Coronavirus important update on IPO services
The majority of our services remain unaffected. We ask all rights holders and IP professionals to continue to file using our online services where possible.
During this period, please allow additional time for the information you file with us to be dealt with as we adapt to new processes. We are putting these processes in place to allow us to continue to deliver services.
We recognise the current challenges faced by many. So, in order to support businesses, rights holders and IP professionals, we will be introducing the following service changes with immediate effect.
Interrupted days
We have decided to declare 24 March, and subsequent days until further notice, interrupted days. An ‘interrupted day’ is a day in which the normal course of business at the IPO is not possible.
This means that most deadlines for
- patents,
- supplementary protection certificates,
- trade marks,
- designs,
and applications for these rights, which fall on an interrupted day will be extended. To help rights holders, businesses and IP professionals plan ahead, we will provide a minimum of 2 weeks’ notice before ending the interrupted days period.
We will review on 7 May. At that point we will either continue with the period of interruption or announce that the period will end. We will give customers advance notice to plan prior to the cessation of interrupted days. Our formal notice and certificate of declaration sets out the relevant information.
Please continue to work to existing deadlines wherever possible. Interrupted days have been introduced as a safety net where the normal course of business is not possible.
Renewals
We are currently unable to issue any letters in relation to renewals. These letters will be issued once the office re-opens. This may result in some customers experiencing shorter timeframes from receipt of their letter to the expiry of their renewal period. We encourage all customers to proactively manage their renewals rather than relying on these letters.
Please note that although interrupted days extends many of our renewal deadlines, we strongly encourage our customers to meet their existing deadlines where possible. If your renewal deadline falls after the period of interruption ends, this deadline will not be extended.
The period of interruption for trade marks and designs only extends time periods mentioned in the Trade Mark and Registered Designs Rules. Any deadlines set by the Trade Mark and Designs Acts are not extendable.
The period of interruption for patents extends all time periods mentioned in the Patents Act and Rules. This should answer any queries you have regarding your renewal deadline.
Postal and paper services
Customers should use online services and communicate with us digitally whenever possible. We have suspended the posting of paper documents and notifications until further notice. We are currently only issuing documents and notifications where it can be done electronically. No documents can be filed by hand at our offices.
Documents filed with us by post will take much longer than usual to process and may not be processed until normal services resume and our sites re-open. At this point they will be given the date of receipt as a provisional filing date.
Fax
Our fax service has been turned off so we can no longer receive documents through this channel.
We have created a new email address for services that are not available online called paperformcontingency@ipo.gov.uk. This can be used instead of faxing or posting documents to us.
If you have more than one form to send, please file these in separate emails, with an accompanying fee-sheet if the form is fee-bearing.
We are able to accept electronic signatures on forms and other documents.
Certified Office Copies (COCs)
We can issue COCs by email if you give consent to receive it digitally. You should use one of the following forms to request a COC:
- Patent form 23
- Trade Mark TM31R
- Design DF23
For patent COCs, customers should use WIPO’s online Priority Document Access Service (PDAS) where possible. This can be selected when filing an application online or requested via our contingency email address.
If you order a COC by email and you also require a paper copy, request this by email to the examiner named in the covering letter issued with your COC, quoting the relevant patent/trade mark/design number. We will issue the paper copy by post when we return to normal operations.
Uncertified copies of documents are available for delivery by email only. Request an uncertified copy of a document from the Sales Team by emailing your request to sales@ipo.gov.uk and giving your consent to receive it digitally. There is a flat fee of £5 per copy.
Copies are only available for files that are available electronically.
Payments and refunds
You can make a payment either:
- using our online payment tool,
- by bank transfer quoting your IP right number or,
- if you are an IPO deposit account holder by charging your deposit account. We cannot currently accept payment by cheque or over the phone.
Ensure you pay the correct fee when sending fee-bearing forms to the paper contingency email address. Each fee-bearing form you send us should be accompanied by a supporting fee-sheet, attached to the same email.
We will continue to update this page with any changes to services, as well as providing more details as they develop.
Further information on alterations to services for specific rights:
Read the original advice at Foreign Travel Advice (UK)