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Intellectual Property Law

: IPKat

OHIM system delays: the world waits

By Johanna Gibson, David Pearce, Jeremy Phillips and Ilanah Simon.

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The IPKat has been receiving emails from readers -- some irate, others just annoyed and others again who are merely curious -- concerning this notice, posted on the website of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market on Monday 9 March and headed "Service delays continue".

Right: installation of new software seems to have involved a greater degree of disruption than was anticipated

The notice reads:

"Service delays due to the installation of essential improvements to OHIM's back office services are expected to continue during the week starting 9 March.
The delays affect the updating of some of our e-Business services, namely: RCD Online, Online Access to Files and CTM Online. Account Online, which allows users to view the latest status fo their OHIM current accounts, is also currently unavailable. While transactions such as transfers and debits continue to be handled as normal the information displayed online is not being updated.
OHIM apologies for the inconvenience caused to users and we will provide further information about the status of these services as soon as possible".

Given that the CTM-ONLINE database is now nearly a month out of date, user of the system have a justifiable basis for their observation that the present situation is far from satisfactory. One correspondent says, with masterly understatement, "They probably owe users more information than they are giving".

Admirer of OHIM that he is, the IPKat is entirely in sympathy with his correspondents and hopes that their plight -- which is actually the plight of their clients, struggling to trade efficiently in the grips of the worst recession the popular press can recall -- will soon be alleviated. Merpel is fascinated about the reference in the notice to "improvements to OHIM's back office services". It makes one wonder, she says, whether by the back office they mean the one that doesn't have a sea view.

Full post as published by IPKat on March 19, 2009 (boomark / email).