Intellectual Property Office files first patent with new digital service

The UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is celebrating the first patent application successfully being filed on its new, fully-digital “One IPO” patents service.

The news of the first patent being filed this way comes as the IPO is ramping up its pilot of the service, where some customers have been given early access to test and offer their feedback ahead of the expected launch to all patent customers in early 2025.

The IPO has also debuted an AI-powered patent allocation tool, which supposedly cuts the time taken to get the patent application to the right team down from 14 days to a matter of seconds.

The Intellectual Property Office has said that the new patient application service will offer customers many sought-after improvements, such as:

• view, manage and update your portfolio of UK patents online for the first time;
  more fluid patent applications that allow customers to submit information in manageable chunks and in the order that suits them;
• save and share draft applications with colleagues and clients for easy collaboration and a more flexible way of working – this is one of our most requested features;
• built-in checks to prevent errors and give instant feedback on formatting issues, meaning fewer unnecessary delays, and;
• reusing data from the customers’ account to save time and prevent customers from having to re-enter information on each application.

The secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, Peter Kyle, hailed the One IPO service as “a true revolution in efficiency”: “The IPO’s new service is an embodiment of our vision to transform how we deliver slicker and quicker digital services to the British public.

“The One IPO system will make it easier for users to bring their new innovations to market. Through the application of cutting-edge AI, it will also change what is currently a weeks-long administrative process into one taking a matter of seconds.

“This represents a true revolution in efficiency, supporting innovators to deliver the solutions which will kickstart our economic growth and usher in a new era of productivity.”

Murgitroyd—a large full-service intellectual property firm—welcomed the IPO to its Southampton office to mark the occasion with patent attorneys and paralegal teams alike seeing the programme in action.

Thomas Gibb, chief compliance officer at Murgitroyd, etched his name in IPO history as the first person to file a patent in the new service.

Gibb commented: “It looks like a great system. We’re really excited about what it can do already and we’re looking forward to seeing how it will develop.

“The team were really positive about it – it looks easier to use than what we’re used to. It was exciting to join the pilot, file the first patent and be a part of patent history!”

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Since 2021, the IPO has been transforming the services they offer through the One IPO Transformation Programme, which aims to provide a single, integrated service for managing all UK IP rights.

The IPO said that the Transformation Programme is the most challenging and ambitious endeavour in the IPO’s history, and is core to the IPO’s goal of becoming a more innovative, dynamic, and responsive organisation.

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