DAS, WIPO’s Digital Access Service is an electronic system allowing priority documents and similar documents to be securely exchanged between participating intellectual property (IP) offices. The system makes it easier for applicants and offices to meet the requirements of the Paris Convention for certification in an electronic environment.
The Service is intended for use with documents related to patents, utility models, industrial designs and trademarks. Traditionally, applicants have been obliged to request certified paper copies of documents from one office and then submit those documents to other offices.
DAS allows applicants to simply request the first office (known as the Depositing Office or Office of First Filing) to make priority documents available to the System and then to request other offices (known as the Accessing Offices or Offices of Second Filing) to retrieve those documents via the Service. The exchange of documents then takes place electronically between the offices.
As from 11/7/2020 the EUIPO becomes an Office of First Filing, making priority documents for designs (RCD) available in DAS.
- EUIPO as a depositing Office will deposit certified copies of Industrial Design applications as priority documents, filed at the EUIPO from July 11, 2020 onwards, which the applicant specifically requests be made available to the service;
- All documents and information will be exchanged in black and white or color and in PDF format through the WIPO DAS Office web portal and based on WIPO DAS.
By agreeing to allow the EUIPO to send a record of a RCD application (first filing) to WIPO, the EUIPO will provide its users with a DAS code that can be used to claim priority for subsequent filings made with other participating intellectual property (IP) offices.
Applicants should leave the corresponding checkbox ticked in the EUIPO RCD e-filing form. Upon completing the RCD e-filing, the DAS code will be provided in the application receipt, which is generated upon the submission of the application online. The corresponding DAS code can then be used to claim priority for subsequent filings made to other IP offices.
Later in the year EUIPO will be acting as an Office of Second Filing and will accept priority claims indicated by a DAS code. There will be no need for the applicant to submit any documents. Instead, the code provided in the priority claim will allow the EUIPO to request the immediate download of the priority document registered in DAS.
Source: WIPO
