Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) File Transfer Notice
The South African CIPC has commenced with the second stage of the large-scale file transition to a new bulk storage facility. According to the CIPC, the project of moving numerous files (Companies, Close Corporations, Patents, Trade Marks, Copyright, Cooperatives and Designs) to the new storage facility commenced on 26 July 2021, and is ongoing.
During the 1st month of this file transition period, approximately 25% of the files were successfully moved to the new storage facility. CIPC announced that throughout the remaining three months file transition period, they anticipate an extended delay in the availability of these files from the newly appointed service provider as the process entails the collection, verification, capturing and storage of files.
As a result, various CIPC business units impacted by this transition will continue to experience delays in file retrievals, which will negatively influence external service delivery standards and turnaround times.
Smit & van Wyk will endeavour to continue to provide timeous service, and will inform clients should we foresee any possible delays due to the above.