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 in the ePCT and Madrid systems should thus pay close attention during this next week to what time it is in Switzerland.
The practical effect for most US filers in the ePCT and Madrid systems 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.
(The Hague e-filing system tries to give you credit for whichever time zone works more in your favor — the time zone in Geneva or the time zone where the filer is located.)
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 7:16 AM Mountain Time and as you can see it is 3:16 PM in Geneva.
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