Patent Office Updates You Need to Know (August 4, 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 European Patent Office (EPO) has released a joint statement with the IP5 heads of office which confirmed that all five offices will continue to work together to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The EPO has decided to postpone until further notice all oral proceedings in opposition scheduled until December 31, 2020 (previously until September 14, 2020). Applicants can delay payment of renewal fees due from June 1 through August 31 without incurring any late fees.
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The EPO has reassessed its “Request for a change of date” measures: if parties cannot attend oral proceedings before the Boards of Appeal for which they have been summoned, they will now have to request a change of date.
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The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) Executive Director released a video update which noted that the Office has seen an increase in trademark filings during the pandemic in comparison to previous years and confirmed that employees will return to the EUIPO’s headquarters in the beginning of September.
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The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (UKIPO) has ended the period of interruption and normal operations began on July 30, 2020. The UKIPO has made "temporary changes" to its registration fees from July 30, 2020 until March 31, 2021 in relation to patents, supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) trademarks and registered designs.
- 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
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