IPO patents service roadmap

On 1 April 2026 we launched our new patents service to the public. This is the September update for our service roadmap, which details our plans to improve the service over the next year.

What we've done

You can see full details of the updates we've made on our patents service updates and improvements page. Some highlights include the following.

Assigning representative

We've made assigning the user's organisation as the representative much easier for GB and national phase patent applications. The service will now present the user's organisation as the first option when assigning a representative for their patent, so no more laborious searching.

Full address details

When applying for a patent, full addresses are now displayed when users search for applicants, inventors or representatives. Previously, some details (like the city or county) were missing.

Account creation

We've made some improvements to the account creation and sign-up process, with more to come.

Patents journal

Users can now see and search for patent applicant and owner details in the Check the Patents Journal service.

Reduced service disruption

On 10 September we made our first 'zero downtime' update which sets us on the path to reduced service disruption going forward. While there will be some service maintenance windows in the future, these will start to become increasingly rare as we automate more of our technical processes.

What we're doing now

These are the highest priority improvements that we're working on now. We expect these to be done in Autumn 2026.

Patent application improvements

These improvements include:

• providing users with a submission receipt immediately after their patent application has been submitted- further information is provided in our developer blog

• improvements to the 'Check your answers' page to include fee details and to prompt further checks

Respond to an examination improvement

A new additional documents upload option, allowing response letter in PDF format and option for users to add their reference to the response

Improvements to account sign up

We have introduced a better process for linking user's account to their patents when they sign up.

What we're doing next

These are the things we're working on next. We expect these to be done in winter 2026 to 2027.

Search improvements

Users will get more accurate and relevant search results and be able to search in more ways, for example by publication number.

Change of name and address

The change name and change address features will be added to the service.

Withdrawal

To give users greater confidence when withdrawing applications we will be adding the option to upload supporting information and displaying more information about the application that is being withdrawn. We will also be adding a further prompt before withdrawals are completed to reduce the risk of applications being withdrawn in error.

Renewal reminder and ceasing notifications

We will issue digital reminders when a patent is due for renewal or is being ceased.

What we're doing later

These are other important improvements we expect to make in spring 2027.

Correspondence

Improvements to correspondence, including who receives it, downloading multiple documents at once and a document previewer. This was previously expected in winter 2026 to 2027.

Payment and invoicing

Users will receive invoices sooner for new patent applications. Previously we expected this update to include a way to check user's deposit accounts balance in their IP account - this will now come at a later date.

National Phase applications

We've made improvements to how users claim a priority date on national phase applications.

Archive

When this page is updated old content will be removed so it remains current. You can find previous versions of our roadmap by viewing the archive timeline of this page, which can be searched by calendar date. You can also view 'Show all updates' at the bottom of this page to see when the page was updated.