CWS.ATR.PI.2012.PL

Annual Technical Report 2012 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Poland (CWS/ATR/PI/2012/PL)

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

In 2012 a significant progress has been made in the number of electronic filings, both via e-forms for inventions and utility models in the Online Services Portal and in the eOLF system.
Filings to the Office are increasingly more often preceded by searches in the electronic collections than in the paper holdings.

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

In 2012, the PPO received 4,604 patent applications under the national procedure, out of which 4,407 were filed by domestic applicants and 197 by foreign applicants.
In comparison with the year 2011 the number of domestic patent applications under the national procedure increased by 13.6%.
53 applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty entered the phase of examination carried out by the Office (so-called national phase).
Under the international procedure, as the receiving Office, the PPO received from domestic applicants 173 patent applications under the PCT procedure and 168 European patent applications with the aim of seeking protection abroad.
The total number of patent applications filed in 2012 amounted to 4,657.
In 2012, the Office received from foreign applicants 26 applications for the grant of supplementary right of protection for medicinal products and plant protection products in order to protect rights under Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC).
On 31 December 2012, 41,242 patents remained in force, out of which 22,877 were European patents.
In the scope of IT field, the following projects were introduced:
- The Register Plus software application for patents, utility models, trademarks, SPC and EP validated in Poland was launched for the public in 2012.

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

Statistics are accessed at the following URLs:
http://www.uprp.pl (Annual Reports' box)

Detailed statistics may be bespoke provided (write to http://ipu.uprp.pl/portal/web/guest/kontakt).

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.)

In 2012, the following publications (periodicals) were issued:

- "Biuletyn Urzedu Patentowego" (first level Official Gazette - bi-weekly) 26 numbers, i.e. 4,423 copies.
- "Wiadomosci Urzedu Patentowego" (second level Official Gazette - monthly) 12 numbers, i.e. 1,969 copies.
- 2011 Annual Report of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland - 1,100 copies.
- Patent Specifications (type B documents) 2,735 titles - 58,334 copies.
- Protection Specifications of Utility Models 530 titles - 2,120 copies.

In the scope of IT field the following activities were performed:
- Maintenance of the PL Publication Server - the electronic holdings of PL patent specifications since 1924; PL utility models since 2001 and EP validations in Poland since June 2005. The holdings appear in PDF format; may be downloaded either in XML or zipped format containing XMLs and PDFs; references to both Espacenet retrieval system and EPO Register Plus were set up; please consult: http://pubserv.uprp.pl/PublicationServer/index.php?jezyk=en
- Espacenet - under EPTOS 9.1. (please see below: X. Other relevant matters) - efforts are made to publish the entire collection of all PL applications and granted patents published since 1924 (both collections on the PL data base and the Worldwide database), please notice: http://pl.espacenet.com. The images from the BNS Server were shared as published documents.
- PPO enabled deep-linking from the EPO Patent Register to its own national register.

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

Announcements on patents and utility models are primarily published in the official gazettes on paper carrier: "Biuletyn Urzedu Patentowego" - first level Official Gazette (information on inventions and utility models applications) and in "Wiadomosci Urzedu Patentowego" - second level Official Gazette (information on granted patents and granted protection rights on utility models). Announcements containing ordinances of the President of the Patent Office, official announcements and communications are published in the Official Journal of the Patent Office. In 2012, 3,374 announcements on filed patent applications and 866 announcements on utility model applications were published in "Biuletyn Urzedu Patentowego" (first level Official Gazette) and 2,728 announcements on granted patents and 530 granted protection rights on utility models were published in "Wiadomosci Urzedu Patentowego" (second level Official Gazette).
All these publications are forthwith available free of charge in PDF format on the PPO's Online Services Portal (http://ipu.uprp.pl/portal/web/guest/publikacje).
Announcements regarding non-procedural matters, but coupled with the Office's activity like: general information on the PPO's tasks, references, organizational structure, HR matters are published on the Internet version of "Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej" which falls under the official PPO's web site. Many non-regular, important announcements are immediately published within the content of the website.

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

The PPO uses the following carriers of patent documentation to gather national and international collections: CD-ROMs, DVDs, HDs which can generate conventional paper copies for various either in-house or outside purposes; paper has a gradual decrease as a carrier.

Word processing and office automation

- Word processing is carried out using MS 2007 Office and the MS Windows XP is commonly used. Replacement of the operating systems on MS Windows 7 is in progress.
- All examiners have access to the internal and external on-line databases.
- The digital representation of patent and utility models documentation is delivered directly to the staff's work stands via ePhoenix.
- All staff has access to the Internet and Intranet and enjoys the MS 2007 Outlook variety of facilities through the networked PCs which are connected to a local area network.
- The public reading-room is equipped with terminals and 24-inch monitors, and our conference and training rooms are furnished with modern audiovisual means.
- The online filings in the online system - eOLF have been successfully continued, enabling the electronic patent and utility model filings under the national procedure ,
- The PPO gives the possibility to apply for patent and utility models also via the e-forms available on the Online Services Portal.

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

The constantly modernized publication system enables production of the Office's publications on its own. The publishing process is based on the DTP system and covers preparation of data contained in the Office's databases, text editing in MS Word programme and picture processing in Adobe Photoshop CS3. Final typesetting is made in InDesign CS3 programme. Printing is performed on the offset machine and digital reproducer. The text of patent specifications is scanned in OCR technique and pictures are scanned in Adobe Photoshop CS3 programme. Then, the text is combined with the pictures and the first page with bibliographic data. Finally, the patent specification is proof-read and printed in Ms Word programme. Printing is performed on the digital reproducer.
Parallel to publishing in paper format, patent specifications are posted in PDF format on the PPO's website and in Publication Server.

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

- IP information on patents and utility models: http://ipu.uprp.pl
- Publication Server - Polish patents (B), utility models (Y) and EP translations into Polish (T): http://pubserv.uprp.pl (user interface in 3 languages - PL, EN and FR).
- Polish patents and utility models under Polish version of Espacenet (http://pl.espacenet.com) with possibility of the redirection to the Worldwide data base containing PL collections (bibliographic data in English).
- Online Services Portal with access to patent gazettes, classifications, e-filings and patent attorney's directory: http://ipu.uprp.pl

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

Abstracting, reviewing, translating

In 2012, Patent literature collection was enlarged by the 7,328 pdf files of European patent specifications, translated into Polish (available online).
Polish abstracts and their English equivalents are stored in the database, and thus are searched and accessible for further treatment.
The Office's abstracting services are handled by electronic means which aid to place the abstract deliveries in the in-house and external retrieval systems, like: Polish databases, Official Journal records, Espacenet (both collections - PL database and the Worldwide data base), etc.

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)

In 2012, the electronic 2012.01 version of the International Patent Classification was used at the PPO, while the electronic 2013.01 version was being prepared to be launched in 2013.

Coordinate indexing (domestic deep indexing systems, keyword indexing)

n/a

Hybrid system indexing

n/a

Bibliographic data and full-text processing

- Full-text patent and utility model documents together with abstracts are uploaded for search purposes to the modality databases.
- PDFs of the full-text PL patent, PL utility model and EP validation documents are uploaded to the Publication Server (it should be noted that either XMLs containing basic bibliographic data, or archives containing both XMLs and full-text PDFs may be downloaded) and to the ePhoenix.
- Full-text PDFs of PL documents are uploaded via Secure FTP to the EPO's Espacenet search system on a half/monthly basis.

IV. Search file establishment and upkeep

File building

In 2012, the increase of patent documentation was as follows:
- 2,650,350 copies on CD-ROM and DVD (437 cassettes), including specifications of inventions, patent specifications and utility model specifications.
- 5 titles of bibliographic and thematic databases within the scope of patents.
- 16 titles (249 CD-ROMs) of the official bulletins of national patent offices.
- On paper carrier 12,976 copies of Polish patent specifications and 1,058 copies of Polish utility models specifications and 7,328 EP patent specifications translated into Polish.
- 1,145 booklets of patent, technical and legal literature on paper.
- 203 volumes of books - fulfilling the orders of PPO examiners.
- 7,328 pdf files of European patent specifications translated into Polish.
Within patent documentation field, the PPO uses professional databases: "World Patent Index" (DWPI Derwent/Thomson) and "EMBASE".
The Office continued the process of disposing of some of its paper search files (domestic and foreign) to save space, in view of the extensive use of online searching in respect of the Office's patent holdings.

Patents and utility models are available electronically, and may be searched on internal databases. Published PL patent specifications may be accessed and searched via Publication Server; foreign patent literature may be searched via EPOQUENET.

Updating

In 2012, the PPO continued collecting, storing, and preparing patent and technical literature by:
- Purchasing and introducing 203 volumes of books into the EXLIBRIS database.
- Registering and providing access to 1,145 booklets of patent, technical and legal literature on paper.
Upkeep of search files is carried out centrally by administrative staff, in a process that includes comparing the search file contents with the electronic records.

Published patent and utility model applications on search systems are updated fortnightly.
Published patents and utility model on search systems are updated monthly.

Storage, including mass storage media

Patent documentation on paper carrier is stored in the storage rooms on movable bookshelves, in numerical and class arrangements, and are grouped separately according to respective countries. Class collection is stored in special files, adjusted to this type of collection. Numerical collection is stored in bound volumes. The storage rooms meet all the requirements for collection's safety. Polish patent documents arranged according to the patent classification symbols are available in the general reading room, while foreign patent documentation in class arrangement is available in the examiners' reading room.
Collection of patent documents on CD-ROM and DVD is stored on special bookshelves adjusted to this type of collection. It is available in the reading room also to external users.

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

In-house systems (online/offline)

- The Office has also its own internal retrieval system (TULIPAN) with access restricted exclusively to examiners within the Office. The system offers procedural data concerning patents and utility models in the course of the whole procedure. The integrated data base is also maintained for searches on filing and granting procedures with regard to patents and utility models, supported by the fee control system.
- In co-operation with the EPO, the software for submitting applications online was integrated in the online system - eOLF, and also the set of tools for the electronic dossier management - e-Phoenix is used.
- The PPO gives the possibility to apply for patent and utility models also via the e-forms available on the Online Services Portal.

External databases

The PPO's examiners use regularly the external on-line retrieval resources:
EPOQUENET Suite; hosted by Elsevier Information Systems - the chemistry Database Reaxys and full-text scientific database ScienceDirect; STN (the Scientific and Technical Information Network) offers information on a broad range of scientific fields.
Register Plus based on Soprano and ePhoenix database was published in 2012.

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

Installed and adopted to work together are ePhoenix (electronic storage and access to our patent and case files) and Soprano (work-flow) systems. Register and legal status information are disseminated via Register Plus system.

Off-line systems provide information to examiners, lawyers and the accounting staff (payroll and finance-accounting system).

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

- Completion of the virtualization servers and personal workstations based on the blade-type servers, running under VMware ESX Server, centrally administrated by the Virtual Centre Server. All, recently deployed servers were at once installed in the virtual environment. The virtualization software was upgraded to the newest version of vSphere. Concomitant with the task, the disk space for data within SAN disk-array subsystem was considerably increased.
- Workstations run under Windows XP environments, and server's operational systems are Microsoft Windows Server (2003 and 2008, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (10 and 11) and Debian (5 and 6) GNU/Linux. Replacement of the operating systems on MS Windows 7 is in progress. The SAN mass storage network was configured in order to make disk-arrays available to the computing systems. All of workstations are secured by McAfee antivirus and antispam system. All network connections are based on CISCO and Alcatel equipment with 100 Mb access to the Internet.
- Server infrastructure for the Online Portal includes 9 application servers; 5 database servers; 10 TB build-up array; back-ups for HP Data Protector, Fujitsu FI-5900C scanner, 125 packages for the purposes of qualified signatures. On-Line Portal servers are supported by local UPSs and they are also hooked to Main power supply unit for the PPO.
- Back office hardware located in secured/zoned Data Centre with fire alarm and CTV system, redundant air-conditioning and technical floor.
- Modernization of the software edge firewall

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

Applications for patents and utility models can be made electronically, by post, by fax or in person at the Office's premises.
Much of internal information, like: pamphlets, manuals, law reports, magazines for circulations, circulars, regulations, forms etc. are anticipated to be available on the Intranet.
Both paper and electronic collections are located in our main building and are therefore secure.
Automation processes were continued with regard to paper holdings which are consequently digitized.
The public can visit the library and use dedicated workstations for searching patent and non-patent literature on paper and Internet and get assistance from qualified staff. The public may also use a collection of the CD-ROM databases. To some extent the public is allowed to use the classified documentation of other countries.

Collecting, acquisitions, preparation

In 2012, in the field of organisation and upkeep of the files available to the Office's examiners and the public, the following documentation was included in the files:
- 2,650,350 copies of patent documents on CD-ROM and DVD containing abstracts of patent and utility model applications, from 9 countries and 1 international organisation.
- 249 CD-ROM discs i.e. 16 titles of bibliographic and thematic databases.
- 89 titles, i.e. 1,145 booklets of patent, technical and legal literature on paper.

Collection management, preservation

Patent documentation on paper carrier is stored in the storage rooms on movable bookshelves, in numerical and class arrangements, and are grouped separately according to respective countries. Class collection is stored in special files, adjusted to this type of collection. Numerical collection is stored in bound volumes. The storage rooms meet all the requirements for collection's safety. Polish patent documents arranged according to the patent classification symbols are available in the general reading room, while foreign patent documentation in class arrangement is available in the examiners' reading room.
Collection of patent documents on CD-ROM and DVD is stored on special bookshelves adjusted to this type of collection. It is available in the reading room also to external users.

Interlibrary lending, resource sharing, networks of patent libraries in the country

Within the co-operation with the PATLIB centres in Poland, the Office continued supplying them with foreign and Polish patent documentation and literature. In 2012, the Office sent:
- 60 discs with full text databases on CD-ROM.
- 10 discs with patent literature.
- 226 copies of Polish industrial design and utility model specifications.
- 1,067 copies of first level Official Gazette.
- 469 copies of the second level Official Gazette.
- 39 copies of the "Official Journal of the PPO".
- 35,051 copies of patent specifications for the year 2012.
- 44 copies of 2011 Annual Report of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland.

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)

The Office continues to offer its services via Online Services Portal at: http://ipu.uprp.pl.
Previous and current versions of the latest IPC edition in Polish language are continually offered at: http://ipu.uprp.pl/ipcpub.
Polish patent and utility model information within Polish language version of Espacenet is systematically expanded, and the Office's website is linked into the EPO Espacenet search facility.

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

http://ipu.uprp.pl

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.

Information on filings, post-grant procedure, opposition and appeal procedures, etc. are in details described within specific sections of our website which is also linked to our search services and databases.
http://www.uprp.pl - continues at: http://ipu.uprp.pl (Online Services Portal).
A variety of guides and other information materials are offered in PDF format through the Office's website.

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

Description of information products and services is announced in relevant parts of Office's website, and users are then directed to Office's services where the description continues, either in editorial part, or in help files. See also information directly above.

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

The Office provides several patent offices and organizations with its bibliographic data and abstracts in the flat text machine-readable format, and also xml format. Full-text information is provided in PDF fully searchable format. Electronic filings submitted to the PPO under EP and WO procedures are transferred to the EPO and WIPO respectively.

Medium used for exchange of priority documents

Paper

Medium allowed for filing applications

Although filing is mainly in paper form, the Office has online filing facilities for applications which allow patent and utility model applications to be filed electronically.

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

In 2012, the PPO participated in trainings and conferences organised by the European Patent Office (35 people). The events focused on issues, such as: Search reports and written opinions, EPOQUEnet functionalities and use, Novelty and Inventive Step, Computer implemented inventions: classification, search and examination practice, Patent documentation standards and tools for data exchange, IP for governmental officials and public decision makers, External corporate communication for IP offices: patents and society, New tasks for PATLIB centres in business context, Patent procedures and automation tools, Search matters, Patent information, Patent administration and documentation, Patent valuation.
Every year, the Polish Patent Office organises trainings to raise professional skills of its staff.
In 2012, after completing two-year training, 9 Office's employees obtained examiner's qualifications and 12 employees, who completed their training and passed the qualifying examinations, obtained assistant examiner's qualifications. In 2012 the aforementioned group gained access to "STN" platform, which comprises more than 200 scientific databases.
Additionally, language courses for PPO employees (languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian) were organised.
Within the framework of the training program for the PPO employees and patent attorneys 9 open lectures for 827 participants in total were given by external experts in innovation and industrial property.
Moreover, 303 staff members benefited from many specialist training courses organised by professional educational centres such as: National School of Public Administration, Mazovian Voivodeship Centre for Personnel Training, Operational Centre for Public Procurement, to name a few. The subject matter of the trainings included the issues of public procurement, administrative proceedings management, finances, information technologies and labour law.
In the framework of in-house trainings, 409 staff members were trained in: etiquette and diplomatic protocol, public procurement, public presentations, nanotechnology, copy right, labour law.

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

In 2012, within industrial property protection the PPO organised or participated in the following events:
- 5th International Conference "Women's Innovation and Creativity for Economic Growth - Design in Innovative Economy" organized in Warsaw by the Patent Office in cooperation with WIPO, among others.
- Conference on World Intellectual Property Day "Creative approach to innovation. How to be creative and effectively deal with intellectual property protection" organised in Warsaw in cooperation with WIPO.
- 8th International Symposium "Intellectual Property in Innovative Economy. Financing and monetization of patents - how to function effectively during world economic crisis " held in Krakow in cooperation inter alia with EPO and WIPO.
- Annual "Scientific Picnic" of the Bis Radio and Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw.
- Congress of Innovative Economy held in Warsaw.
- 8th Fairs of Industrial Technology, Science and Innovation "Technicon Innovations 2012" in Gdansk.
- International Fairs iENA in Nuremberg.
- 61st International Fairs of Invention, Scientific Research and New Techniques "INNOVA" in Bruxelles.
- Ceremony of prize award in the 10th edition of the competition for the best artistic poster as well as post-doctoral, doctoral, master's and student's theses on the subject of industrial property organized by the Patent Office.
Within the scope of promotional activities the Polish Patent Office continued participation in the IPeuropAware project which is part of the EU Framework Programme "Competitiveness and Innovation - 2007-2013". The Office participated in the following work packages to name a few:
- creation and upgrading of IPR services
- creation and maintenance of the English version of the website: www.innovaccess.eu
- development and implementation of professional helpdesk services in the European National Offices.
In the framework of systemic project implemented by the PPO and co-financed by the EU Regional Development Fund, the Office printed 160,000 brochures on intellectual property.

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

Legislation: http://www.uprp.pl/

contain the Annual Report of the Office

Annual Reports (the content has both EN and PL versions):
http://www.uprp.pl/ (Annual Reports' box).

provide open source codes related to patent information systems

n/a

contain patent-related news regarding the Office

http://www.uprp.pl (News)

X. Other relevant matters

In 2012, the incident and assistance managing system to users of our IT system was effectively carried out by the ServiceDesk solution - consistent with the ITIL practice.

All EPTOS sets are working in virtual environment (VMware technology) and are upgraded to version 9.1
Applications are separated – one application per virtual server. The test, maintenance and production versions work under the homogeneous Polish version of EPTOS ver. 9.1.