The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) has recently launched a new facility offering online access to documents filed in relation to a UK patent application. The facility, called ‘Ipsum’, is offered free of charge, and is similar to a service already offered by the European Patent Office, otherwise known as ‘EPOline’.
All UK patent applications publish automatically around 18 months from the filing date (or priority date, if there is one) as part of the normal application process. At that time, most documents issued and received by the UK IPO in relation to a particular case will become available for public inspection using the new facility.
The UK IPO is currently operating an interim BETA service providing access to a limited number of patents, with a full service being launched around October 2011.