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IP Legal Bulletin

Short notes on rule changes at patent and trade mark offices: laws, fees, procedures, deadlines and funding calls. Every note links to its official source, and past issues stay in the archive.

  • Information, not legal advice
  • Written with AI assistance, checked automatically against the source
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Offices followed: 14 (EPO, EUIPO, EU, UKIPO, DPMA (Germany), IGE (Switzerland), PRV (Sweden), PRH (Finland), Patentamt (Austria), IPOI (Ireland), USPTO, TIPO (Taiwan), WIPO, IPONZ (New Zealand)). · 29 coming soon

Issue of 20 July 2026

4 notes

Office
  • EPOProcedure

    MyEPO release 1.31.0 makes pilot features available to all users

    MyEPO release 1.31.0 makes several features available to all users after pilot trials were completed. The release notes link to feature guides on portfolios and documents, procedural requests, and managing user access, including an option to delete associations.

    Published by the source on 21 July 2026

    Official source: EPO, Official Journal and legal notices

  • EPOProcedure

    Patent granting process fully digital as of 1 April 2027

    The EPO says the patent granting process will be fully digital as of 1 April 2027. The office prepares to make digital filing and notification mandatory.

    Published by the source on 23 July 2026

    Official source: EPO, news

  • USPTOProcedure

    USPTO proposes naming all real parties in interest in ex parte reexamination requests

    The USPTO proposes to amend its rules of practice so that a third party request for ex parte reexamination must include a statement naming all real parties in interest. The statement would be kept confidential on request. The Office says this would give it a way to evaluate statutory estoppel provisions and to respond to false certifications, misrepresentations and fraud.

    Published by the source on 22 July 2026

    Official source: Federal Register, United States Patent and Trademark Office

  • USPTOProcedure

    PTAB revises SOP 1 on assigning judges to panels

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued Revision 17 of Standard Operating Procedure 1, its internal procedures for assigning administrative patent judges to panels in appeals and America Invents Act proceedings. The revision streamlines the assignment process and says statutory members of the PTAB may be paneled on cases in the ordinary course.

    Published by the source on 21 July 2026

    Official source: USPTO, news and updates

Notes are written with the help of artificial intelligence from the offices’ official sources, and each note is checked automatically against its source before it appears. Our editors review and correct them. Every note links to its source. Information, not legal advice.

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Offices coming soon

These offices are declared and will be followed as soon as their official source can be read automatically. Their notes are not in the bulletin yet.

Europe

  • UPCEurope (UPC states)
  • MIMIT (Italy)Italy
  • OEPM (Spain)Spain
  • DKPTO (Denmark)Denmark
  • Patentstyret (Norway)Norway
  • BOIP (Benelux)Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg
  • UPRP (Poland)Poland
  • IPO CZ (Czechia)Czechia
  • INPI (Portugal)Portugal
  • TURKPATENT (Türkiye)Türkiye
  • Rospatent (Russia)Russia

Asia

  • JPO (Japan)Japan
  • KIPO (Korea)South Korea
  • CNIPA (China)China
  • CGPDTM (India)India
  • IPD (Hong Kong)Hong Kong
  • IP VietnamVietnam
  • IPOPHL (Philippines)Philippines
  • DIP (Thailand)Thailand
  • DGIP (Indonesia)Indonesia
  • MyIPO (Malaysia)Malaysia
  • ILPO (Israel)Israel
  • SAIP (Saudi Arabia)Saudi Arabia

International

  • EAPOEurasia
  • OAPIAfrica (member states)
  • GCC Patent OfficeGulf Cooperation Council

Other

  • IP AustraliaAustralia
  • INPI (Brazil)Brazil
  • CIPC (South Africa)South Africa

Also watched, with nothing relevant lately: INPI (France), IPOS (Singapore), ARIPO, CIPO (Canada), IMPI (Mexico).