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 week, 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 week. For the next week, the answer is different. Today, October 27, people in Switzerland will turn their clocks back. But people in the US will not do this today! (The time change in the US will not happen until a week from now.) This means that if we want to e-file something at WIPO and get a same-day filing date, will have an extra hour — we can do it just before 5PM local time. We will have an extra hour for the filing to be before midnight in Switzerland.
On November 3, 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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