Patents service updates and improvements

What we’re working on

We’ve published a roadmap we’re working on over the next 12 months. These are the highest priority improvements that we’re working on now. We expect these to be done in summer / autumn 2026.

• patent application improvements 
  - changes to make it easier to select the correct representative for the account
  - when you submit a patent application you will get an immediate receipt of what you submitted. This ‘submission receipt’ will give you all the information you’d have in your official filing receipt and more, including any documents
  - improvements to ‘check your answers’ page to include fee details and to prompt further checks

• respond to an examination improvements
  - additional documents upload option, allowing response letter in PDF format and option to add your reference to the response 

• improvements to account sign up
  - introduce a better process for linking your account to your patents when you sign up

• Contingency

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Release notes: 22 July 2026

Service improvements

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We have made the following improvements to the Apply for a patent service: 

• you will now be able to add representative details more easily when applying for a nationalfor a GB phasepatent. On patent (NP1). On the ’Assign representation’ screen you will now be presented with three options if your account is linked to an organisation:
  
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or individual 

This means that you will only need to search for an attorney or representative if the representative is not you / your organisationis not you / your organisation. This - this update has alreadynot beenyet appliedbeen applied to GBnational phase patent applications

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