In a Federal Register notice dated March 29, 2024, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is updating the required method for serving it with a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, a notice of election to proceed by civil action in district court, or a request for extension of time to file a notice of appeal or commence a civil action. Previously, all such notices or requests had to be served by mail. Under the new rule, the notices and requests are to be served by email (with Priority Mail as a failsafe if email is not feasible.

The new rule requires a party to serve an email address in the Office of the General Counsel to be posted on the USPTO website. If that cannot be done, the party can serve the Office of the Solicitor.

While this seems like a small change (and it is), it has some clear benefits for practitioners. First, it modernizes practice to bring it more in line with the more streamlined process used in litigation. That is, litigators are accustomed to serving opposing parties by email rather than snail mail. Second, the USPTO will accord the service copy with a time-stamped receipt date which serves as proof of receipt of service of the notice. This prevents any potential concern that the service copy "got lost in the mail." But potentially most importantly, this procedure is just easier -- no printing copies, trips to the Post Office, or other hassle.

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