Directions for online forms
Published 5 May 2026
© Crown copyright 2026
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/directions-for-online-forms/directions-for-online-forms
Introduction
1. The comptroller and registrar has made these directions under section 37A of the Registered Designs Act 1949, section 124A of the Patents Act 1977 and rule 78 of the Trade Mark Rules 2008.
2. These directions permit and govern the delivery of certain forms online through GOV.UK instead of posting them to the Intellectual Property Office.
3. These directions come into force on 5 May 2026.
Definitions
4. In these directions:
“Acts” means the Registered Designs Act 1949, the Patents Act 1977, and the Trade Marks Act 1994, in each case as amended;
“forms” means any statutory form directed by the comptroller or registrar under the Acts, and any non-statutory form made available by the Intellectual Property Office for use in relation to registered designs, patents or trade marks;
“Rules” means The Patents (Fees) Rules 2007, The Trade Marks (Fees) Rules 2008, and The Registered Designs (Fees) Rules 2016, in each case as amended;
“user” means a person completing and submitting a form online.
Requirements as to form and manner of documents
5. A form may be completed and submitted online where that option is indicated on the GOV.UK web page from which the printable form is available.
6. A user must provide an email address to use the online forms.
7. To complete and submit a form online, a User must enter the necessary information on a series of screens and then authorise submission of the Form.
8. A user uploading a supporting document must comply with any relevant instructions which are displayed on the screen or are otherwise specified on GOV.UK at the time.
9. Supporting documents must not be encrypted.
10. Supporting documents infected with a virus, malware or other malicious code will be treated as not complying with these Directions.
Date and time of delivery
11. The date and time of delivery of a form shall be the date and time of submission as recorded by GOV.UK.
12. A user cannot treat a form as delivered until an acknowledgement email is received by that user at their provided email address.
13. The acknowledgement email shall contain the name of the form submitted and the date and time of submission.
Fees
14. Where a form is required by the Rules to be accompanied by a fee, the fee must be paid in full through the IPO online fees service.
15. The payment reference returned by the fees service must be entered on the relevant screen before the form is submitted.
16. The fees payable are those prescribed for paper forms.
Simon Haikney
Divisional Director
Acting on behalf of the Comptroller and Registrar
29 April 2026