By Donald Zuhn –

In an email USPTO Alert that was distributed this afternoon, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that its offices will be closed on December 24 and December 26.  Because December 25 is listed as one of eleven federal holidays on the U.S. Office of Personal Management web site (as it is annually), the USPTO will also be closed on Christmas Day.  According to the USPTO announcement, the closures on Wednesday, December 24 and Friday, December 26 are the result of “the official closing of the Federal Government offices, including the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)” on those days.  The Office also noted that “the USPTO will consider actions or fees due on Wednesday, December 24, through Friday, December 26, to be timely if taken or paid no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, December 29, which is the next business day on which the USPTO is scheduled to be open.”

According to the announcement, notices regarding the additional days on which the USPTO will be closed will be published in the Official Gazette and on the Office’s Patent Related Notices webpage “in due course” (these notices were not yet available at the time this article was posted).

While not intended to be a comprehensive list of other patent office closures, Patent Docs has become aware of the following patent office closures during the upcoming holidays:

• The European Patent Office (EPO) will be closed from Wednesday, December 24, 2025 through Thursday, January 1, 2026 (see “Office holidays“)

• The Instituto Nacional da Propriedade Industrial (INPI; Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office) will be closed from 1:00 pm on Wednesday, December 24, 2025 through December 26, 2025 and then from 1:00 pm on Wednesday, December 31, 2025 through January 2, 2026.

• The Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial (IMPI; Mexican Patent and Trademark Office) closed its offices on Monday, December 22, 2025 and will reopen on Wednesday, January 7, 2026.

Patent Docs readers aware of other patent office closures are invited to submit comments with the dates of those other office closures.