COVID-19 Update

新闻 | 14.09.2020

HOFFMANN EITLE continues to be fully operational. Our systems are safe and reliable and facilitate remote access. We are of course continuing to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely. As a helpful guide for announcements related to COVID-19, please refer to the following links:

1. EPO

2. DPMA

3. EUIPO

4. WIPO

5. Regional Courts

6. Federal Court of Justice

7. Federal Constitutional Court

8. European Court of Justice

9. Italian Patent and Trademark Office (no English/German Version)

10. Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (no English/German Version)

11. French Patent and Trademark Office (no English/German Version)

12. UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) 

 

********* UPDATE MARCH 17, 2020 *********

While many European countries, including Germany, are facing severe restrictions of public life, the COVID-19 pandemic is increasingly also affecting the patent law system. Numerous oral proceedings at the EPO have been cancelled, mostly on a case by case basis. All appeal hearings scheduled between 16 and 27 March 2020 have been rescheduled.

The EPO has qualified the situation as general dislocation within the meaning of Rule 134(2) EPC and decided that periods expiring on or after March 15 are extended to 17 April 2020 (for details go to the EPO Website).

In order to ensure safe processing of our terms, we will continue to operate on the basis of the originally set deadlines and kindly request our clients to respect these terms as well. If, in exceptional cases, instructions cannot be provided within the originally set deadlines, please notify us by when we can expect to receive them.

In Spain, the administrative procedures managed by the SPTO are suspended and interrupted as long as the state of emergency, which was declared on March 13, is maintained. No final date has been specified so far (for details go to the OEPM Website – in Spanish – or contact our Madrid Office).

HOFFMANN EITLE continues to be fully operational. Our systems are safe and reliable and facilitate remote access. We will of course continue to monitor the situation closely and will keep you informed with further updates, as appropriate.

We would like to wish for the continued good health to all of you and your families and friends.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

********* UPDATE of March 13, 2020 *********


In consideration of the current situation regarding COVID-19, we have immediately taken all the precautionary measures recommended by health organizations and authorities to minimize the risk for our team and to ensure full uninterrupted services for our clients. Our electronic file system and filing tools allow safe and reliable remote access for all of our offices: Munich, London, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, and Amsterdam.

*********

Specific to Italy, the Italian Patent and Trademark Office has issued a directive suspending all deadlines under the Italian Industrial Property Code with respect to patents, trademarks and designs up to and including April 3, 2020, unless an additional extension is provided in the meantime.

Please note that the suspension does NOT apply to:

deadlines relating to trademark opposition proceedings (deadlines for the filing of the oppositions, of the power of attorney by the opponent and of arguments and evidence in support of the opposition deadlines for appeals against decisions of the Italian Patent and Trademark Office. 

If you need to contact us, please directly write to the e-mail address of the attorney you generally work with, or write to our general address info@hoffmanneitle.it; for patent matters: Marco Benedetto and for trademark matters: Ersilia Calo. You can find the contact details of each attorney at our website.

*********

Specific to Spain, the Spanish government has declared, on March 13, a state of alarm. We do not currently know, however, of any announcements from the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office concerning a suspension of terms. If you need to contact us, please directly write to the e-mail address of the attorney you generally work with or write to our general address. You can find the contact details of each attorney at our website.

*********

Specific to the European Patent Office (EPO), while select activities have been postponed, including some oral proceedings, there has currently not been an announcement concerning a suspension of terms.

*********

We will of course continue to monitor the situation closely and will keep you informed with further updates, as appropriate.

We would like to wish for the continued good health to all of you and your families and friends.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

返回