Class 46 readers may be interested in the following news recently shared by the UK Intellectual Property Office:

Claiming an EU filing date – 30 September 2021 deadline: After 30 September 2021 applicants for a UK right will no longer be able to claim the filing date of an EU trade mark or design application pending on 1 January 2021.

The IPO is encouraging any who have not yet done so, but wish to, not to wait until just before the deadline. (See news story on the IPO website).

Calls for views: The UK government is holding consultations on Exhaustion of IP rights and Repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA).

The government’s response to the consultation on the Review of the IP enforcement framework has published.

Customer service standards: The IPO has published its customer service standards and performance against them. It intends to update this each month. It has also published the annual report and accounts 2020 to 2021 and Facts and Figures for 2020.

Digital renewals service: Following a successful trial, the IPO has launched its digital IP renewal service, which reduces bulk renewal time from days to minutes. This is now open to all customers (see press release).

Closing the loop: The second edition of a closing the loop blog has been published, with a link to a video describing upcoming changes. These include: an improved bulk change of address for service for patents, mandating company registration number for UK based companies applying for a trade mark, and e-mailing design filing receipts.

Thanks to Roland Mallinson, Chair of the MARQUES Brexit Task Force, for sharing this information