Annual Technical Report 2010 on Trademark Information Activities submitted by United States of America (CWS/ATR/TM/2010/US)
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.
I. Evolution of registration activities
In calendar year 2010, the USPTO received 281,483 applications for the registration of a trademark including 370,168 classes. Application filings increased 5.0 percent, as measured by total classes filed. The increase was 5.2 percent over prior year results.
The USPTO issued 165,220 certificates of registration plus renewed 45,363 marks in calendar year 2010. This represented a decrease of 6.8 percent from the prior year in the number of marks registered.
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, and distribution of secondary sources of trademark information, i.e., trademark gazettes
Publishing, printing, copying techniques
The USPTO extracts text and image data to generate the weekly publication of the electronic Official Gazette and enable the printing of paper copies of the registration certificates and updated registration certificates. The textual elements of these products are exported from the Office’s central database along with the representations of the marks which are extracted from a database of digitized images, automatically inserted into the layout. The results are both posted on the USPTO’s Website and forwarded, electronically, to the publisher, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), as PDF files. This process results in the fully automated formatting of the electronic Official Gazette. The Office continues to print the registration certificates in-house
Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of trademark information
The USPTO provides a Notices Section in the Official Gazette in which the Office publishes various materials related to the registration and maintenance of trademarks. In addition, the USPTO makes extensive use of the USPTO Website to provide free access to trademark news and information. The Website, at http://www.uspto.gov provides access to the Official Gazette, a searchable data base of pending applications and registrations (TESS), access to the file contents of pending applications (TDR), an administrative data base with information regarding the bibliographic data and status of trademark applications and registrations (TARR), the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure, the U.S. Goods and Services Manual using in examination; data bases related to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board actions, and various other materials related to Trademarks.
Mass storage media and microforms used
The Office collects 100% of all new application data via a scanning and optical character recognition process (for paper filed applications) and in various formats including image and XML (for those applications and correspondences received and transmitted electronically). Images of all new applications and subsequent correspondence are available electronically at the desktop of examiner’s working in the Office or working from home. The contents of the older paper pending paper files have been captured as electronic records and the files for registrations continued to be captured.
Word processing and office automation
The USPTO continues to revise and expand the word processing templates that support examiner correspondence. All information and resources needed to process trademark applications or registrations are made available electronically from the employees’ desktop (whether in the Office or working from home).
Techniques used for the generation of trademark information (printing, recording, photocomposing, etc.)
As described above, the Office has automated its photocomposition process and performs fully automatic layout of all character and image data. The Office continues to use the US Government Printing Office for subscription printing of the Official Gazette.
III. Matters concerning classifying, reclassifying and indexing of trademark information
Classification and reclassification activities; Classification systems used, e.g., International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification), International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification), other classification (please indicate whether goods and services for the registration of marks and whether the figurative elements of marks are classified by your Office and, if so, which classification(s) is (are) used)
The USPTO currently uses a system for indexing the figurative elements of design marks that is based on the Vienna Classification System. The USPTO uses the three levels of classifications for all designs in the database for applications and registrations. These design codes are maintained within the automated databases and are used to support searching design marks within the Office’s search databases (both the internal search system (X-search) and the database made available on the Internet (TESS)).
The USPTO currently uses the Nice Classification system for classification of goods and services. The USPTO uses three additional classes, i.e., 200 for collective marks and “A” and “B” for certification marks. Other than this deviation, the USPTO applies Nice classifications to all goods and services.
Use of electronic classification systems to check the classification symbols furnished by an applicant and which are contained in the lists of goods and/or services
The USPTO has developed an Intranet based search tool to provide for electronic searching of the classification manual. This system provides USPTO staff with improved access to classification manual and Notices while providing greater flexibility for modifications. It is now possible to modify the contents of the classification manual on a daily basis. The technology supporting this facility is the same as that supporting the Offices search system thus providing a search syntax already familiar to the examining attorneys.
Obligation for applicants to use pre-defined terms of the classification applied
The Office has two options for electronic filing. One of those tracks (TEASPlus) provides the filer with the contents of the ID Manual and requires strict adherence with those entries, adding text only where specifically allowed. The filers that use the TEASPlus option have a reduced fee.
Bibliographic data and processing
The USPTO continues to use the automated search system (X-Search) for all internal trademark searching requirements. Customers are provided with automated search access on TESS, accessed via the www.uspto.gov site. Additionally, customers may access the internal Trademark search system at the USPTO Public Search Facility in Alexandria, Virginia. The contents of the two databases are identical and the search software is the same. The Internet site provides a browser interface while the internal site is accessed via an MS Windows based rich client application.
IV. Trademark manual search file establishment and upkeep
The USPTO does not maintain a manual search file. All searches are performed using an automated search system.
V. Activities in the field of computerized trademark search systems
In-house systems (online/offline)
As described above, the USPTO continues to support two automated trademark search systems. X-Search for all internal trademark searching requirements with limited access available on campus to the public and through TESS, which is accessed via the Internet at the www.uspto.gov site.
External databases
External resources are used for specific search requirements. Included are Lexus/Nexus and certain CD-ROM based search database such as Computer Select and McCarthy/LawDesk. Additionally, the Internet is available to all Examining Attorneys for reference.
Administrative management systems (e.g., register, legal status, statistics and administrative support)
The USPTO continues to rely on TRAM as the central automated database system to support the management of the internal operations of the Trademark Office. The Office continues the planning process for next generation systems, (referred to as Trademark Next Generation Systems) to include document management, a workflow system and business rules. Trademark Next Generation will provide fully automated support for, and access to, all resources required to support trademark end-to-end operations.
Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), carriers used
The USPTO has a rich environment of equipment supporting Trademark operations. The TRAM system runs on a UNISYS ClearPath mainframe server; MS Windows and HP-UX servers support other systems. A complete description of technical resources used is included in the USPTO Technical Reference Manual.
VI. Administration of trademark information products and services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, registering trademarks, assisting clients with search procedures, obtaining official publications and registry extracts)
Information services available to the public (including computerized services and search files contained in libraries remote from your Office and trademark information posted by your Office on the World Wide Web)
The USPTO provides valuable resources on the Internet to assist our customers. There is an electronic filing system (TEAS and TEASPlus) that allows for the completion payment and submission of new applications and subsequent documents online. TESS provides a quality information retrieval facility to search for marks that are within our database. TARR provides up-to-date data on applications and registration, including the current status and prosecution history. The Trademark Document Retrieval (TDR) system provides on-line access to the complete file contents of all pending application files and some registered files. Visit us at: http://www.uspto.gov where all of the mentioned Trademark systems reside. Additional materials, including manuals used by examiners, which explain various aspects of the USPTO and the trademark system, are also available on-line.
The USPTO Public Search Facility located in Alexandria, VA provides public access to trademark information in a variety of formats including on-line, microfilm, and print.
The USPTO has a number of Trademark products and services available for purchase. A description of trademark data products available for purchase can be found at: http://www.uspto.gov/products/catalog/trademark_products/index.jsp
TM DVD-ROM products are available for purchase by the public:
http://www.uspto.gov/products/catalog/trademark_products/index.jsp
Trademarks BIB: Bibliographic Information from Abandoned, Canceled, Expired, Pending, and Registered US Trademarks
This Cassis DVD-ROM contains the text of all abandoned, canceled, expired, pending, and registered trademarks from 1884 to present with 30 searchable fields. This DVD-ROM product is updated every two months. Trademarks BIB also refers to trademark image locations on USAMark, described below. USAMark: Facsimile Images of United States Trademark Registrations This Cassis DVD-ROM contains facsimile images of U.S. trademark registration certificates issued from 1870 to the present. An image is an actual page of the trademark, including renewals and modifications, and looks just like the original printed document. USAMark is a document delivery system, not a search system. Retrieval is by document number only from a cumulative index that covers all issued discs. Excellent printed copies of actual documents can be obtained directly from a laser printer. USAMark is published monthly.
VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of trademark documentation and information
International or regional cooperation in the exchange of trademark information, e.g., in the form of official gazettes
The most recent 52 weeks of the Trademark Official Gazette (“TMOG”) are available for free through the USPTO’s web site at: http://www.uspto.gov/news/og/trademark_og/index.jsp
Exchange of machine-readable information
The USPTO offers a variety of machine-readable products extracted from trademark databases. A catalog of products can be found at the following address: http://www.uspto.gov/products/catalog/trademark_products/index.jsp
US trademark information is provided to 99 intellectual property offices on optical disc products (mostly in DVD-ROM format).
The USPTO also exchanges data with WIPO in electronic format in support of the Madrid Protocol.
VIII. Matters concerning education and training, including technical assistance to developing countries (please indicate URLs of web pages of the Office’s website wherever appropriate)
The United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Global Intellectual Property Academy (GIPA) offers capacity building programs in the United States and around the world on IPR protection, enforcement, and capitalization. Capacity-building programs are offered to patent, trademark and copyright officials, judges, prosecutors, police, customs officials, foreign policy makers, examiners and rights owners. In delivering capacity building programs, the Academy works closely with other U.S. government agencies, trading partners, international organizations, and rights holders. Through GIPA programs, foreign officials learn about international IP obligations and norms, and are exposed to a U.S. model of protecting and enforcing IPR and discussion of IP issues in a collaborative learning environment. In 2010, the GIPA provided training to more than 4,500 officials from 122 countries on a variety of topics, including IP protection and enforcement, and technology transfer.
In 2010, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) continued to develop and produce GIPA’s new Distance Learning Modules, a new method for delivering IP education, which provide presentations addressing the basics of trademarks, geographical indications, patents, copyright, enforcement and trade issues, as well as information on international standards and the U.S. experience. Upcoming modules will include exclusive rights in copyright, exceptions and limitations in copyright, intellectual property enforcement under the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), industrial designs for patents, nontraditional trademarks, IP and Green Technology, and IP Intelligence for Small and Medium Enterprises. The modules are available online in a video presentation and an accompanying PowerPoint presentation on each topic. The current Distance Learning Modules are also accessible in a number of foreign languages, including Arabic, French, Russian, and Spanish.
The USPTO also continued its work under a MOU with ROSPATENT to cooperate in capacity building activities, work sharing and public awareness programs in Russia. Specific activities as part of a FY2010 action plan on bilateral cooperation included a multi-city IP awareness program in Russia, Roundtables on Appellate Practice and Design Patents at ROSPATENT, and Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) training program at the USPTO.
In the area of enforcement, USPTO continued to boost enforcement capacity globally by holding customs and enforcement workshops and capacity-building programs in a number of countries and regions, including the Balkans, East Africa, Colombia, Brazil, Slovenia, Cambodia, and Senegal. These programs targeted judges, prosecutors, and other enforcement officials. There was an intense focus on working with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). USPTO partnered with ASEAN on a sub-regional border enforcement program in Brunei, a seminar/tour in the US on innovation and protection/enforcement of IP, a criminal enforcement program in Cambodia, and other sessions on digital piracy, IP management and commercialization, and judicial and prosecutorial education. In addition, the Enforcement Team emphasized the importance of combating counterfeits, particularly for public health and safety reasons, through specialized programs in Tanzania, India, and Trinidad and Tobago. The Enforcement Team also ramped up its efforts in fighting the growing problem of digital piracy by coordinating and participating in focused programs in Ukraine and Estonia.
In Latin America, the Latin American Copyright Legal and Policy Seminar, which was held in the Global Intellectual Property Academy in July 2010, brought together sixteen senior and mid-level government officials from the eight Latin American countries with which the United States has concluded Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) during the past six years: the six DR-CAFTA countries (Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica), as well as Chile and Peru. By special arrangement, officials from Mexico also attended. The program highlighted the enhanced standards of copyright protection and enforcement contained in the FTAs, including those related to technological protection measures and Internet Service Provider liability. It also featured presentations by representatives of the major US-based copyright industries (music, business and entertainment software, film, and publishing) on current enforcement challenges and emerging business models in Latin America. One participant from Mexico described the program as one of the best she had ever attended. Another participant from El Salvador noted that he would be using the training materials from the program for a series of lectures on “IP in the Context of International Agreements” for prosecutors and judges in El Salvador.
In the Middle East/North Africa region, the USPTO conducted a patent and trademark examination program in Oman at the IP office in the fall of 2010. About thirty local practitioners and others members of the IP community participated.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the USPTO provided dual training courses on trademark examination for the members of Africa Regional Intellectual Property Office (ARIPO) and an advanced patent examination for Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) in May 2010. In conjunction with the dual programs, the USPTO and KIPI co-organized a one-day seminar on IP for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for more than one hundred attendees. The USPTO also co-organized a program on IP management and technology commercialization for officials and university administrators from countries in the South Africa Development Community (SADC) in South Africa in September 2010. In conjunction with this program, the USPTO and the Public Intellectual Property Resources in Agriculture (PIPRA), a non profit organization connected to the University of California, at Davis, organized two IP seminars for South Africa universities and SMEs. About 160 people attended the two programs. To promote plant variety protection and the accession to the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), the USPTO and the UPOV Office co-sponsored two regional plant variety protection programs, one in Tanzania for ARIPO members and the other in Cameroon for OAPI members. The programs were attended by high level officials up to the ministerial levels.
In Russia, the USPTO partnered with the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation to conduct a conference in Irktusk (July 12, 2010) “International Trends on Patent and Trademark Cases,” and a roundtable in Moscow (July 14, 2010) “Roundtable for Russian Judiciary on Adjudicating IP Cases.” The Honorable Judge Randall Rader, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, participated and presented in both programs. In total, more than sixty Russian judges from Irkutsk, Siberia and Moscow participated. In October 2010, the USPTO partnered with the United Nations Economic Council for Europe (UNECE) and the non-profit partnership “The All-Russian Union of Business Associations (OPORA)” to conduct a three-day Sub-Regional Workshop on IPR Enforcement and IPR Management and Innovation. This IPR Enforcement and Commercialization workshop was designed to increase capacity to promote IPR protection and counter the growing threat of trade in counterfeit goods in Russia and the region. Ninety-seven participants attended this program.
In the area of enforcement, in Russia, the USPTO organized and participated in the following programs in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010: 1) in March, the USPTO and the U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg partnered with the General Prosecution Office, Investigational Committee of the Prosecution, Investigational Committee of the Prosecution of St. Petersburg, and the Internal Affairs Directorate of St. Petersburg to organize and conduct a 2-day Consul General’s IPR Roundtable to focus on international cooperation for IPR enforcement and best practices for standardizing investigative operating procedures for IP crimes; 2) also in March, the USPTO partnered with the Russian Federal Service on Roundtable on Protecting Intellectual Property at the Border with Russia Federal Customs Service, in Moscow; 3) in September 2010, the USPTO partnered with the Russian Federal Customs Service to conduct Roundtable on Border Enforcement of IPR: Focus on Russian Far East in Blagoveschensk. USPTO also organized and conducted a seminar in FY 2010 to brief more than 66 AmCham members and U.S. rightholders on outcomes of the Study Tour of the United States by Russian customs officials, which was organized by the USPTO in September 2009.
In Ukraine, the USPTO staff participated in the United Nations Economic Council for Europe (UNECE) International Conference “From Applied Research to Entrepreneurship: Promoting Innovation-Driven Start-Ups and Academic Spin-Offs” and Seminar “Intellectual Property Management at Public Research Organizations” held at Kyiv in November 2010.
In the ASEAN Region, the USPTO, in cooperation with the ASEAN Secretariat, conducted several ASEAN regional (not including Myanmar) and sub-regional programs on IP protection, utilization and enforcement. A three-day Sub-regional Workshop on IP Border Enforcement program was organized for Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore in Brunei in March 2010. Approximately 120 customs and border officials, law enforcement officials and investigators, and prosecutors attended this program, with a commitment to greater transnational border cooperation in combating trade in counterfeit and illicit goods. In May 2010, the USPTO organized a three-day Advanced Workshop for Law Enforcement Investigators and Public Prosecutors on Criminal Enforcement of IPR in Phnom Penh. Approximately sixty public prosecutors and law enforcement officials attended this program, with a commitment to work more closely in investigating and confronting IP crime in the ASEAN region. The USPTO also held a Seminar on Administrative Enforcement, Civil Adjudication, and the Mediation and Arbitration of IPR Disputes in Phnom Penh on July 20 - 23, 2010. Approximately fifty judges from the region attended and participated in this program, with a general recognition that the judiciary plays an increasingly important role in an efficient, accessible, and effective enforcement system when dealing with IP dispute resolution and litigation. In April 2010, the USPTO cooperated with the European Patent Office to organize a four-day Seminar on Patent Work-sharing and ASPEC (ASEAN Patent Examination Cooperation) Implementation in Manila. During this seminar, the patent leaders of ASEAN IP offices discussed among themselves and with an expert team on regional work-sharing possibilities and strategies to reduce workload in the areas of patent search and examination. A Seminar and Practical Visit on IPR Protection and Innovation was held in the United States on June 21 – July 2. This program provided opportunities for seventeen ASEAN IP Office leaders to visit several U.S. innovative and creative organizations and meet with the U.S. stakeholders in four States. In cooperation with the Malaysia IP Office, the USPTO organized a three-day Workshop on IP Management and Technology Commercialization in August 2010 in Kuala Lumpur. About thirty representatives from universities, national laboratories, and IP offices of ASEAN participated. After the program, the participants provided very positive feedback and requested further training on IP management and Technology commercialization.
In India, a workshop on IP Protection and Management Issues was help in Ghaziabad in February 2010. The program included discussions on US Patent Practice and Procedure, Tech Transfer and Litigation, as well as US Trademark and Copyright Issues. Speakers from the USPTO and NIH participated in the technical sessions. About seventy Tech Transfer Experts and Scientists from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science & Technology participated. Also, a two-day program at the Delhi Patent Office to exchange best practices in the examination of pharmaceutical patent applications was conducted in April 2010. Three supervisory Patent Examiners from the USPTO traveled to India to speak at the program. About thirty patent office officials working in the pharmaceutical arts from four patent offices including Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai participated in the program. In addition, in April, a two-day program was held at the Mumbai Patent Office to exchange best practices in the area of Biotech patent applications for eighteen patent office officials working in the biotech arts from four patent offices including Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai. Further, in October 2010, a two-day workshop on ‘Recent Trends in IP Practice and Management’ was organized in Lucknow, India, in collaboration with Central Drug and Research Institute (CDRI), which is one of the premier labs under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). About 120 scientists and academicians participated in the workshop. Also, in October, an interactive discussion on best practices in the area of patent examination and prosecution was held in Delhi for twenty-five patent examiners from the Indian IP Office.
In China, the USPTO conducted an Industry Roundtable on Operation of the New Patent Law in Beijing on September 13, 2010. In July 2010, the USPTO organized a five-day Customs IPR Border Enforcement Program in China, Mongolia, and Russia.
Other technical assistance activities of note include an Industrial Design program conducted during 2010 in which more than 20 officials participated from around the world. Also, in November 2010 an international training program on the Patent Prosecution Highway was delivered to about 30 officials from various IP offices interested in patent worksharing programs. In February 2010, the USPTO held a week-long Advanced Patent Program in our Global IP Academy all in Arabic, for Arabic-speaking officials from the Middle East/North Africa region. In July 2010, USPTO held an IPR Seminar in Lebanon for a group of about 130 officials and private sector participants, and conducted meetings with government officials in different agencies to better understand the government’s IPR technical assistance needs. The same month, USPTO officials also conducted meetings with Algerian government officials in different agencies to better understand their technical assistance needs. Finally, in May 2010, USPTO conducted a three-day Judicial Workshop on IPR for approximately 20 judicial officials from the region.
IX. Other general information related to the Office that is available on the Internet -- URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that:
See http://www.uspto.gov