Dear Valued Clients and Colleagues:
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to alter our daily lives, we want to put your mind at ease at least with respect to the intellectual property matters handled by our firm. Thankfully, we are accustomed to working remotely. Sheila has worked remotely at three prior firms and her practice has been paperless since 2008 (traditional patent tri-fold folders with copious amounts of paper neatly organized and tacked down inside were completely ditched in 2011). As such, we launched Aura IP Law with over a decade of experience working remotely and with all necessary systems in place to support full-time remote working arrangements. We are well-equipped and committed to providing you with uninterrupted service.
What to expect from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”)?
As of today, other than being closed to the public, the USPTO remains fully operational and deadlines are not being extended. The USPTO acknowledged on Monday that the coronavirus outbreak is an “extraordinary situation” and is providing a form of relief, via a petition fee waiver, for applicants whose matters lapse for failure to respond to an Office communication due to the effects of COVID-19. While we do not anticipate needing to make use of this relief, it is comforting to know it is available.
What to expect from Aura IP Law?
We will continue business mostly as usual. We say “mostly” because in the interest of full transparency, as a women-owned and operated law firm, we are mothers with children who are now home from school for the foreseeable future. We ask in advance for your understanding if our response times are slightly slower or if you hear a child or a dog or a chicken (true story) in the background on a call. This is our reality as we do our part not only to stay safe ourselves but even more so to control the spread of the virus to those who are susceptible to more severe symptoms. Rest assured we are reading your emails every day, monitoring your matters at the USPTO, and working full days even if those days are interrupted at times. You will continue to receive timely reporting on your matters, responses to your inquiries, emails from us regarding upcoming deadlines, and the same commitment to quality you can always expect from us.
If you are searching for educational social media content to break up your feed, consider connecting with us on Instagram @auraiplaw, where we post educational IP content in our feed and share a more personal side of us via a random mix of work, life, and humor in our story. Yesterday’s story was particularly amusing.
Finally, feel free to check out our recent blog post with tips on how we are weathering this storm. We are by no means experts or authority on the matter, but you might find something useful.
You are part of our Aura IP Law family and we wish you and your loved ones health and safety through this unprecedented time. Thank you again for entrusting us with your IP matters.