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WIPO Pilots GIPAP to Record IP Assignments Across Offices

A flat editorial illustration: one document leaves a central platform icon and splits along lines to several separate, differently shaped abstract office buildings, each with a blank stamp in front; muted palette, neutral background; no text, numbers, logos, brand names, flags or maps.

Transferring a portfolio of patents, trade marks or designs across borders currently means a separate assignment recordal at every IP office, each with its own system, language, documents and fees. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is building the Global IP Assignment Platform (GIPAP) to turn this into one guided process: prepare, submit and track assignment filings for several IP offices in one place. According to WIPO's published timeline, the platform is now in its pilot phase, running from the third quarter of 2026 to the third quarter of 2027.

WIPO says an IT feasibility study carried out from October 2025 to May 2026 found that assignment recordal procedures are broadly similar across offices, with the differences lying mainly in language requirements, bibliographic and administrative data, formalities and fee structures. GIPAP therefore combines centralised filing with decentralised decisions: the platform collects the filing, and each office decides whether to record it.

According to WIPO's design notes, GIPAP is intended to:

  • cover assignments of patents, trade marks and industrial designs, and related services, for all WIPO member states;
  • automatically generate a separate application package for each participating office, connected to office systems through APIs;
  • support fully electronic transactions, including filing, notifications, e-signatures and possibly fee payment;
  • let owners, representatives and local agents track progress at each office through one portal.

WIPO's GIPAP page lists 14 IP offices, including the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), the Egyptian Intellectual Property Authority, the EUIPO, the Japan Patent Office, Saudi Arabia's SAIP, Spain's OEPM and the USPTO, without describing each office's role. The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced on 22 September 2026 that it is joining the pilot, saying it is scheduled to start in autumn 2026 and continue into 2027. WIPO says it will work with a representative set of offices; a participating office must be the authority responsible for recording assignments of patents, trade marks or industrial designs, and submits its requirements to WIPO through a standard template.

The limits matter. GIPAP is still a pilot, and offices take part without changing their national or regional laws, regulations or internal practices; each office still verifies the documents and decides whether to update its records. Where an office requires a local agent, that agent still adds the office-specific data or documents. So it does not replace local recordal procedures or agent requirements; it centralises preparation and filing. After the pilot, WIPO plans a minimum marketable product based on the results, from the third quarter of 2027 into 2028.

J&C notes that until the platform is in full use and participation is settled, ownership transfers from cross-border deals or group restructuring should still be recorded office by office under current local rules, leaving time for local agents to add what each office needs; the list does not include China's CNIPA, so Chinese trade mark and patent assignments are still recorded with CNIPA. Owners can already map the rights, documents and fees each office requires, so the work can be reused once the platform matures.

Source: www.wipo.int | www.wipo.int | www.uspto.gov

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