Seismic OHIM website relaunch brings offers of help

As many users of the new Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) website may have realised this week, while the new site does look beautiful, there are still some technical issues which affect its functionality.  OHIM has graciously recognised this and, on its website, has been updating its users on a regular (daily, indeed hourly) basis

"... about the problems with our new site. Until those problems are resolved, we will publish regular daily updates on our progress. If you are experiencing problems, please contact us [you should be able to do this via https://oami.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/contact-us -- when it's working, which it wasn't when Merpel last tried it]. We very much appreciate the feedback that we have received to date, and we would ask you to continue letting us know about any problems you encounter".

As the contact form link on OHIM's website might not work when the site is down, Merpel recalls that OHIM can also be contacted via the below alternative channels of communication.

Phone +34 965 139 100Email: information@oami.europa.euFax +34 965 131 344

Preparing to test Espacenet

Indeed,both Merpel and the IPKat (and no doubt their keen and enthusiastic readers too) are always willing to assist OHIM in trialling any bits of their updated website that are not yet quite fit for purpose.  Some of our readers may recall that the IPKat was invited by the UK IPO to do just this some years ago.  The EPO also recently asked the IPKat to find triallists for Espacenet, as per this week's Tuesday Tiddlywinks roound-up (here).  The Kats do hope that everything will work smoothly very soon.  No doubt, they purr, the Office will be most lenient when it comes to any (priority) deadlines that were missed as a result of this surprise inconvenience, they confidently optimistically predict.

While we're on the subject of OHIM, there's one small point about which Merpel is quite curious.  Why, when the Community Trade Mark Regulation spells "harmonisation" with an "s", does OHIM choose to spell it with a "z"?  You don't think it matters?  Merpel's Google search for Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market with the "s" received 758,000 hits to Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market's 631,000.  Someone should be made to pay for this outrage, she says.