Annual Technical Report 2012 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Russian Federation (CWS/ATR/PI/2012/RU)
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
The main trends in the development of activities in the field of patent information are defined by the Comprehensive Plan for Development of the Rospatent System up to 2015, the Rospatent Computerization Plan for 2012, and the Plan of Measures by Federal State Institution the Federal Institute of Industrial Property (FGU FIPS) for the enhancement and development of its activities for 2012.
The main trends in Rospatent activities are reflected in the Plans, including:
the creation of conditions to assist natural persons and legal entities in the fullest possible implementation of their rights to protection of the results of intellectual activity and means of individualization, and their enforcement;
a reduction in the time taken to examine applications, bearing in mind the forecast growth in the volume of applications received;
the provision of high-quality examination and protection titles issued;
increasing the effectiveness of information technology resources within the Rospatent system;
establishment of a State patent collection and provision of access thereto;
training specialists in the use and protection of intellectual property;
implementation of monitoring in the sphere of the use and legal protection of the results of scientific research, and design and technology work for civilian purposes, financed by the Federal Budget;
implementation of international cooperation.
Depending on the type of measure, the anticipated deadlines for implementation are planned between 2011 and 2015.
In 2012 Rospatent used the Information-Search System (ISS), PatSearch, for invention and utility model examinations at all examiners’ workstations. The PatSearch system is a professional search system for patent office examiners to perform searches when examining inventions and utility models. A wide range of functions and services has been introduced into the system.
The technology for downloading foreign patent documentation from patent office websites is specific to each country. The effectiveness of the process depends on the system solutions used, the experience of those working with the sites, etc.
Experiments carried out jointly with the patent office of China in 2012, and related correspondence, led to the decision to introduce more serious technical support. This decision should be implemented soon, which will allow the download of patent information from China at the required speed. Similar work was carried out with the patent office of Australia.
The Rospatent Patsearch system is examiners’ main working search tool and the task of providing a high quality system is very important. A key task, therefore, is ensuring that the arrays uploaded to the patent documentation system (of national and PCT minimum countries) are complete.
For this purpose, in 2012, special work was carried out at Rospatent to evaluate the completeness of the Russian and foreign patent office collections; evaluations were made of Russia, Germany and the USA.
Following the initial results from this work to increase the completeness of patent collections loaded in Patsearch, special adjustments were made to the system (including its equipment).
Work continues on extending the functions of the system for prosecuting applications for inventions, utility models and industrial designs in the Automated Database (ADB) with respect to prosecution of applications for inventions that are received electronically.
In 2012, work continued on improving the functions of the electronic system for prosecuting applications for inventions, utility models and industrial designs, the Electronic Archive automated system (AS EA), with respect to providing revisers’ corrections of document packets sent for publication before making decisions on the issuance of patents for inventions or utility models, signing decisions on issuance of patents by enhanced certified electronic signature and depositing entries in the Electronic State Register (EGR) automated system. The conditions to begin commercial operation of the new version of the system have been established. The processing of paper documents/additional materials for applications for inventions and utility models using specially developed streams from the Data Preparation Centre (TSPD) enables e-work to begin in AS EA.
In order to organize electronic data transfer (PCT-EDI) between RU/RO, RU/ISA and WIPO in 2012, using the PCT Electronic Applications Library automated system, it is ensured that packets prepared for transmission to WIPO include certified copies of priority applications and items of incoming and outgoing correspondence. With regard to the Russian International Receiving Office (RU/RO), under the system in 2012 it was ensured that certified copies of application materials were processed, outgoing correspondence was prepared in a format that meets the requirements of PCT-EDI and the module “Scanning incoming correspondence in the format required by PCT-EDI” was integrated in the receiving office’s application, PCT Electronic Applications Library automated system.
In 2012, operation continued of the system for filing and receiving electronic invention applications: the automated system for paperless prosecution of invention examinations (AS BDEI). The system can be accessed through the Electronic Services for Applicants section of the official FIPS website:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/el_zayav.
Compared to previous years, the volume of electronic applications submitted increased more than tenfold. At the end of 2012 the number of system users exceeded 100.
In 2012 operation continued of the automated system for paperless prosecution for the Chamber of Patent Disputes (PPS). The system in operation provides the possibility of paperless prosecution during the consideration of objections and appeals filed with PPS. Information on the decisions of the PPS automated paperless prosecution system is posted on the FIPS website in the Decisions of the Chamber of Patent Disputes section.
In 2012, operation continued of the Unified System for the Accounting of Fees against a context of using electronic bank payments for examinations of inventions, utility models and industrial designs, and the maintenance of patents in force, and using web services as a means of integrating the prosecution systems for automated databases and the automated fees system.
Improvements to the automated fees system were carried out 2012, in connection with the introduction of changes to the Regulations on Fees and ending requests for copies of payment documents from applicants. The automated fees system is designed to support the processes for preparing data and administering the income from the payment of patent and other fees for performing legally significant acts: checking the receipt of funds by the Office, reserving funds, automatic tracking of the status of payments, automatic recording of funds on transmission of decisions regarding the performance of legally significant acts, and bookkeeping.
In 2012 the official website of Rospatent, http://www.rupto.ru, was modernized on the basis of portal technology. As a result, the structure of the site was developed and technical improvements were made, including: the creation of a version for the visually impaired, the provision of adapted versions for printing, an extended search by sections, including for regulatory documents, user registration, etc.
Alongside the Rospatent website, in 2012, the FIPS website (www.fips.ru) was also active and aimed to provide comprehensive support for users at different stages of the process for legal protection and defense of intellectual property. A new section was opened on the FIPS website – Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC) - that is designed to simplify access to patent information for organizations and businesses in Russia. Further development of the FIPs website resulted in the section Electronic Services for Applicants, which helps to familiarize organizations and individuals with the electronic filing of applications for inventions and trademarks.
Trends or areas experiencing rapid changes with respect to the previous year
Inventions
Table 1 shows the data for 2011-2012 for the filing of applications and grant of Russian Federation (RF) patents for inventions.
As displayed in table 1, compared to 2011, in 2012 an increase was observed in both applications filed and patents granted for inventions of, respectively, 6.75 per cent and 9.6 per cent.
The patents for inventions granted in 2012 were distributed according to the Sections of the International Patent Classification (IPC) as follows:
In 2012, the trends in distribution by IPC Section did not change compared to 2011. The largest number of patents for inventions granted in 2012 was, as in previous years, to Russian applicants for Section A of IPC - Human Necessities. The largest number of patents granted to foreign applicants in 2012 was for Section C - Chemistry and Metallurgy.
The least popular Section among Russian and foreign applicants alike remains Section D - Textiles and Paper. The number of patents granted for this Section in 2012 comprised only 0.83 per cent of the overall number of patents granted for inventions.
Utility Models
In 2012 the positive trend in applications received for utility models continued. The number of applications received increased by 6.25 per cent, which was due to applications filed by Russian applicants (an increase of 7.11 per cent), while applications from foreign applicant fell slightly. Compared to 2011, the number of patents granted rose by 5.34 per cent.
Data on the distribution of patents for utility models by IPC Section are shown below.
The leading IPC Section in 2012 remained Section B - Performing Operations and Transporting - while second place was taken by Section G - Physics. Section D - Textiles and Paper - continued to be the least in demand, with the lowest number of certificates granted.
URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide statistics related to patents
The following pages of the Office’s website contain:
information on patent legislation – Normative Documents section:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/883567fd-fbd2-11e0-e807-8e000200001f;
the Office Annual Report – Rospatent Annual Reports section:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/73b0f20a-2fce-11e1-351c-9c8e9921fb2c;
statistical information:
heading Statistical Information:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/5a7c5fda-fbf3-11e0-d400-8e000200001f;
Monitoring of the quantitative and qualitative indicators for the main activities of FIPS in 2012 is provided on the FIPS website in the FIPS Main Activities section:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/about/osn_deyat;
Links section:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/71550ba4-3b8a-11e1-e43a-9c8e9921fb2c;
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/link_resources/;
Rospatent News:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/5378798d-3212-11e1-a437-9c8e9921fb2c;
FIPS News: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/news/.
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.)
Table 5 contains data on the main types of Office publications in the field of patent information, carriers and also the frequency of publications.
The Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette on CD-ROM electronic carrier with search system and the corresponding paper publication are distributed by subscription. The three most recent electronic Gazettes are available on the Rospatent website.
RU-ATR-Patents2012-Publishing-printing-copying
Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of patent information
The forms of notifications concerning inventions and utility models published in the Rospatent Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazettes are described in Table 6.
RU-ATR-Patents2012-Announcements
Word processing and office automation
Descriptions of the State services provided by Rospatent in the field of patent information can be found on the State Services Portal (PGU):
keeping registers of intellectual property subject matter and publishing information thereon;
receiving invention applications and granting Russian Federation invention patents;
receiving utility model applications, examining them and granting Russian Federation utility model patents;
recognizing the invalidity or termination of validity of patents for inventions, industrial designs, patents (certificates) for utility models;
extending the term of and restoring patents;
considering communications from citizens of the Russian Federation;
registering agreements on the granting of rights in inventions, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks, service marks, protectable computer programs, databases and topographies of integrated circuits; commercial concession agreements on the use of intellectual property subject matter that is protected in conformity with the patent legislation of the Russian Federation.
All services provide the relevant forms, applications, and information on how to access services. It is possible to file applications through the State Services Portal for the grant of a Russian Federation patent for an invention, utility model or industrial design, as well as for State registration of a trademark or appellation of origin and for recognition of a trademark that is well known in the Russian Federation.
In 2012, the system for electronic document flow and monitoring the execution of instructions (SEDKP) was put into operation, allowing the registration, recording and monitoring of the execution of management instructions and consideration of communications from the public.
In 2013, it is planned to migrate to keeping the State Register of Inventions and Utility Models on electronic carrier.
In 2013, it is planned to migrate to the new version of the Agreements automated system offering paperless prosecution and the electronic provision of State services (integrated into the State Services Portal).
The Agreements automated system is intended to support the prosecution of agreements on the transfer of rights to intellectual property assets, providing for the whole cycle of work: registration, categorizing incoming correspondence, storing the current status of applications, revisers’ corrections, preparing and sending outgoing correspondence, bookkeeping, integration with other systems and entry of information on the registration of agreements in EGR (Inventions, Utility Models).
In 2013 it is planned to introduce the Patent Prosecution automated system offering paperless prosecution and providing State services relating to amendments to patents electronically (integrated into the State Services Portal).
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
The web page addresses of Office websites providing information relating to Office publications are:
the Administrative Regulations for performance by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks of State functions relating to the keeping of registers of registered intellectual property subject matter, publication of information on registered intellectual property subject matter, applications filed and patents and certificates granted therefor, on the validity, termination and renewal of validity of legal protection in relation to intellectual property subject matter, the transfer of rights in protectable subject matter, and the official registration of intellectual property subject matter:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/f6fafdc4-1772-11e1-bad7-9c8e9921fb2c#1;
Regulations on official publications of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks in the Patent Information Products section:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/publishing_activities/publication_act;
Prospectus of publications and databases in the Patent Information Products section:
http://www.fips.ru/SiteDocs/prospekt_2013.pdf.
The addresses of web pages on the Office site providing access to online publications are:
Inventions and Utility Models in the Electronic Gazettes section:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/electron_bulletins/inventions_utility_models/;
in the Information Resources section, International Classifications subsection:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/international_classification/;
and the Open Registers of Russian Patent Documents subsection:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/.
From the above page, a user may refer to the following resources by means of the appropriate link:
Register of Inventions of the Russian Federation
Register of Utility Models of the Russian Federation
Register of Applications for the Grant of a Russian Federation Invention Patent
Register of Applications for the Grant of a Russian Federation Utility Model Patent.
III. Matters concerning abstracting, classifying, reclassifying and indexing of technical information contained in patent documents
Abstracting, reviewing, translating
In 2012, abstracts continued to be published in Russian and English for RF patents granted for inventions as part of the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette, with full descriptions of inventions for RF patents and English-language abstracts on an electronic carrier with search facility (CD/DVD). In addition, abstracts in Russian are published as part of the publication Descriptions of Inventions for RF Patents on paper (identical to publications on electronic carrier).
With the aim of providing examiners and other categories of users with comfortable conditions when working with foreign patent documentation, immediate translation assistance is provided for patent documentation, both from Russian into other languages and from other languages into Russian, in both written and oral form.
Work continued throughout 2012 to maintain the PROMT automated translation system available to examiners. Thirteen new workstations were linked up to PROMT and its automated translation system was updated to a new version.
The updated version of the PROMT system has an expanded collection of specialized translation dictionaries (English - Russian - English, French - Russian - French, German - Russian - German, Spanish - Russian - Spanish and Italian – Russian - Italian) and a range of special functions to improve the quality of translation. In particular, in the most recent version of PROMT the settings functions were substantially redeveloped, primarily with regard to translation rules and improving the technology for adding entries to patent-oriented user dictionaries on various examination-related subjects with the help of a specially created interface.
Works to introduce them is being carried out, which will enhance the process of patent documentation translation and improve its quality. For staff members who are the most active users of the PROMT system training was held on using the expanded functions of the new version for creating user dictionaries. The thematic user dictionaries created are integrated into the active version of PROMT.
The creation and completion of English - Russian user dictionaries on specific examination-related subjects has continued, and following testing by examiners, they will be included in the system for general use. Work to create user dictionaries and introduce and use system tools that impact on improving the quality of translation will continue and will allow improvements to the quality and process of patent documentation translation.
Furthermore, all categories of users of the State Patent Collection (GPF) are provided with automated translation system PROMT. The quality of translations essentially depends on the thematic dictionaries loaded into the system.
In connection with carrying out significant work to translate foreign documents on all issues related to intellectual property, the All-Russian Patent Technology Library (VPTB) works actively to supplement thematic dictionaries on the latest subjects and over 50,000 dictionary entries have been prepared that are actively used when working in the VPTB display room.
VPTB performs translation from foreign languages and prepares summaries of foreign legal and patent literature of interest to intellectual property specialists. The volume of legislation from foreign countries translated in 2012 was over 600 pages.
The results of this work are placed in the automated database, which is available on the Rospatent website and can be accessed by a wide range of users.
In 2012, a database of abstracts in Russian on leading foreign countries (ISM) was acquired for users of VPTB on a commercial basis.
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 the middle of 2012, the scientific and terminological processing of amendments and updates to all expanded level IPC sections for the new edition, IPC-2013.01, was completed, and a Russian-language version of the entire classification was prepared for the new edition. Rospatent produced an electronic Russian-language edition of IPC-2013.01 for internal use and an online publication for external users of patent information.
For that purpose, Rospatent specialists processed over 1,500 corrections to the previous edition of IPC. Information on all the corrections to the new edition IPC-2013.01 was brought to the attention of examiners in advance.
National collection patent documents relating to deleted and amended sections of IPC were reclassified. Information about the reclassification of all IPC sections was entered into the Master Classification Database (MCD) (WIPO).
In patent documents published in 2012, as in previous years, the indexes covered all IPC sections.
In 2012, the following materials were prepared and sent to WIPO:
initiative proposals by Rospatent on the creation of definitions in areas relating to apparatus or tools for making or maintaining clocks or watches (draft D289, sub-class G04D), vinegar and its preparation (draft D288, sub-class C12J), military camping equipment (draft D287, sub-class A45F), corsets or girdles (draft D290, sub-class A41C), fittings for preventing or indicating unauthorized use or theft of vehicles (draft A055, sub-class B60R 25/00);
comments relating to the review of the classification schemes in areas relating to locks for means of transportation (draft A048, sub-class E05B), and modernization of the text in sub-class C11C (draft M740).
In 2012, the preliminary assignment of an IPC classification to applications for inventions and utility models received by FIPS was continued, in order to send them to the appropriate examination division for substantive examination of applications for inventions on their merits and the examination of utility models.
In 2012, 40,077 applications for inventions and 13,559 applications for utility models were assigned a preliminary classification index before being forwarded to the appropriate examination divisions.
International applications received by the International Patent Cooperation Division of Rospatent in its role as an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examining Authority are assigned a preliminary IPC index classification, which determines the appropriate examination division for each application.
Hybrid system indexing
In 2012, FIPS examiners provided full hybrid system indexes for national documents on all publications.
Bibliographic data and full-text processing
Bibliographic data and claims of inventions and utility models, as well as notifications of changes to the legal status of patents and other notifications are published in the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette on CD-ROM electronic carrier with search system.
All patent documents in Russian databases contain information on current legal status that is updated three times a month.
The Automated Database (ADB) subsystems to determine legal status use the given official publications containing information on new registrations of protection titles and changes. Following publication of each Gazette, data on legal status are displayed on the Rospatent site in the Information Resources section. For inventions and utility models patent status may be “valid”, “may terminate validity”, “validity terminated, but may be restored”, and “validity terminated.
Information on the legal status of inventions and utility models is published in Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazettes (on CD/DVD), in the paper Gazette and on the Rospatent site:
- information on the grant of RF patents for inventions and utility models;
- information on amendments to the published information on applications for inventions and to entries in the State Registers of Inventions and Utility Models (Notifications section of the Gazette).
In the Information Resources section of the Office site, information on registration and legal status or the state of prosecution of applications is displayed for subject matter registered in the Open Registers: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/.
In the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette on CD-ROM electronic carrier with search system with full descriptions, aside from bibliographic data and claims for inventions, full-text descriptions of inventions with drawings, abstracts of invention descriptions and English-language abstracts of invention descriptions are also published.
IV. Search file establishment and upkeep
File building
The main source of information for examination and third party users is the State Patent Collection (GPF).
The GPF is one of the most accessible and highest quality patent collections. The patent documentation of GPF is provided on all carrier types – paper, microcarriers, optical disks and virtual means of displaying information.
Updating
The main source for establishing the State Patent Collection is the international exchange of patent documentation.
A significant part of GPF is available on optical disks (over 50,000 optical disks) and the collection is formed, mainly, from traditional international exchange with foreign patent offices.
Patent information on optical disks is loaded in contemporary databases with a quality user interface and is made available to all categories of users in the VPTB display class.
The patent collection on optical disks contains patent documentation from Russia, the PCT minimum countries, CIS, WIPO, EPO, EAPO, Denmark, Spain, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Finland, among others.
In the VPTB display class, fee-free access is also provided to paid abstracts from the JPI EPO database. This is a high quality patent information product that is in high demand by VPTB visitors.
Currently, a modern technological option provided is the possibility to download foreign patent documentation from the Office website free of charge, using FTP. In order to use the downloaded patent information effectively in offline mode, it should then be loaded into an automated information system.
For Russia, that system is Patsearch, a modern multifunctional patent information system, and part of GPF, that is intended primarily to assist Rospatent examiners.
At present, the most up-to-date foreign patent documentation is only in Patsearch, and the problem of providing access to Patsearch for a wide range of national users is therefore a significant task for the short-term.
Non-examiners are currently only able to access Patsearch (excepting DWPI and the array of unpublished applications) as users working directly in VPTB.
Storage, including mass storage media
The collection of optical disks is stored in metal cupboards. Information on disk coordinates (cupboard number, shelf number, etc.), their usage history, possible exchanges and so on are available in a special technology database. Work with this collection is free of charge for all categories of users in the VPTB display class.
Documentation from other offices maintained and/or considered part of the available search file
In 2012, information was uploaded into the PatSearch system from all arrays of patent documentation from PCT minimum countries, as well as an array of extended abstracts and bibliographies from Thomson Reuters DWPI. This array is the main source for the search index. The system includes arrays of patent documentation from the USSR and Russian Federation, the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent Stats (CIS), PCT, the European Patent Office (EPO), the United States of America, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Australia, ARIPO, OAPI, and the Republic of Korea, and English-language abstracts and facsimiles of documents from Japan, China and other countries. In all, there are over 40 million patent documents in the original language.
The system is provided with a view of the full description of patent documents that have not yet been loaded onto the system but are found in DWPI through integrated online access to EPO arrays. Searches for non-patent literature are made through integrated access to external digital library E-Library and the SCOPUS database of non-patent literature. The majority of the arrays were provided as facsimiles of patent descriptions and required huge amounts of memory to be accommodated - several tens of TB.
System search arrays
• DWPI array
• Descriptions of USSR inventions from 1924 to 1993
• Descriptions of RF inventions from 1994 to date
• Claims of RF utility models from 1994 (No. 1) to date
• Claims of Russian invention applications
• Unpublished Russian invention applications
• Abstracts of patent documents from the world’s leading countries in English (DWPI)
• Descriptions of inventions from PCT minimum countries, including:
PCT applications
EPO
United States of America
Japan
Germany
United Kingdom
Canada
France
Austria
Australia
Switzerland
Republic of Korea
China
ARIPO
OAPI
Descriptions of inventions from CIS countries with abstracts in Russian (CISPATENT)
A total of approximately 90 million patent documents.
V. Activities in the field of computerized and other mechanized search systems
In-house systems (online/offline)
In 2012 there was no longer an alternative to performing information searches electronically. By decision of the management, the paper section of the examination collection began to be reduced, including foreign patent documentation from the previous 20 years.
The main tool for performing searches during examination has become Rospatent’s in-house search system, PatSearch, which is available at each examiner’s workstation. The search array of Patsearch includes patent documentation from the Russian Federation and the USSR, patent documentation from CIS countries, the World Patent Index (WPI) database, and countries included in PCT minimum documentation. The PatSearch system also supports searches of non-patent literature on the RFFI Electronic Scientific Library site and in the SCOPUS abstracts database of non-patent literature. At the same time, all examiners are provided with free access to all foreign patent office search databases.
The great majority of searches are currently performed by examiners online. If, for some reason, examiners do not receive sufficient data from the Patsearch system, they usually obtain additional patent information using databases that are freely available on the Internet, such as: Espacenet, the database of USPTO, the database of the patent office of Japan, the database of the patent office of Germany DEPATISnet, the WIPO PATENTSCOPE database and the Eurasian Patent Office search system EAPATIS.
In order to obtain information related to the examination of applications in the patent offices of Japan and the Republic of Korea that is necessary to their work in the PPH program, examiners can access the AIPN and K-PION databases.
Of the freely accessible databases of non-patent literature available from their workstations, examiners most frequently visit the database of medicines and pharmaceuticals of the United States of America National Library of Medicine and the SCOPUS abstracts database of non-patent literature.
Both young and experienced examiners are provided with training on the skilled use of available databases, as well as consultations with respect to such matters. In the first place, attention is given to Rospatent search system Patsearch and databases providing information that is absent from the Patsearch system.
In order to search scientific technical literature, examiners have access from their workstations to scientific technical abstracts databases SCOPUS and E-library, library websites and specialized databases in the fields of medicine, biology, biotechnology, chemistry, pharmaceuticals and technology, as well as Internet search engines Google, Rambler and Yandex.
In order to further extend the search field, examiners consult special search rooms where they are provided with access to local databases, subject-specific databases on optical disks, patent and non-patent databases on the Internet that are freely accessible, and commercial abstract database RZH VINITI containing abstracts of national and foreign scientific and technical literature resources. The databases are formed from Russian-language abstracts of material from periodical and serial publications, books, dissertations, conference materials, theses, patents, regulatory documents and deposited scientific work, 30 per cent of which is from Russian sources.
Examiners are trained on a continuous basis on the full use of the various information search tools with the aim of ensuring that work is completed to the required standards. Most of the examination staff, who have already studied the optimal methods of forming requests, performing searches and analysis of documents found, work independently and do not need training. In certain situations, when difficulties arise during searches, or if system functions are being updated, examiners use special search rooms.
In cases of updates to databases and automated systems or the emergence of new information resources, all staff members who use them are invited to a training session according to the schedule. At the request of examiners with less work experience, who have returned to work after a significant break or who wish to undergo repeat training etc., sessions are provided on the use of automated systems and electronic databases that are already in use or have been updated, as well as Internet resources that are recommended following research. This form of training continued in 2012. Mandatory training on automated systems and databases that have been selected for examination searches was provided to all new examiners.
On the Rospatent and FIPS websites examiners are provided with access to:
- a database of invention applications that contains information on the prosecution of 246,000 applications submitted from 2007 to 2012, updated daily;
- a database of applications for utility models submitted from 2007 to 2012 that contains information on the prosecution of 72,000 applications, updated daily.
Through the electronic prosecution system for inventions and utility models (AS EA), access is provided to primary application materials for inventions and utility models, versions of application components (invention claims, descriptions), bibliographic data and copies of documents sent to applicants.
External databases
Aside from the above-mentioned databases that are freely accessible from their workstations, when necessary, examiners are able to carry out searches using commercial databases that are provided on a contractual basis. The majority of these are patent and non-patent databases provided through the STN International platform. These databases are generally consulted during searches on chemistry (REGISTRY, CA, CASREACT, CHEMCATS, etc.).
Furthermore, in accordance with the agreement between FIPS and the European Patent Office, FIPS examiners have been provided with access to the EPO internal search system EpoqueNet from two workstations.
Access to commercial databases is provided to FIPS examiners in the specially equipped online search and consultation room, where highly qualified staff offer consultations and help with search methodology, carrying out searches jointly with examiners where necessary. Examiners usually access the online search and consultation room in difficult cases, for example, when the search requires the use of online resources that are not accessible from examiners’ workstations, or when an examiner experiences difficulties searching in any freely accessible database.
Over 1,200 searches were carried out in the online search and consultation room in 2012; almost all of them in the STN network databases REGISTRY and CA.
In order to improve the examination information supply, staff in the online search and consultation room receive continuous training on the online databases that might be useful for conducting information searches and prepare guidelines on their use for examiners. The search databases of a number of Asian countries were studied in 2012: India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the new database of China.
Administrative management systems (e.g., register, legal status, statistics and administrative support)
The Automated Databank (ABD), designed to prosecute applications and protection titles for inventions and utility models, has subsystems that manage the work of examiners and support staff, as well as capturing statistical information on various aspects of the activities of Rospatent subdivisions.
The subsystems for statistics allow the creation of over 300 different forms of reports on the activities of the Office’s subdivisions.
The electronic prosecution system for inventions and utility models (AS EA) supports functions to load and download electronic documents to Applications e-Work, plan examiners’ work, draft master plans and portfolios of examiners’ applications, list applications by applicant, capture statistics, provide access to Applications e-Work and application components, review bibliographical information, prepare outgoing correspondence, sign decisions on issuance of patents by electronic signature, introduce revisers’ corrections to the electronic packet of elements of an application for publication and has an application search function and a developed user administration system. The AS EA system is integrated into ABD.
Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), carriers used
Equipment used:
PrimePower 1500 server
(OM – 32GB, processors – 14, external memory – 24TB)
HP DL380 server – 40 units
(OM – 4GB, processors - 2, external memory – 200GB)
HP DL580 server – 18 units
(OM – 16GB, processors - 4, external memory – 600GB)
HP P4, Fujitsu-Siemens workstations - 1360 units
Switching equipment:
Cisco 6500, Cisco 4507
Software:
Solaris, Windows XP,
Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008 Server operating systems.
Carriers used:
Ultrium magnetic tapes.
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 main function of the All-Russian Patent Technology Library (VPTB) is the establishment of the State Patent Collection (GPF), including patent documentation on all subjects of intellectual property, scientific and technical and legal and patent literature on all carrier types, and providing them to all categories of users. Furthermore, VPTB fulfills the functions of a public library and the library of the Office at the same time. The main source for the GPF is international exchange, while legal and patent literature is obtained through subscription.
As at January 1, 2013, the GPF comprised more than 113 million documents overall. In total, 267 databases were accessible to all categories of users.
In order to assist VPTB readers, both general and specialized reading rooms are provided:
information and bibliography services;
paper and microform patent documentation;
optical disks and remote databases;
etc.
VPTB provides free access to patent collections that is targeted at all categories of users in RF, as well as those in neighboring and other foreign countries without any restrictions. Visits and services are free of charge for all categories of library users.
The VPTB patent collection is managed according to type of intellectual property and information carrier.
The Library premises are equipped with an alarm system and an automatic fire-fighting system.
Interlibrary lending, resource sharing, networks of patent libraries in the country
The Russian patent office does not have a regional network of patent libraries, yet, through international exchange it cooperates with a range of foreign patent office libraries, including the Latvian Patent Technology Library, the Patent Library of the Republic of Estonia, the Library of the Patent Office of Austria, the Central Patent Library of the Office of Bulgaria, the Central Patent Technology Library of the Republic of Tajikistan and other libraries.
The Office examiners are also provided with access to non-patent literature through interlibrary lending and electronic document delivery systems.
The total number of third party users of FIPS VPTB in 2012 was over 24,200 persons; while 100,400 consulted GPF in 2012.
In 2012, users (including examiners) were issued with 35.2 million copies of patent documents: over 3.7 million copies on paper, 2,200 copies on microcarrier, and over 31.5 million copies on optical disks.
The patent information services of VPTB are provided to remote users on request, including thematic selection of patent documentation, searching by systematic indexes, searching in automated databases and searching for patent-analogs, among others. There are over 40 designated services in all.
In 2012, over 6,400 patent information services were provided at the request of remote users.
At present, over 310 legal and physical entities have remote subscriptions to FIPS VPTB.
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)
In 2012, patent information users were presented with the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette with full descriptions of inventions for RF patents on electronic CD/DVD carrier with search system and the corresponding paper Gazette. They are distributed on subscription, with a frequency of 36 issues per year.
In addition, in the interests of users, the following information products were distributed:
• An annual index to the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette, on paper - five volumes;
• Annual retrospective sets of invention descriptions for USSR authors certificates and RF patents, from 1924 to 2011, on DVD (a total of 105 disks);
• An information-search system for invention descriptions in Russian and English, from 1994 to 2012, on DVD - quarterly and cumulative;
• Title pages of utility model descriptions for RF documents providing protection, from 1994 to 2012, on DVD - one disk;
• Descriptions of utility models for RF documents providing protection from 1994 to 2012 on DVD;
• Patent invention descriptions on paper – 32,880 units;
• Title pages of utility model descriptions on paper - 11,671 units;
• Rospatent Annual Report for 2011.
The selection of information products also included the full version of the official publication of the International Patent Classification, edition 2012.01 (IPC-2012.01) on CD.
Most products on CD and DVD were distributed with MIMOSA software, allowing all forms of patent searches to be carried out.
In 2012 electronic publication on the FIPS website continued of the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette, while the registers of Russian inventions and utility models were updated and details of their legal status were provided.
Also on the Internet, users are granted free access to information on applications for the grant of Russian Federation invention and utility model patents. Information on the prosecution of applications is available for applications received after January 1, 2007.
In 2012, the FIPS Internet site provided an expanded list of databases reflecting the development of official electronic publications.
On the basis of official information relating to inventions and utility models, thematic databases are produced for users’ on special request.
In 2012 the Rospatent Internet site provided access to:
- registers of Russian patent documents relating to inventions and utility models,
- registers containing information on published applications and the prosecution of applications filed in 2007-2012 for the grant of invention patents;
- registers containing information on the prosecution of applications filed in 2007-2012 for the grant of utility model patents;
- the Rospatent Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazettes published in the last month.
Registers of Russian patent documents from Rospatent are compiled in the following databases:
- a full-text database of Russian inventions (contains information on 480,000 invention patents from 1994 to 2012 inclusive, updated three times per month);
- a retrospective database of Russian patent documents in facsimile form (contains information on 1,433,000 patent documents for inventions from 1924 to 1993 inclusive);
- a full-text database of Russian utility models (contains information on 123,000 Russian utility model certificates and patents from 1996 to 2012 inclusive, updated once per quarter);
- a database of invention applications (contains information on 394,000 published applications filed from 1992 to 2012, updated three times per month, and on the prosecution of 246,000 applications filed from 2007 to 2012, updated daily);
- a database of utility model applications filed from 2007 to 2012 (contains information on the prosecution of 72,000 applications, updated daily).
On the FGU FIPS site users are provided with access to:
- an information-search system (ISS) on national patent documentation;
- registers of Russian patent documents on all forms of industrial property;
- registers containing information on the prosecution of applications filed from 2007 to 2012 for the grant of invention and utility model patents;
- Rospatent Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazettes published in the last month.
Users of the information-search system (ISS) are provided with access to:
- a full-text database of Russian inventions (contains information on 480,000 patents for inventions from 1994 to 2012 inclusive, updated three times per month);
- a retrospective database of Russian patent documents in facsimile form (contains information on 1,433,000 patent documents for inventions from 1924 to 1993 inclusive);
- an abstract database for Russian inventions (contains information on 495,000 patents for inventions from 1994 to 2012 inclusive, updated three times per month);
- a database of published applications for inventions (contains information on 394,000 applications for inventions from 1994 to 2012 inclusive, updated three times per month);
- an abstract database for Russian inventions in English (contains information on 503,000 invention patents from 1994 to 2012 inclusive, updated three times per month);
- a full-text database of Russian utility models (contains information on 123,000 Russian utility model certificates and patents from 1996 to 2012 inclusive, updated once per quarter);
- an abstract database for Russian utility models (contains information on 123,000 Russian utility model certificates and patents from 1996 to 2012 inclusive, updated three times per month);
- a future-oriented inventions database (contains information on 1,000 inventions from 1994 to 2012 inclusive that are recognized by FIPS as promising, updated once per quarter);
- IPC (2012.01) database.
Users' work with the information-search system
Office examiners are given the possibility to work with all inventions and utility models databases. Access for external users to full-text inventions and utility models databases is granted on a contractual basis.
Free access to full-text inventions and utility models databases is granted to:
- 149 organizations participating in the Rospatent Program of Cooperation with regions of the Russian Federation;
- 40 organizations participating in the implementation of the State project to develop nanotechnologies;
- 76 Technology and Innovation Support Centers;
- 84 organizations of the Federal Service of Court Bailiffs;
- 170 organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs;
- 11 organizations of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service;
- 16 organizations of the Ministry of Defense;
- 101 organizations of the taxation service.
External users are provided free of charge with:
in relation to inventions:
- abstracts databases in Russian and English,
- a database of published invention applications,
- a future-oriented inventions database,
- a full-text database containing documents published in the last three Inventions and Utility Models Gazettes;
- the IPC database.
in relation to utility models:
- an abstracts database;
- a database containing documents published in the last three Inventions and Utility Models Gazettes;
- the IPC database.
The VPTB offers a unique collection of legal and patent, and dictionary and reference literature (PPL collection), which is part of the GPF and is available on paper and electronic information carriers. The PPL collection includes publications on a wide range of theoretical and practical issues of intellectual property protection in Russia and abroad:
patent law, copyright and related rights, creation, legal protection, entry into the market and the evaluation of intellectual property, innovation activities, patent disputes, collision of trademarks and domain names, copyright protection, applicants, patent owners, etc.
It comprises books, pamphlets and periodical and serial publications from over 30 countries around the word and six international organizations in 20 languages (primarily in English, Russian, German and French).
At present, the PPL collection comprises over 85,000 publications; the oldest publication is dated 1830.
A special Index has been developed to classify the PPL collection that provides a detailed and multi-aspect description of its contents. It is used to index and arrange books and introduced as an essential search element in the PPL database, substantially expanding its search possibilities.
The Index comprises 12 sections and contains over 1,000 headings.
An electronic catalog of Russian-language abstracts of information sources was created, based on an inventory of legal and patent literature. The electronic version of the catalog, containing information on publications since 1992, is available on the FIPS website.
Aside from the PPL database, in the Rospatent and Regions section of the Rospatent website, there are regularly updated bibliography lists to help regional experts with issues that arise regarding protection of intellectual property subject matter and questions of judicial practice:
recommendations on the list of essential methodology, legal and patent literature, documentation to support the activities of patent subdivisions and services of the State science and education sector and organizations of the national nanotechnology network, issues in the commercialization of intellectual property and business to help small and medium-sized enterprises.
In the VPTB Division section of the FIPS website there are guidelines on the VPTB Collection and Internet Resources and translations into Russian of quarterly EPO publication Patent Information News provided by the staff of the VPTB Division. A new information product was placed in this section in 2012, the Internet Navigator for Patent Information Resources, which contains links and short descriptions of useful resources on the organization’s website that address issues of intellectual property and related fields in the Russian Federation.
A new section was created on the FIPS website, Frequently Asked Questions, where answers to users’ questions about patent information are answered.
Overall, in 2012 over 140,000 users consulted the information available in the VPTB Division section of the FIPS website.
Aside from the above-mentioned information sources, all categories of users are provided with access to electronic resources Kluwer Manual IP Online (information on the registration system for patents, trademarks and industrial designs in different countries) and Kluwer IP Cases (information on judicial practice in the field of copyright and patent law) from publisher Kluwer Law and Business.
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.
Addresses for web pages of the Office’s website that provide information on filing applications:
• Administrative regulations on the execution by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks of State activities to organize the receipt of applications for inventions and their consideration, examination and granting of Russian Federation patents for inventions in the established manner,
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/f5662c97-1772-11e1-bad7-9c8e9921fb2c#1;
• Administrative regulations on the execution by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks of State activities to organize the receipt of applications for utility models and their consideration, examination and granting of Russian Federation patents for utility models in the established manner,
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/f59b468f-1772-11e1-bad7-9c8e9921fb2c#1;
• Methodology recommendations on matters of the examination of inventions and utility models,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inventions_utility_models/rec_inv;
• Model Applications, Declarations and Requests and Examples of Completed Forms section:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/file_library/obr_zaya/;
• Electronic Services for Applicants section:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/el_zayav/;
• Fees section:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/4b2be45c-fe19-11e0-77a5-8e000200001f;
Patent and Other Fees subsection:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/0083cb94-2c92-11e1-dd3a-9c8e9921fb2c.
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 subscribing to patent information products – in the Patent Information Products section: Catalog of Publications and Databases,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/publishing_activities/ ;
How to Access Publications and Databases subsection,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/publishing_activities/porayad_pr/;
• Carrying out searches – in the Information Resources section: Services subsection,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/article_6/;
and Information-Search System subsection,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/;
Open Registers,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/;
Inventions and Utility Models in the Electronic Gazettes section,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/electron_bulletins/inventions_utility_models/;
• Patent databases – Databases subsection of the Information-Search System section,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_2/;
• Information on accessing and using resources – in the Information-Search System section, Support subsection,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_4/;
Instructions,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_1a/.
FIPS All-Russian Patent Technology Library Division,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/fonds/.
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
At present, FIPS VPTB, which is tasked with building the patent information resources of the Office, undertakes international exchanges with 57 countries and six international organizations.
Through international exchange in 2012, FIPS VPTB received 5,109,100 copies of full descriptions for foreign patent documents electronically (on optical disks and through downloads from foreign patent office websites) from 27 countries and five organizations (including OAPI and ARIPO), including 88 annual sets of invention descriptions on optical disks.
In 2012, 1,112 copies of Gazettes containing information on inventions were received in all formats from 45 countries and one international organization: 26 paper copies (6 stand alone Gazettes and 20 sections); 267 copies on optical disks (57 stand alone Gazettes and 210 sections); and 819 copies were downloaded from the Internet (443 stand alone Gazettes and 376 sections).
As part of international exchange in 2012, FIPS sent 47 foreign countries and five organizations 64 annual sets of Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazettes with full descriptions of inventions for RF patents. In total, 1,954,800 copies of national invention descriptions were sent to foreign patent offices.
As part of international exchange, 10 sets (140 items) of the combined regional output of CIS countries on CD-ROM CISPATENT were forwarded to six patent offices and EPO. Nine countries participating in the Direct Libraries project were sent 22 sets (296 items).
Under the framework of international exchange with foreign patent offices in 2012, aside from patent documentation, Rospatent Official Gazettes and legal and patent publications were sent to individual patent offices in accordance with existing agreements (124 copies in total: 102 on paper and 22 on disks).
Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed at the instigation of WIPO between VPTB and the information and education services of the WIPO information division, since 2009 the Library has received one copy, in English and Russian, of every new WIPO publication free of charge.
Data on 3,166 national patent documents that have been reclassified due to the migration to IPC edition 2013.01 were transferred into the Master Classification Database (MCD).
Carriers used for exchanging primary documents
In September 2012, Rospatent, acting as a Receiving Office, began to transfer to WIPO documents concerning international applications electronically by means of PCT-EDI, without sending paper copies: 250 registered copies of international applications and 249 certified copies of priority applications were transferred. Testing was carried out of the transfer, by means of PCT-EDI, of international search reports and written notes from the International Searching Authority.
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
Training for Rospatent State employees
In 2012, under the program for continuous professional development in State educational institutions, 15 Rospatent State employees received training: 15 were trained at academies on “State anti-corruption policy” (execution of the Order of the President of the Russian Federation No. 460 of April 13, 2010, on the National Anti-corruption Strategy and National Anti-corruption Plan for the years 2010 to 2011); three received training on “State foreign policy” (in accordance with the Foreign Policy Concept approved by the President of the Russian Federation on July 12, 2008, No. Pr-1440); and six received training in other fields.
Training and professional development for FIPS specialists
At FIPS, professional development for employees is organized under the Common Training System (ESO), according to the principle of continuous training from the time of hiring. Both internal and external training methods are used. In order to ensure that the examination of intellectual property applications and the protection titles granted are high quality, great attention is focused on enhancing the skills of both new and experienced examiners. In order for new examiners to acquire the professional skills and knowledge for the high quality and sustainable achievement of set targets, a mentoring system has been set up at FIPS, which assigns each new examiner a mentor.
Every year, in accordance with the quarterly plans for in-house training, approximately 550 training sessions are held in the subdivisions of FIPS. They mostly focus on studying newly released regulatory documents, issues in the performance of examinations, and analyzing the results of internal and external examination quality control and practical law enforcement. The management of each subdivision conducts the sessions. This year, six centralized sessions on contemporary issues in practical law enforcement were held for the managers of the structural subdivisions, as well as staff examiners, research staff and other leading FIPS specialists.
In connection with the requirements of Federal Act No. 210-FZ of July 27, 2010, on organizing the provision of State and municipal services, and with respect to the payment of fees, changes to information for applicants and use of the common system for inter-office information exchange with federal executive bodies, in particular the Federal Treasury and the Russian Federal Taxation Service (FNS), training is held regularly at FIPS for staff whose skills are related to work in this field. Training on cooperation with the Federal Treasury that was aimed at checking the accounting of fees was held for 30 employees.
Training for staff examiners on how to use the Rospatent in-house search system, PatSearch, is held on a continual basis. Details on matters relating to training for examiners in the use of different search systems and databases are provided in section 3(c) of the present report.
As part of the exchange of experience with patent offices in other countries, three training seminars on familiarity with the law enforcement practices of other patent offices (Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market, CAS corporation and USPTO) were held at Rospatent for staff examiners, and administrative and managerial staff from FIPS. The seminars were attended by 153 specialists.
Organization of professional development for specialists at educational institutions
In 2012, 28 new FIPS specialists followed a professional development program lasting 220 academic hours on the examination of inventions and utility models.
Six FIPS employees continued postgraduate study at the Russian State Academy of Intellectual Property (RGAIS): one special admission, four at their own initiative and one as a doctoral candidate.
In 2012, four employees followed the advanced professional education program at RGAIS.
In 2012, Rospatent organized and held 30 conferences, seminars and roundtables on intellectual property issues in 15 regions of the Russian Federation where two Rospatent staff members and 40 FIPS staff members gave presentations. From among those participants, nine FIPS staff members presented at two international seminars organized and conducted by Rospatent together with WIPO and two international seminars organized and conducted jointly by the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and WIPO on the basis of FIPS supporting organizations. Nine staff members from FIPS and one staff member from Rospatent gave presentations at one international seminar organized by the USPTO and FIPS supporting organizations, and two international practical research conferences organized and conducted by Rospatent and FIPS jointly with the USPTO and FIPS regional supporting organizations.
The conferences, seminars and roundtables held in 2012 were attended by more than 2,000 persons from different regions of Russia.
Assistance to developing countries (sending consultants and experts, receiving trainees from developing countries, etc.)
In accordance with the Agreements between Rospatent and the International Bureau of WIPO, Rospatent, acting as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority, prepares search reports with preliminary examination reports on applications filed with the International Bureau of WIPO by developing countries. In 2012, 25 such search reports together with examination reports were prepared.
Promotional activities (seminars, exhibitions, visits, advertising, etc.)
Given the importance of knowing the basics of intellectual property and in order to train new specialists in the skills for successful work in science, economics and industry, the VPTB Division holds a range of different events in cooperation with universities, research centers, Technology and Innovation Support Centers, etc., including:
• organizing and holding seminars and practical classes based on GPF for students from a range of Moscow higher education institutions held in accordance with Cooperation Agreements. In 2012, 32 excursions and practical classes on working with patent documentation were held, which were attended by approximately 500 persons;
• participating in seminars and conferences organized and held in regional information centers, libraries and Russian higher education institutions as part of the Rospatent Regional Policy. The subjects of these events correspond to the tasks of raising public awareness of patents, enhancing inventive activity, and providing innovative State policy. Representatives of VPTB participated in practical seminars on intellectual property in Kazan and Irkutsk in 2012.
• disseminating knowledge in the field of intellectual property by periodically organizing roundtables in Moscow – thematic meetings between leading FIPS specialists and representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises, teachers and students of higher education institutions and other specialists interested in issues of intellectual property. In 2012, seven thematic meetings were held and attended by more than 450 persons. In 2012, VPTB conducted three training sessions for representatives of independent non-profit organization Intellectual Property Center (Saransk), the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk and members of the public on the comparative analysis of the search possibilities offered by the Patsearch database, ISS Mimosa, ISS on the FIPS website, the EPO Global patent index database and EAPO EAPATIS database;
• assistance with the updating, on a non-remunerated basis, of patent collections of national patent documentation on optical disks in the higher education institutions, libraries and other regional organizations of the Russian Federation most actively involved in innovation processes. In 2012, over 600 optical disks with national invention descriptions were distributed to different higher education institutions in the Russian Federation. In 2012, foreign invention descriptions on optical disks (576 disks) and foreign periodicals (17 disks) were sent to the regions of Russia.
In 2012, Rospatent provided access free of charge to full-text databases of national descriptions of inventions, utility models and industrial designs to 73 Russian commercial organizations that provide services with respect to the activities of Technology and Innovation Support Centers.
Active participation continued in 2012 in the work to establish and refine the WIPO standards in the field of patent information under the relevant Task Forces of the Committee on WIPO Standards, primarily by developing Standards for the use of XML to exchange information on industrial property rights in all formats. Significant attention was given to the revision of WIPO Standard ST.14 regarding the introduction of new codes for categories I and N, as well as developing recommendations on the citation of non-patent literature.
Active participation in the work of the WIPO Committee of Experts on IPC and ICGS continues, primarily on plans to review them. Up-to-date Russian-language versions of these classifications are being prepared for the completion of their review. Alphabetical subject indexes for the current versions of IPC are regularly republished.
Rospatent plays an active role in developing cooperation under the PCT. Particular attention is focused on the present stage of harmonization of search procedures during application examination and writing up reports on searches that have been performed. In 2012, work continues on the automated drafting of reports on searches performed in the in-house information-search system, PatSearch.
The number of offices that have concluded agreements with Rospatent under the programs for accelerated prosecution (PPH, PPH-PCT and PPH-MOTTAINAI) is rising steadily, as is the number of applications from them. In 2012, agreements of this kind (aside from the existing agreements with Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States of America, Finland and Spain) were concluded with Denmark and China.
A Rospatent delegation regularly participates in the work of the East meets West forum dedicated to exchanging patent information.
In 2012, in order to implement the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding on establishing a network of Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC) in the Russian Federation, signed between Rospatent and WIPO in Geneva on September 28, 2011, Rospatent continued to implement the measures outlined by the Program to Establish a Network of TISCs, developed jointly by WIPO and national patent offices.
May 24 and 25, 2012. In St Petersburg, a training seminar “Establishing a network of Technology and Innovation Support Centers in Russia and its role in the innovative development of contemporary society” was held at the International Institute of Business and Law (IMBIP), National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (NIU ITMO). The seminar was organized by WIPO, Rospatent, FIPS and NIU ITMO. Participating in the seminar were 55 staff members from 33 Russian commercial organizations from various regions of Russia that provide services with respect to the activities of Technology and Innovation Support Centers. Seven specialists from FIPS and one WIPO staff member gave presentations.
June 22 and 23, 2012. In Cheboksary, as part of the Fifth Cheboksary Economic Forum “Time for Strategic Innovation” a practical seminar was held, “Establishing a Network of Technology and Innovation Support Centers in the Russian Federation.” The seminar was organized by WIPO, Rospatent, FIPS, the Ministry for Economic Development, Industry and Trade of the Chuvash Republic, VOIR Chuvash national civil society organization and the National Library of Chuvash Republic (BU CHR). Participants included 35 persons from different regions of Russia, one staff member from Rospatent, four specialists from FIPS and one staff member from WIPO. On September 25, 2012, in St Petersburg, as part of the Fifth St Petersburg International Innovation Forum, the First Conference of Russian Technology and Innovation Support Centers was held. The conference was organized by WIPO, Rospatent, FIPS and IMBIP NIU ITMO. Thirty participants from 25 regions of Russia were involved in the work of the conference. Presentations were given by two FIPS specialists and one WIPO staff member.
November 22 and 23, 2012. A regional seminar “Developing a National Intellectual Property Strategy” jointly organized by WIPO and Rospatent took place. It was attended by 84 persons, including specialists from WIPO, EAPO, the Eurasian Economic Commission, staff from the patent offices of ten CIS countries and representatives from Russian ministries, agencies and organizations. At the seminar, three specialists from WIPO gave presentations.
June 20 and 21, 2012. In Irkutsk, at Irkutsk State University of means of Communication (IrGUPS), an international practical research conference was held, “The Legal Protection of Intellectual Property in Russia and the United States of America.” The conference was organized by Rospatent, FIPS, the USPTO and IrGUPS. More than 55 persons from four regions of Russia took part in the conference, including five specialists from FIPS and two specialists from USPTO.
September 25 and 26, 2012. In Yekaterinburg, at Ural Federal University an international practical research conference was held, “Intellectual Property Protection in the Context of Contemporary Economic Risk.” The conference was organized by Rospatent, FIPS, USPTO and Ural Federal University. Over 100 specialists from eight regions of Russia attended the conference, including one Rospatent staff member, two specialists from FIPS and two specialists from USPTO.
October 1 and 2, 2012. An international seminar was held, entitled “Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Management in Higher Education Institutions.” It was organized by Rospatent in cooperation with USPTO and IMBIP NIU ITMO and was attended by one FIPS staff member.
In January 2012, under the International Project “Establishing a Network of Technology and Innovation Support Centers”, representatives of VPTB received training in Geneva (Switzerland) in order to learn from the experience of WIPO.
Based on the first experience of the work of the relevant division of FIPS (VPTB), a new heading was introduced to the section “International Project to Establish a Network of Technology and Innovation Support Centers” on the Rospatent website, entitled “Information Resources for TISCs”, containing links to resources on the Rospatent and WIPO websites.
An annotated list of WIPO publications on the basics of intellectual property protection (in Russian) providing links to the full text of documents available on the WIPO website (24 titles) has been prepared and placed on the website in the TISC section, under the heading “Information Resources for TISCs.” This information product is intended to be used for the promotion and enhancement of intellectual property knowledge. The list is updated quarterly.
The bibliographic index “Foreign Patent Information Management Systems: publications in Russian and other languages” (241 titles) on other countries’ experiences of establishing TISCs has also been prepared and placed in the TISC section of the website.
IX. Other general information related to the Office that is available on the Internet -- URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that:
Internet publications of the All-Russian Patent Technology Library Division are presented on the FIPS website in the State Patent Collection and VPTB Information Products sections: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/fonds/.
On the Rospatent site, in the Rospatent and Regions section, the following online publications are published:
• method-related materials and reviews on protection and enforcement of the results of intellectual activity to assist small and medium-sized enterprises:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/regions/mp;
• recommendations on the list of essential methodology, legal and patent literature and documentation for the provision of documents for the patent subdivisions and services of the State science and education sector and organizations of the national nanotechnology network:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/regions/recomend.
In order to ensure the uniform practical application of the provisions of part four of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation regulating the grant of legal protection to the subject matter of patent legislation and means of individualization, a range of method-related recommendations have been posted on the FIPS website:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inventions_utility_models/industrial+property_recomend.
To assist the patent subdivisions and the State services of the science and education sector and organizations of the national nanotechnology network, a range of method-related materials are available on the website:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/regions/nano_pat;
In the Information Resources section, in the Open Registers, information is provided on registering intellectual property subject matter with an indication of its legal status or state of prosecution:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/.
X. Other relevant matters
| 1. | Classification is allotting one or more classification symbols (e.g., IPC symbols) to a patent application, either before or during search and examination, which symbols are then published with the patent application.
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| 2. | Preclassification is allotting an initial broad classification symbol (e.g., IPC class or subclass, or administrative unit) to a patent application, using human or automated means for internal administrative purposes (e.g., routing an application to the appropriate examiner). Usually preclassification is applied by the administration of an office.
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| 3. | Reclassification is the reconsideration and usually the replacement of one or more previously allotted classification symbols to a patent document, following a revision and the entry into force of a new version of the Classification system (e.g., the IPC). The new symbols are available on patent databases.
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