Your non-final office action has been mailed
Official wording: Non-final action — mailed
An examining attorney has raised an objection to your application and the office action has been mailed. Your response period runs from the date printed on that letter, not from the day you open it. Most of these objections can be answered. What loses applications is the clock, not the refusal.
How long do you have to respond?
Since 3 December 2022 the response period for applications filed under sections 1 or 44 is three months from the issue date of the office action, with one three-month extension available per office action for a fee. Applications filed under the Madrid Protocol as section 66(a) were not changed and keep the longer period. Your own letter states the date that governs your file, so read it in TSDR before you rely on any number, including this one.
Is a non-final office action a rejection?
No. Non-final means the examining attorney is raising the point for the first time and is giving you the opportunity to answer it. Receiving one is ordinary rather than evidence you did something wrong, and most are resolved by a response rather than by giving up the application.
What happens if you do not respond
The application is abandoned for failure to respond and its status becomes 602. The filing fee is not refunded and the mark does not register. A petition to revive is possible afterwards, but the window for it is two months rather than anything comfortable, so it is a far worse position than simply answering the letter.
Which kind of objection are you holding?
A disclaimer requirement is paperwork. A specimen or classification problem is usually straightforward to put right. A refusal under section 2(d) for likelihood of confusion is a legal argument about how your mark compares with one already on the register. These are not comparable jobs, and knowing which one you have should come before deciding what to spend on it.
Can you respond to this yourself?
Yes, and for a routine requirement that is often the sensible answer. If yours is one of those we will say so rather than sell you a response you do not need. Where help earns its money is the arguable refusals, because what you file becomes the record the examiner decides your application on.
What a response costs here
Two hundred and ninety nine dollars flat, whatever the refusal turns out to be, with no second invoice. A licensed attorney reads your file and writes the response, and the deadline is tracked from the date on your own letter rather than from when you got in touch.
Confirm this against your own record
Status code descriptions are administered inside USPTO systems and published wording varies slightly between sources. Your file is the authority. Enter your serial number in TSDR to see your current status, every document filed, and any live deadline.
Open TSDRLooking this up for a client rather than for your own mark? We keep a network of licensed attorneys who review the cases that come through us. It is case-by-case paid work and a free listing — never a referral fee or a cut of anything.
What comes before and after
Status 630
Filed, and waiting in the queue
Status 638
An examining attorney now has your file
Status 640
An office action has been counted, but not sent yet
Status 602
Your application was abandoned for failure to respond
Status 680
The examiner cleared your mark
Status 700
Your mark is registered
Status 645
Your final refusal has been mailed