Guidance

Retention and disposal policy for patent and trade mark related records

Describes the retention and disposal policy for patent and trade mark related records.

• From: Intellectual Property Office
• Published: 3 July 2014
• Last updated: 23 May 2019 — See all updates

This publication was withdrawn on 13 October 2022

Retention and disposal policy for patent and trade mark related records is now obsolete and has been withdrawn.

Documents

Retention and disposal policy for patent and trade mark related records

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Details

Background

The Intellectual Property Office has a routine policy in line with the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended) for the disposal of all documents in paper and electronic format where they are not retained by the National Archives.

In addition, the office has routinely disposed of paper patent documents according to an approved Disposal Schedule since 26 June 2006.

Standards for the document retention and disposal policy

With purely electronic processing of patent applications the accuracy and quality of electronic images is of prime importance.

BS10008 is the British Standard which governs the admissibility of electronic documents in legal proceedings.

Compliance with this standard will also mean conformance to ISO 15801, an International Standard governing the trustworthiness and reliability of electronic information.

Timescale of retention of scanned paper documents

All scanned paper documents will be retained for 7 years from the date of scanning before being shredded.

Any documents relating to matters dealt with by Litigation Section, applications for SPCs and patent applications under the PCT will be retained for 10 years from the date of scanning.

Published 3 July 2014
Last updated 23 May 2019 + show all updates

1. 23 May 2019

   Retention and disposal policy for patent and trade mark related records updated.

2. 15 February 2018

   Pdf replaced with up to date and reviewed rtf.

3. 5 January 2017

   Updated policy added.

4. 22 January 2016

   Updated policy added.

5. 3 July 2014

   First published.