The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has become a participating IP office of the Digital Access Service (DAS), established and administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), as an Office of First Filing for EU Community design applications on 11 July 2020.

 

This means that an applicant with EU Community design application filed at the EUIPO can now request EUIPO, as part of the initial filing process, to make its EU registered design application available to the DAS database, so that the relevant documents can be retrieved in priority claims made with other participating IP offices in subsequent filings.

 

As of 12 September 2020, the EUIPO has also become an Office of Second Filing under the DAS scheme, allowing e-filing applicants to submit the documents required for priority claims by reference to a DAS access code provided by the Office of First Filing, rather than having to submit certified copies of their first filing at every foreign office separately.