Apply for, manage or renew UK patents in one place quickly and easily, thanks to new digital offer from Intellectual Property Office.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has today (April 1) launched a suite of new digital services enabling users for apply for and manage their patents.
Photo by George Diama / Unsplash
Patents are an essential component of business. They help ensure that inventors are recognised and rewarded for their inventions.
The inventor themselves or sometime entitled to their invention can apply for a patent, either as an individual or a group. To qualify, the invention must be new and inventive – not just a small change to some existing item – as well as practical. It must be something made and used, or a technical process or method. A patent lasts for 20 years; if a patent-holder wants it to stay in force, they must reapply each year.
That whole process should be made quicker and easier using the new digital platform. The new ‘Apply for a patent’ is a digital patent application service, where you can complete your application in any order, save drafts and collaborate with colleagues. You can also view your application details and any updates in your account, and update your application at any time through your account.
Meanwhile, the new ‘Manage intellectual property’ enables patent-holders to create their own digital IP account as a gateway to our other new digital services. Benefits include the ability to search and view the status of your UK patents at any time, make changes to your patents quickly via digital self-service, and renew patents digitally from your IP account.
All the IPO’s core patents services now feature on the new platform, and services relating to trade marks and registered designs will follow in due course.
The new platform can be found at https://www.manage-intellectual-property.service.gov.uk/; to access the services, you will need to either create or sign in with a GOV.UK.UK One Login.
There is also a detailed guide to the new IPO patents service.
This is the latest development in the IPO’s wider digital transformation programme. In 2024, we reported on the first patent filed using IPO’s new digital service. In January last year, the IPO launched both Search a Patent and Check the Patent Journal tools. It has also published a roadmap for further developments over the next year.
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