Intellectual Property Office launches its new
online patent renewal service.
The
Intellectual Property Office (IPO) yesterday (1 July 2014) launched its new
online patent renewal service, making it simpler, quicker and cheaper for
businesses and inventors to renew their patents.
‘Renew a patent’ is one of the
government’s 25 exemplar projects which are focused on redesigning and
rebuilding government services, helping to transform the way people use
services online.
Lord Younger, Minister for Intellectual Property (IP),
said:
More than 400,000 patents are renewed every year and
more than a quarter of paper submissions have errors. A renewal request can be
completed using the new service in under 4 minutes saving valuable time and
money for both IP specialists and businesses.
The IPO is committed to delivering high
quality services and improving the experience of its customers, and this latest
development is part of a programme to transform all of its digital
services.
Development of the new service began in August 2013 and
through various testing phases, customers have so far renewed more than 2,500
patents to date. Feedback from businesses, private applicants
and IP professionals, has helped define the service launched
yesterday.
This new service is part of a reform programme to
simplify and improve customers’ experience. People can already apply
online for patents and trade marks. They can also renew trade marks online, but
yesterday’s launch is another step forward in the IPO’s
digital services transformation.
The IPO will also be moving its website to
the GOV.UK platform later this year
(2014).
Notes for editors
- The
new service, ‘Renew a patent’ can be found at www.gov.uk/renew-patent. It will not replace existing
methods of renewing patents, details of which can be found at www.gov.uk/renew-patent#other-ways-to-apply.
- The IPO provides a range of key services
online, including searching for a patent (www.gov.uk/search-for-patent) and applying for
patents(www.gov.uk/apply-for-a-patent) as well as registering trade
marks(www.gov.uk/register-a-trademark).
- ‘Renew a patent’ is one of the
government’s 25 exemplar projects helping to transform the way people use
online services. More information about the programme can be found at www.gov.uk/transformation.