UK Patent Office

The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom is, since 2 April 2007, the operating name of The Patent Office. It is the official government body responsible for intellectual property rights in the UK, which is an executive agency of the Skills. It was under the overall direction of the Department of Trade and Industry, until the department was disbanded and today the Patent Office is an executive agency of the Department of Innovation, Business, Universities and Skills (DIUS).

Responsibilities of the Patent Office
The Patent Office is the official government body responsible for granting Intellectual Property (IP) rights in the UK, which include designs, patents, copyright and trade marks. The UK Patent office has administrative responsibility for examining and granting or rejecting patents, and maintaining the registers of IP including patents, designs and trademarks in the UK.

Filing a Patent Application with the Patent Office
Inventors can apply for a patent by post directly with the Patent Office. An application for a patent should include a full description of the idea, a short abstract summarizing the technical features of the idea and a completed form. You should send all the information to the patent office to file a patent application with the patent office, then patent office will send a receipt confirming the date they received the application and an application number, within 3 days.

UK Patent Office Search

A request for patent office search pertaining to a present patent application has to be made within the stipulated time period along with the prescribed fee. After the request, the comptroller shall refer the application to an examiner for a preliminary examination & search, only if it includes one or two claims. The examiner shall determine whether the application complies with the rules and regulations laid down in the Act & shall revert back with the details to the comptroller. If the application is not in order the comptroller shall give the applicant an opportunity to make observations on the report or to amend the application within the specified period to comply with the rules. Thus the examiner will find out whether the invention for which a patent is sought which involves an inventive step. On any such search the examiner shall determine whether such search would serve any purpose on the application and will report the same accordingly to the comptroller. If while conducting search it appears to the Examiner that the application relates to two inventions and both cannot be linked to form a single invention , he shall initially conduct only one search pertaining to the invention specified in the claims of the application , but may also proceed to conduct search concerning other invention at the receipt of requisite fees.