UK IPO clears backlog
The UK IPO has cleared its examination backlog which was standing at more than 32,000 IP rights following record demand at the UK IPO.
Driven in part by a significant leap in trade mark applications as a result of Brexit and Covid-19, it has taken two years for the backlog to clear.
Whereas five years ago the UK IPO saw 65,000 trade mark applications in a year, in 2021 it saw a total of more than 150,000. This was in part driven by Brexit and the spike in new businesses established during the pandemic.
This placed significant pressure on the UK IPO. At its highest, there was a backlog of 32,185 trade mark applications, taking an average of 35 days for each to be processed. In comparison, the UK IPO’s target is for each application to be processed within a window of ten days.
In addition to the trade mark backlog, there were also 9,507 design applications backlogged in March 2021, and 6,007 patent applications in April 2021.
In order to clear the trade mark and design backlog, the UK IPO recruited more than 100 new examiners to meet the increase in demand.
It has also improved its tools for forecasting spikes in applications, allowing resources to be organised more effectively.
Prior to Brexit, customers could secure UK registered rights for trade marks and designs through the EUIPO. However, it is now necessary to file through the UK IPO directly to gain UK protection
Tim Moss, the UK IPO’s CEO said: “Clearing our backlogs has been a huge team effort, especially given the challenges we faced in Brexit and Covid-19.
“Our teams have worked incredibly hard and made processes more efficient to help us complete examinations more quickly.”