Related Notices > Notice Concerning Safety of USPTO Mailings - UPDATE

As has been previously announced, non-trademark communications mailed from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) before October 20, 2001, were routed through the U.S. Postal Service's Brentwood Sorting Station in Washington, D.C., where workers are diagnosed as having contracted anthrax. On October 22, 2001, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advised us that it was highly unlikely that mail passing through the Brentwood postal facility was contaminated and poses any threat. It is our understanding that the CDC continues to reevaluate risks associated with transmission of mail. For the most current information on mail safety, please contact the official websites for CDC and the U.S. Postal Service.

The Brentwood Station is now closed, and USPTO mailings, both incoming and outgoing, are currently being routed through another station.

25 October 2001

ORIGINAL SIGNED /s/ NICHOLAS P. GODICI Acting Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office