Keep in mind that Switzerland will turn off daylight saving time today. Those who are filing documents at the International Bureau — documents that need a same-day filing date — should check to make sure they know what time it is in Switzerland as of today.
For US filers, keep in mind that the US will not turn off DST today. The US will turn off DST a week from now.
US filers who are getting ready to file a document at the IB should thus pay close attention during this next week to what time it is in Switzerland.
The practical effect for most US filers is that for the next week, you get an extra hour to e-file. For example if you are in the Mountain Time Zone, normally you rush to file by 4PM if need a same-day filing date at the IB. But for the next week you can file as late as 5PM and you will still get a same-day filing date at the IB.
Those who are e-filing in ePCT can readily check any time to see what time it is in Geneva, because at the top of any ePCT user screen it says what time it is in Geneva. Here is a screen shot. For example right now it is 4:44 AM Mountain Time and as you can see it is 11:44 AM in Geneva.
When using ePCT, either to file a new international application at a participating RO or submitting a post-filing document, ePCT displays the date and time at the recipient Office so that it is easier to monitor different time zones.
Be careful when preparing and uploading a filing package using ePCT for submission to ROs such as US, Il, CA and KR – the filing has to be submitted to the RO system outside of ePCT and you should ensure that this is done respecting the local time in the particular Office.
Ann is right about this and her comment applies most particularly to the situation where the filer is using ePCT to file at an ISA.
Of all of the post-filing documents that one might file in ePCT, the only category for which you get the benefit of “what time it is at the IB” rather than “what time it is at the Office to which you are sending the document” is the IPEA for a Demand. This is because so far as Demands are concerned, PCT Rule 59.3(e) obligates the IPEA to honor the date stamped by the IB. But for just about every other document that you might file through ePCT, as Ann correctly points out, you need to pay attention to what time it is at the Office to which the document is ultimately directed.