Following today's review, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) have announced that the period of "interrupted days", which was originally introduced on 27 March 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, will come to an end on 29 July 2020. This means that the first normal day of operation when all interrupted days deadlines expire will be Thursday, 30 July 2020.
Accordingly any actions before the UKIPO for which deadlines previously fell within the period of "interrupted days" will need to be carried by 30 July 2020. Existing deadlines on all cases involving patents, supplementary protection certificates, trade marks, and designs, and contentious matters concerning such IP rights have effectively been extended until 30 July 2020.
Overall, this is positive news as it signals confidence in returning to pre-COVID-19 working practices following a reduction in new infections. Our recommendation for clients mirrors that of the UKIPO and proposes, where possible, to complete outstanding actions before the final extended deadline. This will allow the UKIPO to process submissions more effectively and reduce the risk of potential technical problems on the 30th of July when there is bound to be a surge in traffic to the UKIPO.
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