Outcomes from the Government’s 2nd Consultation on the UK IPO Transformation Programme

The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has reached a significant milestone in its digital transformation journey with the publication of the government's response to its second transformation consultation. This consultation, which ran between August and October 2023, proposed several changes aimed at modernising the UK IPO's trade mark and design services, with a view to making them more accessible and efficient.

Key Outcomes of the Consultation:

Publishing Trade Mark and Design Documents Online: For the first time, trade mark and design documents will be available online for public inspection, similar to the current availability of patent documents. Interestingly, this will include examination reports.

Series Marks to be discontinued: The series marks service for new applicants will be discontinued. The rationale provided is that this will streamline the application process and reduce complexity for users and align with other jurisdictions. 

Encouraging Mediation: The IPO Tribunal will look to trial mediation meetings for disputes where neither party has legal representation, aiming to resolve conflicts more efficiently and amicably.

Extending Fee Payment Periods: Fee payment periods for Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs) will be extended to increase consistency across different IP rights.

The modernisation of the UK IPO system is very welcome. The digital patent service is due to launch later this year (autumn 2025) with the digitisation of the trade mark and designs services to follow in later in 2026. The loss of series marks, whilst a shame, is not overly surprising and will align the UK system with most other jurisdictions and we look forward to the IPO issuing revised guidance on best practices for protecting variants of trade marks. 

For more details, you can read the full government response on the GOV.UK website.