Global Fastener News

PTO Changes U.S. Fastener Quality Act Insignia Document Address

Jason Sandefur

The rules that implement the U.S. Fastener Quality Act have been amended “to provide that all documents submitted in connection with the recordal of fastener insignia must be mailed to a particular postal box maintained by United States Patent & Trademark Office.”
“The efficiency of the insignia recordation program will be enhanced if documents submitted in connection with the program are mailed to a postal box that is at the USPTO’s headquarters in Alexandria, VA,” according to the Federal Register.
Effective June 4, 2007, applications and other documents should now be addressed to: Director, United States Patent & Trademark Office, ATTN: FQA, 600 Dulany St., MDE-10A71, Alexandria, VA 22314-5793.
The U.S. Postal Service has provided a separate routing +4 zip code to distinguish mail relating to the FQA from other USPTO mail. All FQA correspondence should now be sent to the USPTO’s main headquarters, addressed with the separate routing +4 zip code.
To give the fastener industry time to adjust to the change, the USPTO has arranged for continued delivery of correspondence addressed to the former Arlington until October 31, 2007.
The change amends 15 CFR part 280, subpart D of the FQA.
The FQA was originally passed by Congress and signed into law by then Pres. George H.W. Bush in 1990. It was amended in 1995, 1998 and implemented on December 6, 1999, after Pres. Bill Clinton signed the third law amending the FQA – P.L. 106-34.
For more information contact Jennifer Chicoski, Office of the Commissioner for Trademarks, P.O. Box 1451, Alexandria, VA 22313-1451. Tel: 571 272-8943 E-mail: jennifer.chicoski@uspto.gov Web: uspto.gov �2007 FastenerNews.com