Insights

Chile's National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI) announced on 25 September a new phase of the Inventor Assistance Program (PAI), the initiative created by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in cooperation with the World Economic Forum and run nationally by INAPI: the office formally published new programme rules setting out the administrative guidelines and the formal application requirements for local innovators, and launched the official portal pai.inapi.cl. Since Chile joined the programme in 2022, PAI has offered inventors facing economic or technical difficulties entirely free legal and technical advice from volunteer specialists, covering the drafting of patent applications and accompaniment throughout prosecution before the national patent office. INAPI reports that the programme has so far selected 20 inventors, filed 10 patent applications and obtained 2 granted industrial property rights, with 25 volunteer specialists from law firms such as Carey, Villaseca Abogados and Andes IP as well as independent practitioners.

Recent industry commentary points to a marked rise in Requests for Continued Examination (RCEs) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), attributed in part to the Office's drive to cut the backlog of new applications, which has pushed more cases into the post-first-action stage, and the USPTO's own Patents Dashboard bears this out. According to Dashboard data through August 2026, cumulative RCE filings in the first 11 months of fiscal year 2026 reached 143,060, up about 14% from 125,408 in the same period of the previous fiscal year, and the inventory of RCEs awaiting a first action rose from 14,613 in August 2025 to 30,520 in August 2026, more than doubling in a year.

The European Patent Office (EPO) reported on 25 September on the latest progress of IT co-operation within the European Patent Network: the programme, which began at the annual co-operation meeting in Kilkenny in 2019, now encompasses over 230 initiatives in European Patent Convention contracting states and partner offices, more than 180 of them already completed, and every EPC national office takes part in at least one activity. The shared capabilities built up so far span data quality and interoperability, search and AI-enabled tools, Front Office services and reusable Digital Tool Kit components. The latest working group meeting, held from 21 to 24 September, brought together EPO experts and around 150 participants from 36 national patent offices, alongside specialists from the EUIPO, WIPO and epi, with artificial intelligence featuring prominently.

The Registry of Trade Marks of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) issued Circular No. 4/2026 on 25 September, confirming that the 13th Edition, Version 2027 of the Nice Classification (NCL 13-2027) will enter into force on 1 January 2027. Singapore trade mark applications filed on or after 1 January 2027 will be classified in accordance with the new version, and the circular states for the avoidance of doubt that there will be no reclassification of goods and services for applications filed before that date. An electronic publication of NCL 13-2027 is already available on WIPO's Nice Classification Electronic Publication (NCLPUB), where the changes made to the current 13th Edition, Version 2026 (NCL 13-2026) can be viewed under the Modifications tab.

In PCT Newsletter No. 09/2026, published on 25 September 2026, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced a new feature of the PCT Applicant's Guide: when users access the Guide annexes online they can now review an AI-assisted summary of the latest updates, and the feature is being rolled out during September. WIPO added that artificial intelligence is also being used to expand the PCT Guide Updates that are emailed to subscribers every week. The AI-assisted summaries of updates are currently available in English, French and Japanese, and WIPO says they will be offered in eGuide versions in other languages in due course.

The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) published Journal No. 1767 on 25 September, adding two newly recognised industrial exhibitions: Buildathon, to be held at Victoria University of Wellington's Pipitea Campus from 25 to 27 September 2026 and expressly including oral presentations, and AgFest West Coast, to be held in Greymouth from 13 to 17 October 2026, likewise including oral presentations. Both events were declared industrial exhibitions for the purposes of section 9(2) of the Patents Act 2013 and section 10(2) of the Designs Act 1953 by the Commissioner of Patents and Designs, Ross van der Schyff, on 17 September and 16 September respectively.