UK Priority Documents Go Digital

UK Intellectual Property Office an early adopter of WIPO's electronic Priority Document Access Service

From 4 October 2009 applicants filing new GB patent applications electronically at the UK Intellectual Property Office will be able to back up a claim to priority from an earlier application by referring to a copy of the priority document held on The World Intellectual Property Organisation database.  In addition, by participating in the scheme applicants will not have to physically provide a certified copy of the priority document to each participating Patent Office with which a later patent application claiming priority is filed.

At the moment, other participating patent offices are Japan, the Republic of Korea and the USA.  The Chinese and European Patent Offices are in the process of adopting the system, and as more countries become involved the benefits of lower costs, increased certainty and convenience for applicants will grow.  More information from the UK Intellectual Property Office and the World Intellectual Property Organisation is available here and here.