The United Kingdom Office has withdrawn its notification made under Rule 34 (2) (b) of the Common Regulations applicable to the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol.
As a result, since May 6, 2019, the United Kingdom Office no longer collects and forwards to the International Bureau of WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) the fees due under these regulations.
In other words, any payment of these fees pursuant to a registration requested of the United Kingdom Office must be made directly to WIPO, as is already the case in France. As a result of this administrative change, a payment can now be made in four ways:
– By debiting a WIPO current account;
– By credit card, but only for payments of fees related to renewal of registered marks, notification of irregularities issued by the Office, or for additional fees relating to the designation of additional contracting parties after the trademark has been registered. Such payments are made in Swiss francs and require a WIPO reference number;
– By bank transfer;
– By postal transfer for inter-European payments.
To be handled correctly, payments by bank transfer must include the name and complete address of the payer, the transaction code (EN), the trademark number, the trademark name, if available, or its verbal elements, and the name of the trademark holder, if different from the payer. In the case of multiple requests, a list containing each request and the amount paid for each request is also required.
It is important to pay all fees in full, otherwise an irregularity notification will be issued. This notification shall specify a payment period beyond which the request shall be deemed to have been abandoned.
As the United Kingdom Registrar no longer makes these payments to WIPO, it is up to the applicant or his representative to be vigilant and diligent when making them.