In these unprecedented times it is business as usual for Downing IP, albeit with a very different approach to office staffing. We have been keeping one person in the office at a time, with the rest of us working remotely. The videoconferencing and chat software that came bundled with some other more useful applications has suddenly become part of our everyday life, with routine use of video calls to communicate with clients and amongst ourselves.

While we are all getting used to the changing nature of the work environment I wanted to assure you that intellectual property work is rolling forward. The UK IPO and European Patent Office are still functioning, with only minor restrictions on certain operations that are not really having any effect on operations. You can check out these links for more information:

UK IPO: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-important-update-on-ipo-services

European Patent Office https://www.epo.org/news-issues/covid-19.html

The EUIPO (i.e. the European Office for trade marks and designs) has long operated on a paperless basis, and all its day-to-day activities have been conducted electronically for quite some time now. So they seem to be completely unaffected!

With the “new normal” in the process of defining itself, therefore, we will continue to operate in the most productive way that we can and will continue to deliver IP services for you.