COVID-19 Patent & Trademark Office Updates

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

• The European Patent Office (EPO) is postponing all EPO live events until September 14, 2020. The 2020 edition of the European Inventor Award, planned to be held in Monaco on June 17-18, has also been postponed to June 17, 2021.
  
  
• The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (UKIPO) is currently unable to issue any letters in relation to patent renewals, recommending to proactively manage renewals rather than relying on these letters. These letters will be issued once the office re-opens.
  
  
• 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.