conceded that there was a chance the shutdown could end on Monday.

Patent Docs will continue to monitor and report on the impact of the government shutdown on USPTO operations.