United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office

The UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) is an Executive Agency of Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) within the Office for Science and Innovation (OSI) and responsible for the national framework of Intellectual Property rights, comprising patent, designs, trade marks and copyright

We are based in Newport, South Wales and have a small office in central London, through which our services can be accessed. The Office is made up of seven Directorates which are responsible for: Patents; Trade Marks and Designs; Intellectual Property (IP) Policy; Finance; Information Technology; Human Resources and Corporate Administrative Services; and Customer and Innovation Support Services. We employ around 1,000 staff, with the majority based in Newport where the core of our work is carried out.

Our role is to help manage an IP system that encourages innovation and creativity, balances the needs of consumers and users, promotes strong and competitive markets and is the foundation of the knowledge based economy.

One of our business areas is to grant patents and to register designs and trade marks in the UK and to maintain them as requested by customers. Customers can file applications for patents, trade marks and designs at both the Newport and London Offices. The Office also acts as a Receiving Office for the European Patent Office (EPO) [European patent applications], the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) [Community trade mark and design applications] and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) [International patent applications].

Other aspects of our business relate to increasing the awareness of the importance of IP, ie. patents, designs, trade marks, copyright and related rights, providing information on IP to the public, and providing commercial search services. We are also responsible for UK IP policy and legislation and conduct both national and international negotiations on all IP issues.

Our customer base is extremely broad and includes the private inventor, research bodies, universities, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and large international companies who may be based anywhere in the world.

We operate in a national and an international environment and our work is governed by national and international law, including various international treaties relating to IP to which the United Kingdom is a party.

Website: http://www.ipo.gov.uk/

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