From 1 March 2021, a number of important changes will affect the way the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) communicates with customers. The changes are reflected in two key decisions recently adopted by the Executive Director of the EUIPO.
No more fax. As fax communications prove less and less reliable the EUIPO has discontinued its fax service as a means of communication in EUIPO procedures.
Fully eComm: the EUIPO’s secure e-communications platform will be the accepted means of communication for account holders in all matters relating to EU trade marks and designs via the User Area. Users, who have not chosen eComm as their preferred means of communication, will be automatically switched to eComm.
File-sharing from the User Area: the ‘Fax alternative’ button, found in the User Area under the ‘Communications’ tab, will be renamed ‘Correspondence alternative’. While the usual terms and conditions will still apply, this will serve as a back-up in the event of malfunction of specific e-operations.
File-sharing from outside the User Area: a new option will be available for users who are unable to access their account. The file-sharing platform will be independent from the EUIPO’s website and will be available during the EUIPO’s business hours after contacting them.
Hyperlinks to supporting documents: attachments in documents sent by the EUIPO will be in the form of hyperlinks rather than physical documents, where appropriate. The hyperlinks will lead to the User Area from where the user can download the documents.
No more CDs and DVDs
USBs and pen drives: users must submit documents or other items of evidence for use in proceedings using small portable storage drives, such as USB flash drives, and not external hard drives, such as CD-ROMs or optical discs.
