CWS.ATR.PI.2009.HR

Annual Technical Report 2009 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Croatia (CWS/ATR/PI/2009/HR)

Where URLs are requested below, it is preferred that either URLs which are likely to remain stable over time (three years or more) are provided, or home (main) page URLs are provided with a short explanation of how to access the corresponding information.

The term "patent" covers utility models and Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in their Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities.

I. Evolution of patent activities

Changes experienced in terms of application filings and grants with respect to the previous year

Patent applications in 2009

National patent, applications
318 in 2009 -20.5% compared to 2008

International patent applications entering the national phase
52 in 2009 - same as in 2008

Foreign applications filed directly to SIPO
68 in 2009 - 9,5% compared to 2008

Patent applications filed by resident applicants
250 in 2009 - 24% compared to 2008

Extended European patent applications (designation fee paid)
2817 in 2009 -53% compared to 2008

International applications filed at SIPO as a RO
35 in 2009 -12,5% compared to 2008

Granted national patents
154 in 2009 - 40% compared to 2008

Granted European patents with HR as designated state
378 in 2009 + 31,5% compared to 2008

Consensual patents, registrations
114 in 2009 +4 % compared to 2008

Number of valid national patents
1914 in 2009 + 17, 4% compared to 2008

Number of valid consensual patents
371 in 2009 +3, 8 % compared to 2008

Number of valid EP-patents in HR
736 in 2009 +93% compared to 2008

Valid patents in 2009 by field of technology
24% organic chemistry
18,5% preparation for medical, dental or toilet purposes
8%building and constructions
8,1 % transportation
4,5% metrology

These leading fields of technology correspond to the technical fields of the preceding year

Trends or areas experiencing rapid changes with respect to the previous year

In the 2009 a total of 318 patent applications were filed with the Office, which makes 20, 5 % less than in the previous year.
The number of international PCT applications that entered into the national phase of procedure in the Republic of Croatia is identical as in the previous year-52 applications were filed. During the 2009 a total of 250 applications were filed by resident applicants, making a decrease of approximately 24 % compared to the last year. It is important to mention that in the 2009 compared to 2008 there was an increase of approximately 16 % in number of resident legal persons (companies) having filed patent applications while the number of natural persons as applicants considerably decreased by approximately 30 %. However, resident natural persons continue to prevail, making 83% of domestic applicants.
Non-resident applicants filed 68 applications which is 9, 5 % less compared to the previous year), 85 % of those applicants are legal persons (companies)
The number of European patent applications in which the Republic of Croatia is designated as an extension country according to the Extension agreement, for which extension fee was paid to the EPO in 2009, decreased as expected due to the fact that Croatia acceded European Patent Convention on 1 January 2008. Consequently, the institute of extended application will cease to exist after certain transitional period. In the 2009 there were 2817 extended applications, which makes half the number of them compared to 5950 applications in the 2008.
In the 2009 there were 369 requests for the entry of extended European patents, making an increase by 30 % compared to last year, when there were 284 of such requests.
During 2009, 35 International applications (PCT) were filed with SIPO as a receiving office, making a decrease of 12, 5 % compared to the previous year.
The distribution of applications of non-residential applicants by technical field was almost unchanged compared to the previous year. In 2009 by technical field, the majority of applications of non-residents applicants directly filed with the Office were filed in the IPC classes A61 (preparations for medical, dental, or toilet purposes) and C07 (organic chemistry), a total of 29 %. Other IPC classes considerably represented are: B60-B68 (transportation) and E01-E06 (fixed constructions) with 7,4% and A41-A47 (household appliances and personal items) by 4,4 %.
A majority of applications by resident applicants was filed in the following technical fields according to the IPC classes: F01-F04 (machines or engines) 12 %, B60-B68 (transportation) and G01-G04 (measuring) 9 % each, A61 (preparations for medical, dental, or toilet purposes) 6,8%, ,E01-E06 (fixed constructions) 6 %, and A41-A47 (personal or domestic articles) 5.6 %.
The largest number of patent applications by non-residents filed directly with Office was filed by applicants from the Member States of the EU (8 %) and from the United States of America (4 %). The applicants from other states participate in the total number of applications by 10 %.
During 2009 a total of 646 patents were granted, out of which 114 were consensual patents (17.6 %), 154 patents (23.8 %) and 378 registered extended European patents (58.5 %). The registration of extended European patents had an impact on the increase of total number of granted patents (31.5 %) compared to the previous year.
At the end of 2009, a total of 1914 patents and 371 consensual patents entered in the register of the Office were valid in Croatia. Compared to the previous year there is an 18% increase in the total number of patent rights.
By technical field, a majority of the valid patents are in the IPC classes: C07 (organic chemistry) (24 %) and A61 (preparations for medical, dental, or toilet purposes) (18,5 %) which is in accordance with the technical field of the filed patent applications.

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide statistics related to patents

http://www.dziv.hr/en/default.aspx?pArtID=26&selection=3

Monthly official Gazette published on web pages of SIPO Croatia provides statistics:
http://www.dziv.hr/en/webcontent/file_library/inf_sources/glasnik_tablica.htm

II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, distribution and use of primary and secondary sources of patent information

Publishing, printing, copying (main types of publications of the Office in the field of patent information, etc.)

Since the 2006 Official Gazette of the Office (joint Gazette including data on all types of industrial property) had been published monthly on paper and on digital carrier (upon order), and current issue (but not archive) had been available in electronic form free of charge on Office's web site (www.dziv.hr). Since May 2009 the Office no longer publishes the Gazette on paper but only electronically. Current issue and archive of all issues since May 2009 are available free of charge at the Office's web site. Upon order and against payment Office provides issues of the Gazette on digital carrier.
Official Gazette contains the following published information on patents: Patent Applications, Request for the Grant of a Patent on the Basis of the Implementation of the Substantive Examination Procedure of Patent Applications, Request for the Grant of a Patent on the Basis of the submitted Results of the Substantive Examination Procedure of Patent Applications, Request for the Grant of a Patent without the Substantive Examination of Patent Applications (Consensual Patents), Patents Granted, Consensual Patents Granted, Record of Changes to the Register of Patent Applications, Record of Changes to the respective Register, Lapse for Patents/Consensual Patents, Declaration of Nullity for Patents, Corrections of Data to Published Patent Applications, Requests for the Extension of European Patent Applications, Revoked Requests for Extension of the European Patent Applications, Extended European Patents, Lapse for European Patents, Corrections of Data to Published European Patents.

http://www.dziv.hr/webcontent/file_library/izvori_inf/pdf/HGIV/Glasnici.asp

Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of patent information

Office notices are published in the Official Gazette, as well as on the Office’s web site.
In the Official Gazette (HGIV – Hrvatski glasnik intelektualnog vlasništva) SIPO publishes announcements of issued patent documents (bibliographic data and abstracts), and published European patent applications with extended to Croatia (bibliographic data).
The Annual Report of SIPO with statistics is bilingual and available on the Office’s web site.

Mass storage media used (paper, microforms, optical storage, etc.)

The bibliographic data are stored in Ingres 2.6 database and patent documents are stored in a LINUX network file directory.
The Office maintains a complete history of its patent files in paper form and all information for patent applied from 2000 to date in electronic form.

Word processing and office automation

All staff use MS-Word 2003 for word-processing that is operating in a Windows XP Professional environment. They also have their own personal workstation on which numerous applications are available. Most common office programs are available for everybody.

Outgoing letters and SIPO’s gazette are fully automated and generated in MS Word. It is also possible to generate numerous automated reports in MS Excel or MS Word.

(New) techniques used for the generation of patent information (printing, recording, photocomposing, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), etc.)

The bibliographic data are stored in the SIPO’s database via the application “Patent’s Register” (which is developed in INGRES OpenROAD application development tool). All patent documents and relevant images are stored on network discs in a doc and a pdf format (which are LINUX file directories).
Output documents and SIPO’s gazette are produced from automated MS Word templates.
Almost each outgoing letter is a MS Word template that consists of permanent text. Data, which are changeable and depend on application/publication number, are retrieved from the SIPO’s database via ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity).

All publishing data in SIPO's Gazette are formatted and followed by the INID codes according to the WIPO standards.

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide access to online publication of patent documents and gazettes, and to other primary and secondary sources of patent information, including patent publication servers and download of bulk patent data

Current issue of the Office Gazette (joint Gazette including data on all types of industrial property) is available at:

http://www.dziv.hr/webcontent/file_library/izvori_inf/pdf/HGIV/Glasnici.asp

Free of charge searchable data base containing published information on patents applied for or granted is available at:

http://www.dziv.hr/DigitalLibrary/default.asp?izb=en

A range of search options is available, including: Publication Number; Title; Publication Date; IPC; Inventor; Applicant; Applicant(State); Title In English; Filing Date; Date And Number Of Earlier Application from the former FPO); Priority Number By State, Application Number And Application Date; International Filing Date; International Application Number; International Publication Date; International Publication Number; Attorney(Representative, Agent); Abstract.

III. Matters concerning abstracting, classifying, reclassifying and indexing of technical information contained in patent documents

Abstracting, reviewing, translating

All granted patents and consensual patents are published with abstracts on the first page. Titles of all national applications and patents granted are translated into English language and used for on-line database, offered by SIPO.

Classification¹, preclassification² (if applicable), and reclassification³ activities; Classification system used, e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC), other classification (please indicate whether or not patent documents are classified by your Office and, if so, which classification is used)

Published patent applications and granted patents are classified by the Office according to the latest version of IPC advanced level.

The indexing schemes are not used by the examiners when classifying patent documents

The reclassification has been done regularly through the special tool developed in house. We use the content of the latest IPC Validity file (201001) for validating IPC symbols.

Coordinate indexing (domestic deep indexing systems, keyword indexing)

N/A

Hybrid system indexing

N/A

Bibliographic data and full-text processing

SIPO maintains on-line database containing bibliographic data and abstracts of all published patents in Croatian language. Up to now, there were no actions toward full-text processing.

IV. Search file establishment and upkeep

File building

Croatian search documents are sent to the EPO to be included into the EPO data systems. Examiners search national Register for national patent documentation. Outside customers can use Esp@cenet.

Updating

The search file is continuously developing and updating. Updates are sent monthly to the EPO.

Documentation from other offices maintained and/or considered part of the available search file

EPO’s Epoque-system is the main source of foreign documentation.
The Office receives foreign patent document on CD and DVD. Official bulletins of foreign offices are available in electronic format.

V. Activities in the field of computerized and other mechanized search systems

In-house systems (online/offline)

Patent search system is executed by electronic means. The database includes all national patent applications and granted patents, PCT, granted EP patents, and that is the only in-house system for searching.

External databases

External databases are searched through the EPO Epoque system, in operation at the Office since 2007.
The EPO develops and manages the patent search system esp@cenet (http://hr.espacenet.com). This system, which is public and available free of charge on the internet, contains some 65 million patent documents from 90 countries. SIPO makes hr.esp@cenet version available through its website and manages the Croatian texts. On the start page, the Croatian help texts have been simplified and extended. A manual for performing searches in hr.esp@cenet was published in brochure form in 2008.

Administrative management systems (e.g., register, legal status, statistics and administrative support)

All applications are developed in INGRES OpenROAD. SIPO uses an INGRES database. An application “Patent’s Register” is used for filing all bibliographic data concerning the particular patent application or granted patent. All patent changes (change of ownership, change of name, address, etc.) are recorded and are maintained by patent Register user interface.

Since year 2000 SIPO has developed its own document management system in electronic form that covers office needs (all incoming and outgoing documents have been scanned in Adobe Acrobat).

MS Word is used for automatic generation of output documents. MS Excel is used for (automatic) generation of specific reports, which are used, for annual SIPO’s report, WIPO annual statistics and for other purposes (improving patent processes).

Published patent data (applications/grants) can be searched at the SIPO’s Internet site http://www.dziv.hr/digitallibrary through the SIPO's web-server application (MS Windows 2003 server and mySQL database).

Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), carriers used

- 10Mbit/s leased line used for Internet connection, CISCO Network Equipment (LAN based on Fast Ethernet - 1000/100/10 Mbit/s).

- MICROSOFT environment:
- Servers: PC/WIN Server 2003 St. Ed. ; Fujitsu Siemens-Primergy RX 300/ Win SERVER 2003 St. Ed. , Acsepto Server - OS MS Win SERVER 2008.
- Workstations: Desktop-PC Pentium IV with WIN XP PROF., Notebooks – OS– MS WIN 7.
- MS Exchange 2003 Server Enterprise, ISA 2004 (proxy).

- Linux ( SUSE Distribution - Enterprise Server 8 ) - two cluster application: database and file sharing. Two server nodes ( type of cluster is fail over ) on Fujitsu Siemens-Primergy RX 600 Servers. The cluster software is Fujitsu Siemens Primecluster ver. 4.1 A30 for Linux.
- SAN (storage area network) connected with fiber channel switches to server nodes and backup device. SAN is consisted of two FiberCAT CX500 (EMC) devices. Each of them has two-service processor and 10 disks in RAID-5 system (9 x 146 Gb FC disks + 1 x 146 Gb FC hot-spare disk).
- Backup software is Backbone Net Vault 7.1. Backup device is a MTC – 9084-221 FC (tape library) with two LTO
2 tape drives and 21 slot tape robot connected to fiber channel switch. Also the library offers a mail slot for exchanging offsite/onsite tapes. Total capacity installed on MTC library is 4 Tb of uncompressed data.

VI. Administration of the industrial property office library, and information products and services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, for assisting clients on searching procedures, for obtaining official publications and registry extracts)

Planning, administration, automation, security, buildings

The SIPO library operates within the IP Information Centre (INCENTIV). The collections contain over 1050 books, 70 Croatian and foreign periodicals available to the readers, all specialized in IP. The library is open to the public Monday to Friday from 8.00 am to 4.00 pm, except Thursday 10.00 am to 6.00 pm.
A multifunctional public reading room is an integral part of the INCENTIV.

Collection management, preservation

Office’s IP Information Centre (INCENTIV) is charged with the task of maintaining the library.
The books and periodicals are catalogued in the internal database which is listed in the intranet of the Office (available for the staff only).

Information services available to the public (including computerized services and search files contained in libraries remote from your Office and patent information posted by your Office on the World Wide Web)

Office's Intellectual Property Information Centre (INCENTIV) – a member of the EPO Patlib centres network - provides a range of patent information services. This includes free of charge customer support such as:
• information concerning patent applications filing,
• general legal matters regarding patents,
• details of registration procedures,
• telephone queries,
• procedural information etc.
Customer support is available by phone, e-mail or personal visit. In the library reading room customers can search public (free of charge) patent databases, whereby support by INCENTIV staff is available. Registry extracts, as well as copies of the file contents, are available upon written request and payable in advance. Information can be requested also by e-mail (info@dziv.hr).. Commercial patent information search services (upon charge) by Office specialists are also available upon order. Since 2009, SIPO operates public patent database hr.esp@cenet (as a national portal to the EPO’s esp@cenet service) at its web-site. General information on IP and related services are available at:
INCENTIV – Intellectual Property Information Centre
Phone: +385 1 610 98 25; fax: +385 1 611 20 17;
e-mail: info@dziv.hr
http://www.dziv.hr/webcontent/file_library/inf_usluge/Incentiv.htm.

The Office's website provides a wide range of information on IP, including basic information on IP rights, filing and registration instructions, fee information and full texts of legal documents. Access to the free of charge public database of the IP registrations at the Office is also available The Office provides a wide range of brochures and guides free of charge. They can be downloaded in PDF format from the Office's web site, picked up in the Information centre or sent upon request.

URLs of web pages of the Office's website for electronic filing of patent applications

Not applicable, no electronic filing of patent applications is available.

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide information on business procedures such as: filing, publication, examination and grant procedures related to patents; opposition and appeal procedures related to patents; etc.

All information available from:
http://www.dziv.hr/en/default.aspx?SectionID=9&selection=2 (in English)
http://www.dziv.hr/default.aspx?pArtID=177&selection=2 (in Croatian)

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide a description of information products and services offered by the Office (e.g., patent search service(s) and patent databases), as well as information on how to access and utilize them

Information on Commercial Search Services:
http://www.dziv.hr/en/webcontent/file_library/inf_services/searching_serv_LNK.htm

Searchable free of charge Database:
http://www.dziv.hr/DigitalLibrary/default.asp?izb=en

VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of patent documentation and information

International or regional cooperation in the exchange of machine-readable information, e.g., bibliographic data, abstract and/or full text information

SIPO regularly exchanges official gazettes (either in paper or on digital carrier) with 30+ industrial property offices around the world.

The Office sends monthly bibliographic and legal status information of patent applications and patents to EPO.

Medium used for exchange of priority documents

Priority documents can be exchanged only in paper form.

Medium allowed for filing applications

Applications can be filed in paper form only.

VIII. Other relevant matters concerning education and training in, and promotion of, the use of patent information, including technical assistance to developing countries (please indicate URLs of web pages of the Office’s website wherever appropriate)

Training courses for national and foreign participants, use of audiovisual means

Through the dedicated Section for education and development of IP use, the Office provides a range of internal and external training activities, organized in collaboration with national and international organizations.

Main training events organised in 2009:
• European Patent Academy Seminar – Workshop on European Patent post grant procedures (organized in Zagreb, Croatia in collaboration with EPO)
• PHARE 2006, Twinning project HR06/IB/OT/01 - Workshop, supported by DKPTO “Patent search services”, 25.-29.05.2009. and 26.-30.10.2009
• WIPO Summer school on Intellectual Property in Croatia, in collaboration with WIPO (academic institutions, R&D, young professionals);
SIPO also held several presentations on patent protection for domestic applicants, inventors, academic institutions and industry outside the Office premises.

Assistance to developing countries (sending consultants and experts, receiving trainees from developing countries, etc.)

Trainings organised in 2009
• Patents and General Public Cooperation, Training for the employees of IP Institute of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Promotional activities (seminars, exhibitions, visits, advertising, etc.)

SIPO organizes different promotional activities according to the annual plans. Among others, it provides lectures and workshops at universities and national fairs to increase general IP knowledge in order to facilitate an efficient use of industrial property rights in the practical business, and to inform future decision makers about the instruments of intellectual property. SIPO also organizes information stands at major fairs and exhibitions of innovations. In cooperation with different partners it also organizes public exhibitions aimed at promoting inventiveness and creativity

Some of the lectures organized in 2009:
Lecture "Protection and usage of innovation"
AMACIZ - Society of chemical engineering and technology" Zagreb: 9. 02. 2009.

Workshop "Patent information and its usage in R&D projects",
Lecture "Scientific research and IP"
Faculty of Engineering, Rijeka , 20.03. 2009.

Lecture "IP - why protect it and how to use it?
Entrepreneurship days of Istra, Pula, 6.-7. 05. 2009.

Lecture "Patent information - By analysis to advantage over competition
7th International fair of inventions, new technologies and products, ARCA 2009, Zagreb fair, 15-19.09. 2009.

Public events in which SIPO participated in 2009
•13th University of Zagreb Fair, 2-4.4.2009. Zagreb

• 7th International fair of inventions, new technologies and products, ARCA 2009, Zagreb fair, 15-19.09. 2009.

Patent related public exhibitions in 2009

SIPO’s exhibition “Croatian Inventors through History”, Rijeka, Centre for Innovations and technology transfer and Science and Technology Park, October 2009

Studies to identify trends in new technology, e.g., by the use of patent statistics and preparation of monographs

N/A

Assistance furnished by offices to facilitate the changing over of receiving offices to electronic data carriers for the exchange of patent documents (see also fourth sub-item of item VI, above)

N/A

IX. Other general information related to the Office that is available on the Internet -- URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that:

provide information on legislation related to patents

http://www.dziv.hr/en/default.aspx?pArtID=58&selection=5

contain the Annual Report of the Office

http://www.dziv.hr/en/default.aspx?pArtID=6&selection=0

contain patent-related news regarding the Office

News are available at the Office web site on the “news page” http://www.dziv.hr/

X. Other relevant matters