Patent Office Updates You Need to Know (August 24, 2020)
As part of our dedication to helping our clients stay up-to-date on the ever-changing landscape as it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve compiled the following highlights of changes to patent, trademark, and copyright operations around the world.
As always, a complete list of countries may be found in our Google Document.
Update Highlights
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The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) kicked off the 21st annual Invention-Con. This annual event features virtually three days of high-intensity innovation and intellectual property (IP) training from 40 of America’s top IP experts.
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The European Patent Office (EPO) has requested that external partners refrain from visiting if they recently visited a high risk area and are requiring that any visitor seeking entry must sign a declaration that they have not visited a high risk area in the past two weeks.
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The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has announced that deadlines and fee payment dates which fall between March 16 and August 27 are extended to August 28. August 28, 2020 represents the end of the designated days period.
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The deputy director-general of IP Australia has issued exemptions from certain extension of time fees for patents, trademarks and designs. These documents provide that fees will not apply to some extensions of time during the COVID-19 pandemic requested in the period between September 1 and September 30, 2020.
- Other general closures & deadline extensions have been added to the document.
If you have any patent or trademark questions during this time, do not hesitate to contact us.
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Vorys COVID-19 Task Force
Vorys attorneys and professionals are counseling our clients in the myriad issues related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. We have also established a comprehensive Coronavirus Task Force, which includes attorneys with deep experience in the niche disciplines that we have been and expect to continue receiving questions regarding coronavirus. Learn more and see the latest updates from the task force at vorys.com/coronavirus.
