Complaints procedure

Making a complaint

We are committed to delivering excellent services to our customers. Our customer approach sets out that we will use customer feedback, insight and data for continuous improvement and service development. We will be accountable when things go wrong and take steps to put things right.

When to use this process

If the service you receive is not up to our usual high standard, contact us as soon as possible. If you have experienced any of the following for example:

Complaints against attorneys

We cannot manage complaints against patent attorneys or registered trade mark attorneys - these are dealt with by The Intellectual Property Regulation Board.

How to complain

If you have a complaint, please complete our online form via this link feedback form or email Customer Experience Unit so that your complaint can be processed by our team. You can also contact us by telephone, call the Customer Support Centre 0300 300 2000 or contact us by post:

Customer Experience Unit
Intellectual Property Office
Concept House
Cardiff Road
Newport
South Wales
NP10 8QQ
United Kingdom

What happens when you complain to IPO

We will investigate your complaint and try to put things right as soon as possible. Our IPO: Customer Charter sets out that we will be helpful, respectful and reasonable in all our dealings with customers.

  • we will acknowledge your complaint and aim to reply in full, within 10 working days but if the problem is complex and we need more time we will let you know

  • we will let you know the outcome and clearly explain why we have reached our conclusion

  • if we have made a mistake, we will explain what happened and put things right as quickly as we can

  • if we identify improvements to our processes during our investigation, we will tell you what they are and how we plan to improve how we do things in the future

  • if your complaint relates to ongoing legal proceedings between you and another party then please be aware that, in the interests of transparency and fairness, any correspondence that you send to us, or we send to you, may be copied to the other party in the proceedings

How to take your complaint further

After making a complaint and receiving a response, you can escalate your complaint. You can do this by completing our online feedback form or email CEUmailbox@ipo.gov.uk.

  • you can ask for a senior manager to review your complaint and explain why our previous responses have not addressed your concerns

  • the senior manager will respond as quickly as possible within 10 working days, if more time is required then you will be informed

  • our escalation process allows for a complaint to be escalated twice

  • if you are unhappy with the outcome after two escalations, you can ask your MP to take up your complaint with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The Ombudsman is independent of all government bodies and will review your complaint

How to tell us what we did well.

Have we exceeded your expectations? It helps us to know that we are giving the level of customer service that you expect and more. If your feedback relates to an individual employee, please try to supply the name so we can ensure that the feedback is shared with that person.

If you have a compliment, please complete our online feedback form or email CEUmailbox@ipo.gov.uk so that your compliment can be processed by our team. You can also contact us by telephone, call the Customer Support Centre: 0300 300 2000 or contact us by post:

Customer Experience Unit
Intellectual Property Office
Concept House
Cardiff Road
Newport
South Wales
NP10 8QQ
United Kingdom