The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) took a significant step towards its “One IPO” digital future by launching a digital renewal service recently.
To keep a patent, trade mark or registered design in force, the right has to be regularly renewed. Traditionally this was done using paper forms. In recent years the UKIPO provided an online renewal service, which has now been refreshed to provide new and improved functionality.
The service is the first example of the Intellectual Property Office’s ‘One IPO’ service’, providing an integrated renewal service across all registered IP rights.
Renewing a patent, trademark or design – all of which the new service can now do in a single transaction – now takes five minutes, instead of the previous five days.
The new service makes the bulk renewals process more streamlined, providing instant validation of renewal applications and eliminating errors resulting from a manual process.
It has been implemented following a successful trial period which received a 96% satisfaction rating from customers, and during which the new platform has handled around 550,000 individual IP rights.
On top of that, the agency claims that users will benefit from “automated electronic delivery of correspondence, receipts, and certificates, and can complete transactions at the time and place that suits them”.
The team working on the project also won the bronze award for this service at the Civil Service Operational Delivery Profession Awards.
This streamlining of bulk renewal fee payments is a welcome development that will improve efficiency for users of the IP system.
At Scintilla, we help innovative companies get a grip on their intellectual property. Our unique commercial approach combines registration of patents and trade marks with strategic input so that IP can be a springboard for business growth. If you would like to discuss your IP needs, do contact us or book a free initial consultation!