Dear IP Agents and the General Public,
We hope that you’re safe and staying healthy. In order to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, the National Intellectual Property Office (NIPO) has taken safety measures by restricting the visits of the IP Agents and the general public to NIPO. It is vital to be conscious of the prevailing situation whilst ensuring safety and well-being of NIPO officials as well as the general public. Accordingly, majority of our staff have been moved to, remote work from home (WFH) on a roster basis and we will continue to serve your needs through a virtual environment.
Hence, you are kindly informed to follow the guidelines given below.
- Until further notice, NIPO accepts payments only via online transfers/or bank deposits. Please note that separate online transfers/ bank deposits need to be made for each payment category (such as filing of new applications/ gazette publications etc.). To this effect, please ensure to pay the exact amount specified for the required service. (Please refrain from making any excess payments or lesser amounts than the fees prescribed in the gazette and also kindly note that all payments to NIPO are excluded from the Value Added Tax – VAT.)
- Payments should be made only during weekdays from 8.00 am to 3.00 pm. Please refrain from making payments after 3.00 pm. Any payment made after 3.00 pm will be considered as a payment made on the following working day and the application number will be allocated or transaction will be recorded accordingly. We kindly advise you to submit documents or make required statutory payments prior to the deadlines, and submit such payment receipts and documents on the same day as per the given instructions.
NB. Application/ documents need to be submitted on the same day before 4.00 p.m. along with the payment receipts, if any, together with *** the following duly filled form to NIPO to the e-mail address - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Your application or the documents will not be considered as a duly perfected application or a set of documents, if the application or the payment receipt or the form is submitted via separate e-mails or if they are forwarded to any other email address of NIPO. Any clarification in this regard can be sought by submitting a query to the aforementioned email address.
*** The following form needs to be submitted along with the documents to NIPO
Format to be filled when submitting documents through e-mail:
1. Name of the Individual/ Organization who submit documents/ make payments -
2. Contact No. of the Individual/ Organization who submit documents/ make payments -
3. Amount Paid - -
4. Purpose for which payment is made (select the relevant category) - TM/PA/ ID
5. Payment Description - eg. New Applications, Publication in the Govt. Gazette
6. The File Number relevant to the payment -
7. Date and Time (Approximate time)of payment -
Details of the Bank Account of NIPO
Payee Name - Director General of Intellectual Property
Account No. - 143-1-001-0-3298806
Bank - People’s Bank
Branch - Suduwella Branch
E-mail Address - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• The following captions should be included in the subject line of the email.
For Trademarks - TM/Document type/Agent/owner name/file number
eg.: (i) TM/New Application/A&B IP agent/C&D Company/New
(ii) TM/Publication/ A&B IP agent/C&D Company /203....
For Patents - PA/Document type/Agent/owner name/file number
For Industrial Designs - ID/Document type/Agent/owner name/file number
In conclusion, we appreciate the trust you have placed in us and for the cooperation extended by adhering to the above procedure adopted by NIPO in assuring an uninterrupted service to the public during this challenging time.
Stay safe and take good care!
Geethanjali R. Ranawaka
Director General – National Intellectual Property Office
15.10.2020