New digital patents services have launched

Patents service update: October 2026

On 1 April 2026 we launched our new patents service. Since then, we have been making improvements to the new service and working towards retiring the legacy services.

Retiring legacy patents services

We previously announced that we intend to retire our legacy patents services this autumn. Our original plan was to decommission Web Filing and [email protected] services together. We have listened carefully to customer feedback and worked closely with the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) to understand how we can minimises the impact on our customers. Accordingly, we will now be doing this in a more phased approach.

We will be taking the following steps:

1. We will not be retiring the Web Filing service on 8 November 2026. This will remain open for the time being. We will confirm a precise retirement date for Web Filing soon but we expect this to be early in December.

2. The [email protected] email address will continue to be available after Web Filing is retired.

3. We will be providing a contingency document upload service in the next few weeks that can be used as a back-up if you are unable to use the new patents service. We will make this available before the Web Filing service is decommissioned. We will share more information on this soon.

4. We are rolling out a new 'submission receipt' feature for the new patents service that is expected to be available from Thursday 29 October 2026. It will allow you to access a receipt of your application details immediately after you submit it. This will mean you no longer have to wait for a security check to see the full details of what you submitted. This will be in place before Web Filing is retired.

Changes to patent renewal services

From 9 November 2026, we will be asking customers to renew their patents from their IP account, instead of the current GOV.UK site. There will be no change to how you renew trade marks and registered designs.

Why we are doing this

We are moving the renewals service onto a new platform that is more modern to ensure a high-quality service going forward and bring our patents services together in one place.

The renewals service for trade marks and designs will eventually be moved to this platform as part of our digital transformation of those services.

What this means

The patent renewals service will work in almost exactly the same way as it has previously. You will still be able to pay by card or deposit account and renew up to 1,500 patents in a single transaction.

The main difference is how you access it. The patent renewal service will now be accessed via a customer account, so you have to sign up for an account (if you don't have one already) and login to use it.

On 9 November 2026, the page you currently use (Renew a patent, trade mark or registered design) to access our renewal services will be updated and direct you to login to your IP account to renew your patents. You will still be able to renew trade marks and designs from this page without an account.

You will no longer be able to renew patents, trade marks and designs in one transaction. Patent renewals are will be available inside your IP account. You will still be able to renew trade marks and designs in one transaction via the existing renewal service.

Signing up for an account

You can sign up for an IP account on GOV.UK. Once your account is created, you can access the renewals service via the 'Renew an IP right' tab on the homepage of your account.

The benefits of the account

The account is the gateway to all of the IPO's new digital patents services. This includes everything from applying for patents to managing your patents and renewing your patents.

If you wish, you can link your account to your organisation. This will give you access to view patents that are owned or managed by your organisation.

You do not have to link your account to renew a patent.

Improvements to the patents service

Since launch we have been working hard to improve the new patents service based on your feedback. You can find out more about the improvements we've already made and what we have planned from:

To get email updates on how we're improving the patents service subscribe to email updates and pick the 'Patents Service updates' topic.

Get in touch

If you have any questions about either decommissioning of our legacy services or the new service, contact [email protected].

Archive

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