When is your response actually due?
The clock started the day the letter issued, not the day you read it. Enter that date and see the real deadline, the extended one, and how much of it is left.
Date arithmetic, not legal advice, and it cannot see your application file. Confirm against the letter itself or on TSDR. We are not a law firm and we are not affiliated with the USPTO.
Already holding the letter? Send it to us and we will read it free and tell you what it needs — including when the answer is that you do not need us.
Enter the date on the letter and the two dates that matter appear here.
Most applications are lost to the date, not the refusal.
A refusal is usually answerable. A missed deadline usually is not, and it costs the filing fees already paid. These are the three things people get wrong about the date.
It starts at issue, not at delivery
The three months run from the date printed on the letter. Post, a forwarded email, or a correspondence address nobody checks any more do not extend it. People routinely find they have weeks less than they assumed.
The extension must be bought in time
Three more months are available on a standard application, but only if the request and fee are filed on or before the original deadline. Afterwards the option simply does not exist, and there is never a second one.
Madrid filings differ
Applications that came through the Madrid Protocol get six months instead of three, and no extension at all. More time at the start, no safety net at the end.
Two things worth knowing, including about us.
You will get letters that are not from the USPTO
Pending applications are public, so a refusal often brings official-looking mail from private companies with government-sounding names, quoting a real serial number and a real deadline. The USPTO publishes warnings about these. Anything genuine arrives from the USPTO itself, and your record on TSDR is the way to check.
Some of these you can answer yourself
A disclaimer request or a specimen problem is often a straightforward amendment, and the USPTO examiner's contact details are on the letter. A likelihood-of-confusion refusal is a different thing and turns on argument. Send us the letter and we will tell you which one you have, including when the answer is that you do not need us.
Asked and answered.
How long do I have to respond to a USPTO Office Action?
Three months from the issue date printed on the letter, for applications filed directly with the USPTO. The clock starts on the day the letter issued, not the day you read it or the day it arrived. Applications filed through the Madrid Protocol under Section 66(a) get six months instead.
Can I get an extension on an Office Action response?
On a standard US application, yes - one extension of three more months, and only one. The request has to be filed on or before the original three-month deadline, with a fee set by the USPTO, currently $125. A request filed after that date does not work, and there is no second extension. Section 66(a) Madrid applications cannot be extended at all.
What happens if I miss the Office Action deadline?
The application is ordinarily treated as abandoned, and the government fees already paid are not refunded. That is the part most people do not expect - the money is spent whether or not anything registers. It is not always final: the USPTO has a petition process to revive an application abandoned unintentionally, but that window is limited and carries its own fee, so it is a recovery route rather than a plan.
Does the deadline move if it falls on a weekend?
Yes. Under 37 CFR 2.196, when a deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday, it moves to the next day the USPTO is open. This calculator applies that rule, which is why the date it shows is sometimes a day or two later than counting three months on a calendar.
Is the deadline three months from the letter date or from when I received it?
From the issue date on the letter. Postal delay, a forwarded email, or an address the USPTO has on file that you no longer check do not extend it. This is the most common reason people discover they have less time than they thought.
Do I need an attorney to respond to an Office Action?
Not for every refusal. Some are procedural - a disclaimer, a specimen that did not meet the requirements, a description that needs rewording - and are answered with a straightforward amendment. Others, particularly a likelihood-of-confusion refusal under Section 2(d), turn on legal argument about marks and goods. Foreign-domiciled applicants are required to be represented by a US-licensed attorney. If you are not sure which kind you have, the refusal type is named in the letter.
Is this calculator legal advice?
No. It is date arithmetic applied to the figure you enter, and it cannot see your application file. Confirm the date against the letter itself or against the record on TSDR, the USPTO's own status system. We are not a law firm and we are not affiliated with the USPTO.