Effective on March 10, 2022, the amendments to Australian Design Act will provide design applicants with more flexibility when they seek design protection. The main points of the amendments can be concluded as follows:   (1) Extension of the grace period to 12 months. (2) Infringement exemption for prior use. (3) Automatic registration—removing the publication option. (4) The relief from infringement before registration. (5) The right for exclusive licensee to file an infringement lawsuit. (6) The simplification for updating formal requirements. (7) Other amendments. Released by TIPO

Having the Japan-Taiwan Concordance List of Similar Group Codes completed, the JPO is pleased to publish the Japan-Taiwan Concordance List of Similar Group Codes corresponding to Nice Classification, 11th edition, version 2022 (NCL11-2022) (effective on January 1, 2022). Source: Intellectual Property Office

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Furniture Industries Confederation (EFIC) signed a collaboration to generate awareness of intellectual property to national furniture associations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Both organizations are working to foster a positive change in perception of intellectual property among EU SMEs and provide them with information and tools for protecting their ideas and designs. Released by TIPO

In the context of the EU external action and its Neighborhoods policies, the EUIPO is committed to support the Ukrainian IP system in order to align it with EU standards, practices and tools. Released by TIPO

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a new Patent Public Search tool that provides more convenient, remote, and robust full-text searching of all U.S. patents and published patent applications on February 1, 2022. Released by TIPO

By joining the Marrakesh Treaty, over 17 million blind and visually impaired persons in China will now have even greater access to copyrighted works. It will also increase the cross-border movement of Chinese language content in formats accessible to members of this community in other parts of the world. Source: Intellectual Property Office

Searching for images of trademarks and designs over the years has always been a challenge. As part of the EUIPO’s digital transformation programs (in particular, the Digital Evolution Program), the Office has released its first in-house image search tool. It was made available via eSearch plus from November 29, 2021. Released by TIPO

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) announced that it will become a depositing office for patent applications for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Digital Access Service (DAS), effective on February 1, 2022. Applicants can request that their documents be uploaded to DAS at the time of filing. If applicants need to make a DAS request after filing, they can use CIPO’s new document request form. Released by TIPO

Austria ratified the Protocol to the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court on provisional application (PAP-Protocol) on December 2, 2021, becoming the pivotal 13th European Union (EU) member approving PAP-Protocol. Following the next day of deposit of its ratification instrument by Austria, the Provisional Application Period (PAP) officially came into force on January 19, 2022. The final preparations for the Unified Patent Court will now start. Released by TIPO

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) intend to further improve their Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programs. More specifically, to ensure that the original goals of the PPH are achieved, both Offices set the targets for the extent to which examination is accelerated under the program, i.e. time taken to issue an office action under the PPH after the examiner can start examination upon a PPH request or the applicant’s response to an office action. Released by TIPO