e-filing at WIPO – you get an extra hour

It’s that time of year again.  People in the US who sometimes e-file stuff at the International Bureau at WIPO will have memorized exactly what the local time is that works out to being midnight in Switzerland … and for the next three weeks, the answer to this question will be different from the usual answer.

For example a filer in the Mountain time zone will have memorized that midnight in Switzerland works out to 4PM local time.  If we want to e-file something at WIPO (for example in ePCT or the Madrid system or the Hague system) and get a same-day filing date, we need to file by 4PM local time.

But not for the next three weeks.  For the next three weeks, the answer is different.  Today, March 10, most people in the US will be in geographic locations where they move their clocks forward.  (But in Switzerland this will not happen until three weeks from now.)  This means that if we want to e-file something at WIPO and get a same-day filing date, we no longer need to get it done by 4PM local time.  We could do it as late as just before 5PM local time and it would still be before midnight in Switzerland.

On March 31, things will return to normal and a filer in the Mountain time zone would once again be counting from 4PM local time.

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