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Guidance

Intellectual Property Office: service availability and issues

Check the availability of, and any issues affecting, our services.

From:
Intellectual Property Office
Published:
6 May 2025
Last updated:
4 November 2026 — See all updates

Updates made during business hours only. Unplanned service issues outside these times may not appear here.

Planned downtime

Saturday 7 November 2026 - 9am to 5pm

On Saturday 7 November 2026 between 9am – 5pm customers will be unable to check deposit account balances or file patent applications. Trade mark and design applications can continue, although filing receipts will not be issued immediately and will be processed once the system is restored. All other IT systems will remain available.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Service status

Update 4 November 2026

We are aware that some customers have experienced an issue with the Apply for a patent service since our latest update. When attempting to review and submit a request some customers are getting a blue information screen with the message “Your documents are being prepared for submission”. 

Our investigations have found that the message which should appear to warn users that there is a problem with the description document they have uploaded is not appearing in some cases. This results in users attempting to review and submit their documents and being presented with the blue information screen.

We now advise customers who experience this issue to check that their document meets the requirements set out in the Directions for using our digital services. Most commonly, documents do not meet these requirements because they contain text that is smaller than font size 10.

We will be introducing a short-term fix which will update the text on the blue information screen to provide more precise and helpful guidance - this is expected to happen tomorrow. This will be followed soon after with reinstating the normal warning text at the point that users upload their description document.

We apologise for the inconvenience.

Notify us

If you are experiencing issues which are not listed please contact:

Updates to this page

Last updated:
4 November 2026
Show all updates

  1. Service update - Some customers are receiving a “your documents are being prepared for submission” error.

  2. We are aware that some customers have experienced an issue with the Apply for a patent service since our latest update on 29 October 2026. When attempting to review and submit a request some customers are getting a blue information screen with the message "Your documents are being prepared for submission". and Saturday 7 November 2026 between 9am – 5pm customers will be unable to check deposit-account balances or file patent applications. Trademark and design applications can continue, although filing receipts will not be issued immediately and will be processed once the system is restored. All other IT systems will remain available added.

  3. The following service Search for a trade mark by word, phrase and/or image will be unavailable from 5pm to 7pm Tuesday 3 November 2026 added.

  4. Notice of patent service downtime 7am to 8am Thursday 29 October  2026.  

  5. All services running as normal.

  6. All services running as normal.

  7. All services running as normal.

  8. We have temporarily disabled deposit account payments in some of our services

  9. Our Patents search and journal service will be unavailable for approximately 20 minutes, while improvements are made to the services from 10am on Thursday 22 October 2026.

  10. All services running as normal.

  11. Our new patents services (including Manage intellectual property, Apply for a patent and Renew an IP right) will be unavailable while improvements are made to the services from 7am to 9am Thursday 15 October  2026. You will still be able to apply for or renew a patent using our legacy services during this time. Our patents search services will also be available.

  12. All our services, with the exception of patents search and patents journal services, will be unavailable from 6am to 10pm Saturday 17 October 2026.

  13. All services running as normal.

  14. Our new patents services (including Manage intellectual property, Apply for a patent and Renew an IP right) will be unavailable from 7am to 9am Thursday 8 October 2026.

  15. Saturday 10 October - 6:30am to 10pm - All IPO Services, with the exception of Search for patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance and Sunday 11 October - 7:30am - 1pm - Trademark Search services will be unavailable for planned maintenance added.

  16. The Apply for a Design service will be unavailable from 4pm Friday 2 October to 4pm Sunday 4 October 2026 added.

  17. All our Trade Mark services will be unavailable from 5pm to 10pm Wednesday 30 September 2026.

  18. All services running as normal.

  19. All IPO Services, with the exception of Search For Patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance between 6:30am to 10pm Saturday 12 September and 6:30am to 10pm Sunday 13 September 2026 added.

  20. All services running as normal.

  21. All our Trade Mark services will be unavailable between 5pm to 9pm Wednesday 2 September 2026 added.

  22. All services running normally.

  23. Our new patents services (including Manage intellectual property, Apply for a patent and Renew an IP right) will be unavailable from 5pm 26 August to 9am Thursday 27 August 2026 while improvements are made to the services.

  24. All services running as normal.

  25. We will be performing essential maintenance on our payment services between 6pm Friday 14 August 2026 and 10pm Sunday 16 August 2026 added.

  26. All services running as normal.

  27. All IPO Services, with the exception of Search For Patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance between 6:30 to 10pm Saturday 8 August and 7:30am to 10pm Sunday 9 August 2026 added.

  28. Service status section updated because of issued with deposit accounts.

  29. All services running as normal.

  30. The following services will be unavailable for planned maintenance from 7am to midday Saturday 25 July 2026 - Apply to register a trade mark, Applying for a UK patent online, Apply for design, File Patent Forms and/or documents for a Pending UK Patent Application, Supplementary Protection Certificates Search, Apply for Orphan Works Licence and Get an uncertified electronic copy of your Patent to register a trade mark and Tuesday 28 July 2026 - 5pm to 8pm - All IPO Trademark Services, will be unavailable for planned maintenance added.

  31. All services running as normal.

  32. Our new patents services (including Manage intellectual property, Apply for a patent and Renew an IP right) will be unavailable while improvements are made to the services from 5pm to 10pm Wednesday 22 July 2026.

  33. Patent Renewals service (for Patents not in One IPO) is now fully functional

  34. Renewals of Patents that have NOT been transitioned into One IPO is not currently functional.

  35. Services used by our customers and staff will be unavailable between 6:30am to midday Saturday 18 July 2026. This does not include One IPO services, these will remain available throughout.

  36. All services running as normal.

  37. All services are back running as normal today 9 July 2026 following this mornings planned downtime.

  38. All IPO Services, with the exception of Search For Patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance from 6:30am to 10pm Saturday 11 July 2026 added.

  39. Our new patents services (including Manage intellectual property, Apply for a patent and Renew an IP right), will be unavailable due to planned maintenance between 7am to 10:30am Thursday 9 July 2026.

  40. All services running as normal.

  41. Our trade marks service, designs service and the following legacy patent services will be unavailable due to planned maintenance from between 5pm and 9pm Wednesday 17 June 2026 added.

  42. Incident now resolved and services have been restored.

  43. We’ve identified a fix for the incident we reported on Friday. It will be deployed in the next 24-48 hours. Once the fix is deployed we will bring the service out of maintenance.

  44. Update - Tuesday 9 June 7am - Please continue to use the alternative methods listed below to renew and apply for patents, while we remain focussed on our work on the new patent services. We apologise for the inconvenience this will be causing.

  45. Update - Monday 8 June 3pm - The service is still undergoing unplanned maintenance. We are continuing to investigate a technical issue and are working as quickly as possible to resolve it and Planned downtime for Weekend 13 to 14 June 2026 added.

  46. Service status section updated as some of our patents services are currently in unplanned maintenance while we investigate a technical issue.

  47. All services running as normal.

  48. Patent Services are now fully available.

  49. We apologise for the delay in returning access to our new Patent Services. We are working on the matter and will supply a further update when it has been resolved or by 11am for a status update.

  50. Our new patents services (including Manage intellectual property, Apply for a patent and Renew an IP right) will be unavailable due to planned maintenance from 7:30am to 10am Thursday 28 May 2026. You will still be able to apply for or renew a patent using our legacy services during this time. Our patents search and journal services will also be available.

  51. All services running as normal.

  52. Our Designs Service and Apply for Orphan Works Licence will be unavailable due to planned maintenance from 7am to 9:30am Thursday 21 May 2026 added.

  53. The One IPO Search tool will be unavailable due to planned maintenance between 8am to 9am, Thursday 14 May.

  54. All services running as normal.

  55. Our new patents services (including Manage intellectual property, Apply for a patent and Renew an IP right) will be unavailable due to planned maintenance from 5pm to 9pm GMT Monday 11 May 2026. You will still be able to apply for or renew a patent using our legacy services during this time. Our patents search and journal services will also be available.

  56. All IPO Services, with the exception of Search For Patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance between 6:30am to 10pm on Saturday 9 May 2026 added.

  57. All services are resumed.

  58. Service status update: Customers might experience delays with receiving emails confirming that transactions have been submitted through the new services.

  59. Planned downtime for our new patents services (including Manage intellectual property, Apply for a patent and Renew an IP right) will be unavailable due to planned maintenance between 5pm to 9pm Wednesday 6 May 2026. You will still be able to apply for and renew a patent using our legacy services during this time. Our patents search and journal services will also be available.

  60. Telephone line service is resumed.

  61. An update to let customers know that our phone lines are currently unavailable

  62. All services running as normal.

  63. Our new patents services (including Manage intellectual property, Apply for a patent and Renew an IP right) will be unavailable due to planned maintenance from 7:30am to 10:30am Thursday 16 April 2026. You will still be able to apply for or renew a patent using our legacy services during this time. Our patents search and journal services will also be available.

  64. IPO authenticated services using GOV.UK OneLogin will be unavailable due to planned maintenance from 7:30am to 10:30am Thursday 16 April 2026 added.

  65. All IPO Services, with the exception of Search For Patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance from 06:30am to 10pm on Saturday 11 April.

  66. The temporary limit that was set for renewals on the new digital service yesterday has now been removed.

  67. New digital service is temporarily limiting to 1 right at a time. No planned downtime.

  68. Planned service downtime for Monday 16 March and Tuesday 31 March to Wednesday 1 April 2026 added.

  69. All IPO services, with the exception of Search For patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance between 6:30am to 10pm on Saturday 14 March added.

  70. Issues have been resolved.

  71. Trade mark services image issue has been resolved.

  72. Trade mark images are not being displayed from our Trade mark services - this is being investigated.

  73. All services running as normal.

  74. All services running as normal.

  75. All trade marks services will be unavailable for planned maintenance from 5pm to 10pm on Wednesday 18 February 2026 and All IPO services, with the exception of Search for patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance between 7am Saturday 21 February to 6pm Sunday 22 February 2026 added.

  76. All IPO Services, with the exception of Search For Patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance from 6:30am to 10pm on Saturday 14 February added.

  77. Payment issues have been resolved.

  78. Due to an issue with our payment provider, customers may experience intermittent credit card payment failures across all services. Updates will be provided here, when available.

  79. All service running as normal.

  80. All services are fully available today Thursday 22 January 2026.

  81. All Trade mark services with the exception of Renewals, will be unavailable for planned maintenance between 7am to 10am Thursday 22 January 2026 added.

  82. All IPO Services, with the exception of Search For Patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance between 7am Saturday 24 January to 6pm Sunday 25 January 2026 added.

  83. Planned downtime: All IPO Services, with the exception of Search For Patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance from 6:30am to 10pm on Saturday 17 January 2026 added.

  84. All services running as normal.

  85. Renewals service issue resolved.

  86. All Trade Mark services (excluding Renewals) will be impacted for planned work between 7am Saturday 10 January until 6pm Sunday 11 January 2026 added.

  87. Search for Patent is back online for customers.

  88. Planned downtime has been resolved. However, the maintenance of Search for Patent is likely to continue through to approx 16:00 today (Monday 15 December).

  89. Search for Patent service is currently unavailable for maintenance until approximately 14:30 today (Monday 15 December)

  90. Service status update.

  91. All IPO Services, with the exception of Search For Patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance between 6:30am to 10pm on Saturday 13 December added.

  92. All Trade Mark Services will be unavailable for essential work between 7am Saturday 6 December 2025 and 6pm Sunday 7 December 2025 added.

  93. All our services are running normally.

  94. Between 2:30pm and 4:40 pm today (03/12/25) All Designs Services will be unavailable for essential work added.

  95. All services are working normally.

  96. Our Apply for a Design and Apply for Orphan Works Licence services will be unavailable between 7am to 9am on Tuesday 2 December 2025 added.

  97. All our external services, with the exception of Search for a Patent, will be unavailable from 6am Saturday 29 November to 10pm Sunday 30 November 2025.

  98. All services are now available and there is planned downtime: ALL One IPO Search services will be unavailable from 9am to 11am Tuesday 25 November 2025 added.

  99. Planned downtime: All Trade mark services will be unavailable between 5pm to 10pm today Wednesday 19 November 2025 and ALL Trade mark and Patent services including Renewals (with the exception of Search for a Patent which will remain available) from 6am to 9am Thursday 20 November 2025.

  100. Cloudfare issue is resolved. No service issues

  101. Service issue: There is a temporary cloudflare issue

  102. All services are running as normal.

  103. All IPO Services, with the exception of Search For Patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance from 6:30am to 10pm on Saturday 8 November added to the planned downtime.

  104. Services have been taken out of maintenance mode

  105. Scheduled downtime to Apply for design and Apply for Orphan works licence added.

  106. All IPO Services, with the exception of Search For Patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance from 6:30am to 10pm on Saturday 11 October and 7am to 10pm on Sunday 12 October added.

  107. Service resumed.

  108. Service issues resolved.

  109. Current issue is affecting the performance of a number of IPO services.  

  110. Journal services issues have been resolved.

  111. All Trade mark services will be unavailable for planned maintenance from 5pm - 9pm Monday 22 September added.

  112. Service issue resolved

  113. Current issues across all of our online services are being investigated.

  114. All IPO Services, with the exception of Search For Patent, will be unavailable for planned maintenance between 6:30am to 10pm on 13 September 2025 added.

  115. Planned downtime to some of our services due 6 September.

  116. Service issue resolved.

  117. Finance service issue updated.

  118. Finance service issue added.

  119. Trade Mark services are resumed.

  120. All Trade Mark services will be unavailable for planned maintenance from 17:00 to 20:00 on 2 September.

  121. An issue with the Trade mark search is being investigated

  122. Search for a trade mark service back on line

  123. Planned downtime is completed. Search for a trademark service is currently offline

  124. Service is resumed.

  125. Trade Mark service is resumed.

  126. Trade Mark search service currently being investigated.

  127. Planned maintenance updated: 9th August

  128. Service update: Trade mark search issue resolved.

  129. Service status: There is a known issue with the Trade mark search service.

  130. Service update - Trade mark services are now operational, no known issues.

  131. Service update - Fault in the Trade mark search service.

  132. Status changed to no current issues with any of our services

  133. Latest information about the search for a patent service being offline

  134. Planned maintenance completed.

  135. Updated message on planned maintenance on all services on 12 July 2025

  136. Service status updated regarding our Search for intellectual property and Search the intellectual property journal services.

  137. Service update - Research service is offline.

  138. Update on service issue with search for a patent

  139. Message about deposit account receipts removed as the issue is now resolved.

  140. Informing deposit account customers of a delay receiving filing receipts

  141. All services are now available with the exception of Patent Search Service which is expected to be offline until 8 July 1pm

  142. Planned downtime update.

  143. Service status update.

  144. Service update - resolved.

  145. Service update.

  146. The service status section has been updated due to Apply to register a trade mark issues are now resolved.

  147. Services status section updated due to Apply to register a trade mark service unavailability.

  148. Planned maintenance message for users.

  149. Status updated - all issues resolved

  150. Live service update for deposit account customers.

  151. There is planned downtime scheduled for Wednesday 21 May 2025 between 7am and 9am our external Designs services will be impacted.

  152. Planned maintenance on Trade Mark external services between 5pm and 8pm 20 May 2025 added.

  153. Service status section updated due to a fault with the 'Search for a trade mark (by word, phrase and/or image)'.

  154. The 'Apply to register a design' service and the 'One IPO Search' service downtime added to Planned downtime section.

  155. First published.

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