美国官方新资讯：优先审查COVID-19相关商品或服务商标

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a new COVID-19 prioritized examination program for certain trademark and service mark applications on June 15, 2020.

2020年6月15日，美国专利商标局（USPTO）发布了针对新冠肺炎疫情期间（COVID-19）特定商品商标和服务商标申请的优先审查新计划。

Under this new program, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and in view of the critical need to develop medical products and services to combat the COVID-19 virus and move successful products to market as soon as possible, the Director will accept petitions to advance the initial examination of applications for marks used to identify qualifying COVID-19 medical products and services. Additionally, the USPTO will waive the fee for such petitions, as the USPTO considers the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak to be an "extraordinary situation,, within the meaning of 37 CFR § 2.148 for affected trademark applicants.

根据此项计划，为应对新冠疫情的爆发，满足研发医疗产品和服务用以抗击新冠病毒的迫切需要，并将成功研发的产品尽快推向市场，对于那些符合新冠病毒相关的医疗产品和服务的商标申请，USPTO将接受申请人优先审查的申请，并加快对这类商标的初步审查。此外，USPTO认为新冠疫情爆发所带来的影响适用于美国联邦法规第37编第二部148条所规定的“特殊情况”，因此将免除此类商标申请优先审查的官费。

“Inventors and entrepreneurs are working around the clock to develop products that will help prevent, diagnose, treat, or cure COVID-19,” said Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. “Accelerating initial examination of COVID-19-related trademark applications for these products, as well as service mark applications for medical and medical research services, will help to bring important and possibly life-saving treatments to market more quickly.”

美国商务部知识产权局副局长兼美国专利商标局局长Andrei Iancu说：“发明家和企业家夜以继日地工作，以开发有助于预防、诊断及治疗新冠疫情的产品”，“加快对这些产品相关的商品商标，及医学与医学研究服务相关的服务商标申请的初步审查有助于更快地将重要且可能挽救生命的治疗方法推向市场。”

To qualify for the new program, the application must cover a product that is subject to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for use in the prevention and/or treatment of COVID-19 or a medical or medical research service for the prevention and/or treatment of COVID-19.

要使有关申请符合新项目的资格，该新申请必须含有经美国食品和药物管理局（FDA）批准用于预防和/或治疗COVID-19的产品或者用于治疗和/或预防COVID-19的研究服务。

While the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) generally examines applications in the order in which they are received, there are procedures under which an applicant may request that the initial examination of an application be advanced out of turn when very special circumstances exist. The applicant must file a Petition to the Director under 37 CFR § 2.146(a)(3) seeking to have the Director exercise supervisory authority to advance the initial examination of the application out of its regular order. See Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) §1710 et seq. 

美国专利商标局（USPTO）通常按照顺序来审查收到的申请，但在非常特殊的情况下，申请人可要求审查员优先进行初审。申请人必须根据美国联邦法规第37 编第二部146条（a）项（3）款向署长提交请愿书，以寻求署长行使监督权，以使申请的初审提前。参见商标审查程序手册（TMEP）1710条。

To be eligible for prioritized examination under this procedure, an applicant must seek registration for one or more of the qualifying CO VID-19 medical goods or services described below. The application may also include additional goods or services related thereto. The following are qualifying COVID-19 medical-related goods and services: 

为满足这一程序下的优先审查，申请人必须在以下描述的符合新冠疫情相关的医疗产品或服务中选择一项或多项进行注册。除此之外，申请人也可在商标申请中指定其他与此相关的商品或服务。以下是符合新冠疫情的相关医疗商品和服务：

pharmaceutical products or medical devices such as diagnostic tests, ventilators, and personal protective equipment, including surgical masks, face shields, gowns, and gloves, that prevent, diagnose, treat, or cure COVID-19 and are subject to approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration; and medical services or medical research services for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment of, or cure for COVID-19.  

用于预防、诊断，治疗或治愈新冠病毒且获得美国食品和药物管理局批准的药品或医疗设备，例如诊断测试，呼吸机和个人防护设备，包括医用口罩、防护面罩，工作服和手套；以及用于预防、诊断，治疗或治愈新冠病毒的医疗服务或医学研究服务。

The approvals referenced above for pharmaceutical products or medical devices may include, but are not limited to, an Investigational New Drug (IND) application, an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE), a New Drug Application (NDA), a Biologies License Application (BLA), a Premarket Approval (PMA), or an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). Information on INDs, IDEs, ND As, BLAs, PMAs, and EUAs is available at www.fda.gov.

以上涉及的用于药品或医疗器械的批准可包括但不限于新药临床试验（IND）申请，临床试验用医疗器械豁免（IDE）、新药申请（NDA）、生物制品许可申请（BLA） ，上市前审批（PMA）或紧急使用授权（EUA）。有关新药临床试验（INDs）、临床试验用医疗器械豁免（IDEs）、新药上市申请（NDAs）、生物制品许可申请（BLAs），上市前审批（PMAs）或紧急使用授权（EUAs）的信息，请访问www.fda.gov。

The goal of prioritized examination is to expedite the initial examination process for qualifying applications. If a petition is granted, the application will immediately be assigned to an examining attorney for review, which will expedite examination by approximately two months. The applicant can further expedite the process by responding promptly to any Office action,phone call, or email from the examining attorney. However, following examination, all approved trademark applications are published for opposition in the Trademark Official Gazette. Following publication, there is a 30-day period during which the public may file oppositions or extensions of time to oppose. 37 CFR §§ 2.101(c), 2.102(a)(1). 

优先审查的目的在于加快对符合条件的商标申请的审查。如果优先审查请求被核准，该申请将立即分配给审查员审查，这将使审查加快大约2个月。而后申请人可通过快速答复审查意见（如有），电话或电子邮件来进一步加快申请流程。但是，所有审查通过的商标都会在《商标官方公报》上公布。根据美国联邦法规第37编第二部101条（c）项及102条（a）项1）款，商标公告后，公众将有30天的时间可以对其提出异议或延长异议时间。

Applicants who wish to file a petition to advance the initial examination of an application for a qualifying COVID-19 medical product or service must first file the application and then file a Petition to the Director that includes the newly assigned serial number for the application. The application and petition must be submitted electronically through the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).  

对于符合COVID-19医疗产品或服务商标申请条件，且希望通过提交请愿书来加快商标审查的的申请人，必须首先提交商标申请，然后向局长提交请愿书，并附上商标申请号。申请和请愿书必须通过商标电子申请系统（TEAS）以电子方式提交。

The petition must include a statement of facts, supported by an affidavit or declaration under 37 CFR § 2.20, setting forth the applicant's COVID-19 medical goods or services and an explanation of why the goods or services are of a type that qualify for prioritized examination, including the section of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under which the goods are regulated.

根据美国联邦法规第37编第二部20条，请愿书必须包括事实陈述，并以宣誓或声明的方式提交，阐明申请人的COVID-19医疗商品或服务，并解释说明商品或服务属于可以优先审查的类型的原因，包括联邦法规（CFR）中对商品进行管制的部分。

The USPTO will accept petitions to advance the initial examination of applications for marks used on qualifying COVID-19 medical goods and services pursuant to this notice beginning June 16, 2020. The USPTO will monitor the workload and resources needed to administer the procedure, feedback from the public, and the effectiveness of the procedure. Members of the public may submit comments or questions regarding the procedure to TMPolicy@uspto.gov. If the USPTO determines that modifications to the procedure are necessary or that it will no longer grant petitions to prioritize the examination of applications for qualifying COVID-19 medical- related products and services, the USPTO will notify the public before modifying or ending this program.

2020年6月16日开始，USPTO将根据本通知接受对符合资格的COVID-19医疗产品和服务商标加快初步审查的请求。USPTO将监测该程序的工作量和所需的资源、公众的反馈以及程序的效率。公众可以向TMPolicy@uspto.gov提交有关该程序的意见或问题。如果美国专利商标局认为有必要对该程序进行修改，或者不再授权优先审查符合资格的COVID-19医疗相关产品和服务相关的申请，美国专利商标局将在修改或终止该程序之前公布通知。

文章英文来源：USPTO

https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/uspto-announces-covid-19-prioritized-examination-program-certain-trademark