Keep in mind that Switzerland will turn off daylight saving time today, October 30, 2022. 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, on November 6, 2022.
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.
Most readers of my blog will appreciate that the correct terminology is not “Daylight Savings Time” but “Daylight Saving Time”.
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.
I’m trying to remember what happened when Congress last took up doing away with DST. I know that came up early in the Biden Administration and maybe the House voted to do away with it but the Senate didn’t agree (as usual)?
Right. The House passed a bill that would make DST permanent across the US. And then the Senate failed to act further. So it went nowhere.
It is an interesting bit of history that Congress lacks the power to make DST go away completely. What it has the power to do is make it so that DST is “always on”. But either way it would save people having to change their clocks twice a year.
For Hague applications, you do not need to worry about the time change. Unlike PCT, Hague applies the best time zone rule. For example, if you are filing from Colorado, you will get the local date/time stamp.
Quan – Kudos, to Hague!