PLT Notification No. 30
Patent Law Treaty (PLT)

Communication of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Relating to Rule 8(2)(b) of the Patent Law Treaty

The Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) presents his compliments to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and has the honor to notify him/her of the receipt from the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, on May 23, 2011, of a written communication dated May 23, 2011, regarding the requirements for filing electronic requests for uncertified copies from patent files.

July 29, 2011

Text of the Communication of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Relating to Rule 8(2)(b) of the Patent Law Treaty (PLT)

[Original: English]

COMMUNICATION

This is a notification under Patent Law Treaty Rule 8(2)(b) that the requirements in the UK for filing electronic requests for uncertified copies have changed.

Under section 124A of the Patents Act 1977, the Comptroller can direct the form and manner in which documents may be sent to him electronically. New "E Directions" are made from time to time, as electronic services and new technologies develop.

The E Directions made under section 124A of the Patents Act 1977 and entitled "Requests for electronic uncertified copies from patent files" (available at www.ipo.gov.uk/p-direction-copies.htm) which were made in January 2008 and came into force on 21 January 2008 were revoked on 14 April 2011.

New E directions have been made under section 124A of the Patents Act 1977 which provide for electronic requests for electronic uncertified copies of documents from the patent files to be provided by email or on compact disk. These directions are available at www.ipo.gov.uk/p-direction-viewondisk.htm. These came into force on 14 April 2011.

New E directions have also been made under section 124A of the Patents Act 1977 which provide for electronic requests for electronic uncertified copies of documents from the patent files to be viewed, downloaded or printed online. These directions are available at http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-types/pro-patent/p-law/p-legislation/p-direction/p-direction-viewonline.htm. These came into force on 14 April 2011, in time for the launch of the "beta" version of Ipsum, our online service for the inspection of documents from a patent file.  This service is available at www.ipo.gov.uk/p-ipsum.