Hours of business

Times and days we are open for business

  • For the purposes of filing documents relating to UK patents, the Office is open from midnight on a Monday morning until 23:59 on a Friday. This applies to all methods of filing.
  • We are also open for the purposes of filing UK patent applications from midnight on a Saturday morning until 13:00, but only for fresh applications not claiming priority from an earlier application.
  • For all other business relating to UK patents, we close at 17:00 Monday - Friday, and are not open at weekends.
  • We are also closed entirely on Christmas Day, Good Friday, bank holidays and any Saturday which follows one of these days. This applies to all business, including the filing of UK patent applications.

Official filing dates and time periods

Any document relating to UK patents received outside the above hours of business will receive an official filing date of the next working day. This includes UK patent applications, and applies to all methods of filing.

Any official time period which expires on a weekend or any other day that we are closed is extended to the next working day.