The system is developed and owned by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It is made available to Industrial Property Offices (IPOs) to facilitate online filing services of IP applications to IPO customers. This applies to Patent, Trademark, and Design applications. The system is mainly designed for the agents/attorneys through which they can file their applications from office, from home, any day, and any time. This in addition to reducing overhead and bottlenecks at IPOs by transforming information capture activities to the source (applicant), results in speeding up and streamlining the overall filing process, reducing human errors, and the improvement of data quality in office databases and services.
The system is equipped with Fees Calculation that is customizable with office payment rules and regulations, which concludes the respective amount due for each application type filed by the applicant. It further Offers portfolio management functionality through which applicants can monitor and track applications submitted to IPOs and carry out basic reports and statistics of their work online.
WIPO File requires a decent setup at the IPOs to operate the service in the form of server hardware, security, and proper internet connectivity to interact with the customers online. This in addition to local IT calibers at IPOs to assist in the deployment, customization, and integration of WIPO File with the local environment and external services, where applicable.
The product is available in two modes of operation; non-payment mode where customers normally undertake capture and submission of their applications online and then proceed with the payment step at the office front desk; and payment mode where integration with payment gateway is carried out so that the entire filing process can be done online. For the latter, WIPO provides open interfaces (APIs) to facilitate WIPO File communication with the payment gateway, an exercise typically undertaken by the IPOs.
WIPO continues the enhancement of WIPO File to meet the needs of the IPOs, also following pilot deployment experiences conducted in 2017. Future releases of WIPO File will include, among other elements; enhancement of drafting capabilities which will enable rich authoring and review features of applications prior to submission; the ability to retrieve a full snapshot of their applications at the office including historical actions, amendments, and fees; in addition to WIPO File extension to support the filing of receiving office applications with international systems such as Madrid and PCT.
