Electronic patent filing available 24/7

Increased use of the EPO smart card in electronic filing

From 1 March 2010, the National Board of Patents and Registration (NBPR) begins to receive electronic patent documents daily, round the clock. The filing date will be the day when the documents have arrived electronically at the NBPR, including weekends and holidays. Electronic filing of patent documents is done by using the Epoline Online Filing software, which is available free of charge on the NBPR website http://patent.prh.fi.

The time limits set by the NBPR will remain unchanged in patent and utility model matters. For example, if the time limit for submitting documents is Saturday, the documents can be delivered on the following business day. This rule also applies to priorities. Similarly, our service hours remain the same for documents that are submitted on paper by mail or delivered to our PatRek Client Service. Thus, documents are registered as received if they arrive at PatRek before 4.15 p.m. The letterbox which is open until 8.00 p.m., located next to our main entrance, will be removed on 1 April 2010.

Certificates accepted for patent filing

From 1 March 2010, also other certificates, such as the EPO smart card, are accepted in electronic patent filing in addition to the Finnish electronic identity card. The EPO smart card can be ordered at www.epoline.org . All smart cards must be notified to the NBPR for registration in the Epoline Online Filing system.

Sections 5 and 9 in Annex 2, Special orders concerning electronic filing, of the Patent Regulations have been amended accordingly.

Further details:

NBPR, Patents and Innovations Line

Juha Rekola
Development Director
Tel. +358 (0)9 6939 5504
Email: firstname.lastname@prh.fi

Laila Jungfelt
Head of Division
Tel. +358 (0)9 6939 5663
Email: firstname.lastname@prh.fi

Päivi Rauhala
Service Specialist
Tel. +358 (0)9 6939 5668
Email: firstname.lastname@prh.fi