CWS.ATR.TM.2013.RU

Annual Technical Report 2013 on Trademark Information Activities submitted by Russian Federation (CWS/ATR/TM/2013/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.

I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADEMARK INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of trademark information activities and expected time frames for their realization

The main trends in the development of activities in the field of trademark information are defined by the Comprehensive Plan for Development of the Rospatent System up to 2015, and the Rospatent Departmental Plan for 2013.

Development of information technology is being carried out in three main areas, in which most of the measures for the development of information technology up to 2020 are being undertaken:
• electronic record keeping;
• electronic interaction;
• development of decision support systems.

New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks

The following registers continued to be updated in 2013, with entries signed by the inputter using an electronic, digital signature: the electronic State Register of Russian Federation (RF) Trademarks and Service Marks, the State Register of RF Appellations of Origin, and the electronic list of trademarks that are well known in the Russian Federation (hereinafter EGR). As at the end of 2013, 113,843 new registrations had been entered into EGR and 203,205 registrations had been transferred from the paper State Register.

In order to enable electronic record-keeping during the provision of State services, the following work was undertaken at FIPS in 2013:
• implementation of an automated paperless prosecution system for trademark applications and registrations filed in accordance with the Madrid Agreement (including electronically) (Маdrid);
• a paperless prosecution system for the consideration of applications to register contracts for industrial property (Contracts) was developed and trialled;

In 2013, the electronic document flow system for trademarks and service marks (TM-ADMIN) operated reliably. Use has commenced of software enabling group “binding” of terms of goods and services of marks from applications/registrations to the terms of the lexical and semantic identifier of goods and services, which will allow automatic comparison in the future of lists of marks under analysis with lists of identical and similar marks used for reference by the examiner when making decisions, and reduce the effort required to analyze lists of goods and services.

Draft decisions on trademark registrations are being reviewed in order to reduce the number of errors detected at the trademark registration/certificate issuance stage. Interaction with the user’s private office on the FIPS website has been provided by means of automatic posting of files sent by outgoing electronic correspondence with electronically signed files. The amount of applicant identification data processed and stored in the system has been expanded: INN, KIO, OGRN, and KPP for legal entities, and SNILS and INN for natural persons.

In 2013, operation continued of the Unified Automated System for the Accounting of Fees (UAS Fees), introducing the use of electronic payment documents received from the Russian Treasury, and the possibility of recording fees for legal actions in respect of applications for trademarks and appellations of origin.

The automated system for electronic filing of applications for trademark registration and electronic services for applicants (KPS RTZ) operated reliably in 2013 and supported the use of key accredited certification centers for filing trademark applications electronically. Software was developed to organize the filing of applications from FIPS receiving offices. As at December 31, 2013, 12,179 applications had been filed via KPS RTZ.

In 2013, operation continued of the automated paperless prosecution system 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 the 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.

Main areas of trademark information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year

Electronic interaction with applicants on FIPS website.
The FIPS website enables electronic filing of trademark and invention applications, as well as electronic correspondence through the “Personal Office” service for trademark applications filed previously. Approximately 6,500 trademark applications were filed electronically in 2013 (c.14 per cent of the total number of trademark applications). In addition, in the Personal Office section on the FIPS website, approximately 2,000 prosecution cases were opened for electronic correspondence.

In order to achieve the target of 25 per cent of applications filed electronically by 2015, measures were taken in 2013 to encourage applicants to use electronic filing through the development of system functionality, connecting Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC) to the electronic filing services, and facilitating integration of other organizations’ information systems with the FIPS electronic filing systems.

Descriptions of State services offered by Rospatent can be found on the Unified State and Municipal Services (Functions) Portal (hereinafter, ‘PGU’). In October 2013, work was carried out to update the descriptions of 13 services on PGU. All services offer the required forms for applications, and information on how to access services.
Online forms for filing applications can be found on PGU for the following services:
• Organization of the receipt, registration and examination of applications for State trademark registration.
• Organization of the receipt of registration applications and grant of right to use appellations of origin.
• Organization of the receipt of applications for recognition of a trademark as well known in the Russian Federation.

In 2013, the terms of reference for developing new online forms and updating existing online forms for filing applications with PGU were sent to the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation for the following services:
• Registration of agreements granting rights, as well as franchise agreements for the use of intellectual property subject matter.

Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and registrations with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes

From Table 1, below, it is clear that the overall number of trademark registration applications filed in the Russian Federation in 2013 rose in comparison to 2012. The overall increase in application numbers was 4.85 per cent, due to a rise in applications received from foreign applicants under international procedures (of 20.59 per cent), while other categories of applicant saw a slight decline of less than 1 per cent.

Regarding the registration of trademarks, a decrease of 5.72 per cent was observed. This trend has been noted both with regard to applications from foreign applicants, which have fallen by 5.3 per cent, and also applications from Russian applicants, which have seen a decline of 6.17 per cent, as well as in applications under the procedures of the Madrid Agreement or Protocol thereto, which have fallen by 4.7 per cent.

Table1_trademarks

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) – URLs

In 2013 VPTB carried out a consultation on performing searches for trademark protection titles on optical disks and organized two thematic meetings with leading specialists from FIPS on the execution of applications filed electronically. 178 people attended these meetings, including 27 by videoconference with three regional TISCs.

The web page addresses of Office websites providing information on filing applications:
• Rules for compiling, filing and considering trademark and service mark registration applications:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/c59b120c-3095-11e1-351c-9c8e9921fb2c
• Administrative regulations for the performance by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks of State functions relating to the organization of the receipt of applications for registration and grant of the right to use an appellation of origin or an application for the grant of a right to use an already registered appellation of origin, consideration and examination thereof, and grant in accordance with established procedure of Russian Federation certificates:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/f5313a55-1772-11e1-bad7-9c8e9921fb2c#1
• Model Applications and Declarations and Examples of Completed Forms heading, in the section Тrademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/brands_and_points/obr_zz
• In the Electronic Services for Applicants section, Electronic Filing of Applications for Trademark and Service Mark Registration heading:
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
o Patent and Other Fees subsection:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/0083cb94-2c92-11e1-dd3a-9c8e9921fb2c
Information on the seminars and other similar events held in 2013 can be found in Part 5 (d).

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

In 2013, access was provided on the FIPS website to:

• the Register of Trademark Applications filed between 2005 and 2013, supplemented by information on the prosecution of applications filed between 2008 and 2013, updated daily.
• the Register of Applications for the Registration of Appellations of Origin of the Russian Federation filed between 2005 and 2013, supplemented by information on the prosecution of applications filed between 2008 and 2013, updated daily.

As part of the TM-ADMIN system for electronic document flow for trademarks and service marks, examiners are provided with access to documents on the electronic processing of applications, including primary application materials, documents related to application correspondence, and structured data.

Matters concerning classifying
(i) 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
(ii) Use of electronic classification systems and pre-defined terms of the classification applied

(i) In 2013, Division 4 continued to participate in activities to improve the International Classification of Goods and Services for the registration of marks (Nice Classification), with the aim of establishing conditions for the use of the new WIPO standards in the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (FIPS) and improved international classifications for industrial property based on the development of information technology, for example:
• participation in the Committee of Experts of the Nice Union in April 2013 in Geneva;
• participation in the work of translating terms used in ICGS into Russian;
• participation in the work of performing research and supplementing Rospatent databases of names of goods and services and the following databases of names of goods and services:
1) ICGS-10 2013 version in English, French, Spanish and Russian (partial);
2) United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database, in English;
3) the database of the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) of the European Union, in all the languages of the European Union;
4) the Trilateral database of the Trilateral Offices in English, French and Spanish;
5) the GS Manager database (Goods and Services Manager), in English, French, Spanish and Russian.

(ii) The accuracy of the classification of goods and services indicated in a trademark registration application is verified against the electronic version of the tenth edition of ICGS. Based on the results of scientific research determining the need to form a base of names of goods and services, the following lexical and semantic information materials have been developed and put together as completed systems:

• LEXINTU (a lexical and semantic identifier of names of goods and services)
• LEXINFORM (lexicographical information gazette of goods and services)

LEXINTU is intended for use in the preparation of lists of goods and services for trademarks/service marks. The structure of LEXINTU presents a categorization hierarchy of marks for goods/services within classes, forming groups of goods/services by type. This allows a selection of goods/services within a class to be presented in a more detailed, structured manner.

In 2013, as part of the preparation of the tenth edition of ICGS (10-2013), the terms in LEXINTU were revised and also translated, and amendments and corrections were made to the groups arranged by type for the four-language version of LEXINTU (in Russian, French, English and Spanish). This is intended, in the long term, for the automation of searches for goods/services presented in trademark registration applications.

The LEXINTU and LEXINFORM periodicals provide examiners with the timely receipt of information on all lexical changes to the names of goods and services, which assists in the objective evaluation of the similarity of goods and services during the examination of a specific trademark.

A four-language version of LEXINTU is also being created (in Russian, French, English and Spanish), which is planned for inclusion in the automated information-search system for trademark examination.

Continuous monitoring of the emergence on the market of new goods and services allows the search base to be updated for operational purposes, taking into account all linguistic changes in the names of goods and services.

Obligation for applicants to use pre-defined terms of the classification applied
For the uniform evaluation of the scope of the rights of registered trademarks when describing goods/services, applicants are advised to avoid using undefined or general expressions, and to make use of the terminology in the version of ICGS in force.

For the correct classification of each specific good or service, applicants are advised to use the actual lists of goods and services, and the explanations for each class respectively. This is because the class headings generally only show the fields to which the goods and services may relate in principle, and do not contain the names of actual goods or services.

However, applicants are not obliged to restrict themselves to the terms indicated in ICGS or LEXINTU alone.

Matters concerning processing of different types of non-traditional marks (e.g., three-dimensional, motion, hologram, color mark, etc.)

The Trademarks and Registration Division participates in the regulatory and method-related settlement of issues in the consideration of applications for registration of non-traditional trademarks and the publication of corresponding information. Moreover, information received through Rospatent’s involvement in the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications is widely used.

III. SOURCES OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Main types of publications in the field of trademark information, outline of the content and medium (on paper, on CDs, online – URLs)

All information on trademarks, service marks, appellations of origin and certificates for the right to use an appellation of origin were published in the Rospatent Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazette on electronic carrier with search system.

Rospatent publications on trademarks are presented in Table 2.

The Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazette on electronic carrier with search system and corresponding paper publication are distributed on subscription. The two most recent Gazettes are available on the Rospatent website.

The web page addresses of the Office’s websites providing information concerning Office publications:
• 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/norm_doc/sod/prikaz/minobrnauka/346_07/Po_vedeniyu_reestrov_zaregistrirovannih_obektov.htm#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_new ;
• Prospectus of publications and databases in the Patent Information Products section:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/72ad5c0041364dd0b047f269478bc563/prospekt_2014_izm.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

Table2_trademarks

Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online, URL), etc.

The forms of notifications on trademarks published in the Rospatent Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazettes are listed below (national registration):

- extension of the term of validity of a trademark registration;
- change in the denomination, first name, surname or patronymic of a rights owner and/or place of business or residence;
- change of correspondence address;
- reduction of the list of goods and/or services for which a trademark is registered, for the information of the rights owner;
- change to the individual elements of a trademark, which do not alter its essential features;
- State registration of an agreement on alienation of the exclusive right in a trademark for all goods and/or services;
- State registration of an agreement on alienation of the exclusive right in a trademark for part of the goods and/or services;
- registration of a licensing agreement;
- changes (additions) to a licensing agreement;
- termination (premature) of a licensing agreement;
- registration of a sub-licensing agreement;
- changes (additions) to a sub-licensing agreement;
- termination (premature) of a sub-licensing agreement;
- registration of a commercial concession agreement;
- changes (additions) to a commercial concession agreement;
- termination (premature) of a commercial concession agreement;
- registration of a commercial sub-concession agreement;
- termination (premature) of a commercial sub-concession agreement;
- changes (additions) to a commercial sub-concession agreement;
- replacement of a national registration with an international registration;
- replacement of a national registration with an international registration for individual classes;
- recognition as completely invalid of the grant of legal protection for a trademark;
- recognition as partially invalid of the grant of legal protection for a trademark;
- premature termination of legal protection of a trademark, partially;
- premature termination of legal protection of a trademark, fully;
- cancellation of a decision to terminate legal protection of a trademark;
- recognition as invalid of a registration number;
- issue of a duplicate trademark certificate;
- division of an individual trademark registration;
- change to the list of persons having the right to use a collective mark;
- State registration of the transfer of the exclusive right in a trademark without agreement;
- State registration of a pledge (subsequent pledge) agreement;
- State registration of changes entered into a registered agreement;
- State registration of termination of a registered agreement;
- other changes relating to a trademark registration;
- correction of obvious and technical errors in Gazette publications.

In 2013 publication began of notifications concerning trademarks protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration.

Forms of notifications on international registrations:
State registration of an agreement on the grant of a right to use a trademark protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration;

State registration of amendments to a registered agreement on the grant of a right to use a trademark protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration;

State registration of termination of a registered agreement on the grant of a right to use a trademark protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration;

State registration of a pledge agreement (subsequent pledge) of the exclusive right in a trademark protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration;

Correction of obvious and technical errors in Gazette publications relating to notifications concerning trademarks protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration;

Other changes relating to registered trademarks protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration.

The addresses of web pages of the Office’s site providing access to online publications:
• Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin in the Official Publications section:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/electron_bulletins/brands_and_points/;
o in the Information Resources section, International Classification for Goods and Services subsection:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/international_classification/trade_marks/;
o and Open Registers of Russian Patent Documents:
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 Trademarks and Service Marks of the Russian Federation
Register of Appellations of Origin of the Russian Federation
Register of Trademarks Well Known in the Russian Federation
Register of International Trademarks
Register of Russian Federation Trademark and Service Mark Registration Applications
Register of Applications for the Registration of Appellations of Origin of the Russian Federation.

Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases

Using the RF TZ automated system, which was introduced to FIPS Rospatent in 1989 and is updated on a continual basis, to search for similar verbal elements of marks, examiners are presented with the results of automated searches for analysis and a selection of linked trademarks when producing examination reports.

The SILOIZ system of linguistic descriptions of figurative elements, introduced to FIPS Rospatent in 2006, is designed to search for similarities in the figurative elements of marks from their verbal descriptions, as well as the previous Russian translation of the International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Trademarks (Vienna Classification, seventh edition). With its assistance, at the beginning of 2013, the entire array of figurative marks registered under national and international registration procedures and valid in the Russian Federation was automatically reclassified.

Thus, for the examination of trademarks’ similarities in the figurative elements, an additional possibility will be provided to search both the codes of the seventh edition of the Vienna Classification, and the SILOIZ system of linguistic descriptions of figurative elements.

Examiners use external databases that are freely accessible online from WIPO and INN.
External databases are also used during examination:
• Madrid Express (http://www.wipo.int/ipdl/en/search/madrid/search-struct.jsp)
• Romarin (http://www.wipo.int/romarin/).

Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)

In 2013, users were presented with the Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazette on CD/DVD on subscription, with a frequency of 24 issues per year. Alongside the Official Gazette on disks, the paper Gazette was published, based on official Rospatent information.

For new subscribers, and also for the purposes of keeping patent collections up to date, the series of the Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazette published in previous years (2010-2012) were offered on CD/DVD.

In addition, users were offered sets of information on trademarks for 2005 to 2012 on one DVD for each year, as well as a retrospective set of an array of information on trademarks for 1991 to 2004 on one DVD.

Users were also offered the new version of the official publica
tion International Classification of Goods and Services, tenth edition, 2013 version (ICGS 10-2013), on CD, as well as Additions and Amendments to ICGS 10-2013, on paper.

All products on optical disks were distributed along with MIMOSA information-search system software, which provides searching of bibliographic data, ICGS indexes, the verbal elements of marks and also combinations thereof.

In 2013, users were offered free online access to new information publications facilitating trademark classification and searching:

The International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks, seventh edition;
The Lexical and Semantic Identifier of Goods and Services (fourth edition) reference publication, which supplements The Lexicographical Information Gazette of Goods and Services periodical.

An analog of the Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazette was published on the FIPS Internet site, and registers continued to be kept of Russian trademarks and service marks, appellations of origin, trademarks well known in Russia, applications for Russian trademarks and service marks, and international trademarks with the indication Russia and an indication of their legal status.

Aside from that, users are provided with free access to information on applications to register Russian Federation trademarks and service marks received after January 1, 2005.

On the basis of official information relating to trademarks, thematic databases are prepared for users on special request.

Third party users are given the possibility, on presentation of a verbal designation, of placing orders and receiving reports of the results of searches for trademark similarities in the automated verbal search system RF TZ.

Third party users are given the possibility, on presentation of a designation of a figurative element, of placing orders and receiving reports of the results of searches for similarities in trademarks using the SILOIZ system of linguistic descriptions of figurative elements.

In 2013, third party users received the results of automated searches for similarities:
• of the verbal elements of marks 7,395 searches
• of figurative elements 1,237 searches.
In accordance with existing standards, such work is performed for a range of organizations free of charge.

In 2013, the Rospatent website provided online access to:
• registers of Russian trademarks;
• registers of appellations of origin;
• registers of trademarks well known in Russia;
• registers of trademark applications filed from 2005 to 2013;
• registers of applications to register appellations of origin filed from 2005 to 2013;
• registers of international trademarks with the indication Russia from 1980 to 2013;
• the Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazettes published in the last month.

Rospatent registers of Russian patent documents contain the following databases:
• a database of Russian trademarks (contains information on 427,000 Russian trademark certificates from 1925 to 2013 inclusive, updated daily);
• a database of appellations of origin (contains information on 134 appellations of origin and 308 certificates for the right to use them from 1992 to 2013 inclusive, updated daily);
• a database of trademarks well known in Russia (contains information on 136 marks from 2001 to 2013, updated daily);
• a database of international trademarks with the indication Russia (contains information on 259,000 international trademarks with the indication Russia from 1980 to 2013, updated daily);
• a database of trademark applications (contains information on 370,000 applications from 2005 to 2013, updated daily);
• a database of applications to register appellations of origin (contains information on 253 applications from 2005 to 2013, updated daily).

On the FIPS website users are provided with access to:
• the information-search system;
• registers of Russian trademarks;
• registers of appellations of origin;
• registers of trademarks well known in Russia;
• registers of applications for trademarks filed from 2005 to 2013;
• registers of applications to register appellations of origin;
• registers of international trademarks with the indication Russia from 1980 to 2013;
• Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazettes published in the last month.

Users’ work with the information-search system

Examiners are able to work with all databases: trademarks, appellations of origin, trademarks well known in Russia and international trademarks with the indication Russia.

Third party users’ access to the full-text databases of inventions, utility models, trademarks, and industrial designs is provided on a contractual basis.

As part of the Rospatent Program of Cooperation with regions of the Russian Federation, 153 organizations received free access to full-text inventions and utility models databases.

As part of the cooperation agreements between Rospatent and relevant organizations, free access is granted to:

• the database of trademarks- five organizations of the Federal Customs Service;
• all FIPS databases:
• 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.

Third party users are provided free of charge with:
• a database containing documents published in the two most recent Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Gazettes;
• the ICGS database.

The web page addresses of the Office site providing guidance on the information products and services available from the Office:
• 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/;
• the conditions of access to information about trademarks on the FIPS website – in the Information Resources section,
• Services:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/article_6/;
• Databases:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_2/;
• and Open Registers:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/ subsections;
• Тrademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin in the Official Publications section:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/ofic_pub/ofic_bul/tz_zo_nmpt ;
• information on how to access and use resources – in the Information-Search System section, Support:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_4/;
• and Instructions:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_1a/ subsections.

Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)

On the FIPS Federal State Budgetary Institution website, users can access information about the legal status of trademarks that is updated daily.

Moreover, in the open registers of trademark registration applications, information on the stage of prosecution of applications is provided, which is updated daily. Data on statuses are mainly created on the basis of the RF TZ automated prosecution system data.

• Information on the legal status of trademarks is published in the Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazette (on CD/DVD), in the paper Gazette, and on the Rospatent website:
• information on the State registration of trademarks;
• information on amendments introduced into the entries of the State Register of Russian Federation Trademarks (Notifications section of the Gazette).

Information is provided in the Information Resources section of the Office’s website on registrations with an indication of the legal status or stage of prosecution of the registered subject matter in the Open Registers: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/.

IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements

In 2013, an automated paperless prosecution system was developed and trialled for examining applications for registration of industrial property agreements (Agreements), offering paperless prosecution, electronic State services (integrated into the State Services Portal), as well as integration into the Electronic State Registers (EGR).

The Agreements automated system is designed to support the prosecution of agreements on transferring rights in intellectual property subject matter, providing for the entire cycle of work: registration, categorizing incoming correspondence, storing the current status of applications, revisers’ corrections, preparing and dispatching outgoing correspondence, bookkeeping, integration with other systems and entry of information on the registration of agreements in EGR (Trademarks).

In 2013 the new version of the Madrid automated system was introduced, providing paperless processing and electronic State services for international applications and international registrations, as well as support for the entire cycle of work for registration: classification of incoming correspondence on international applications and registrations, storing the current status of international applications and registrations, bookkeeping and integration with other systems.

Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

PrimePower 1500 server
(RAM – 32GB, processors –10, external memory – 14 TB)
HP DL380 server – 24 units
(RAM – 4GB, processors - 2, external memory – 200 GB)
HP DL580 server – 8 units
(RAM – 16GB, processors - 4, external memory - 600 GB)
HP, Fujitsu-Siemens workstations - 580 units

Software:
Solaris, Windows XP, Windows 7,
Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008 Server operating systems.

Carriers used:
Ultrium magnetic tapes.

Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources

The Rospatent in-house trademark databases are:

• a database of Russian trademarks (contains information on 427,000 Russian trademark certificates from 1925 to 2013 inclusive, updated daily);
• a database of international trademarks with the indication Russia for subscribers to the trademarks database (contains information on 259,000 international trademarks with the indication Russia from 1980 to 2013, updated weekly);
• a database of appellations of origin for subscribers to the trademarks database (contains information on 134 appellations of origin and 308 certificates for the right to use them from 1992 to 2013, updated daily);
• a database of trademarks well known in Russia (contains information on 136 well-known marks from 2001 to 2013, updated daily);
• the ICGS database.

In 2013, internal and external users made more than 2,151,000 requests through the information-search system available on the FIPS website.

In 2013, internal and external users of the registers on the Rospatent website made approximately 23,732,000 requests; 51 per cent of the overall number of requests related to the registers of trademarks and appellations of origin:

• more than 303,000 were made by internal users of the registers;
• approximately 23,429,000 were made by third party users of the registers.

Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file

For searches of verbal and figurative elements of trademarks, an automated search subsystem is used, RF TZ. A search takes place in three stages (i.e. offline): preparation of the trademark search model and search instruction; launch of the search instructions on the server; and review of the search results by an examiner.

In Rospatent, a database of published trademarks is used – Trademarks of Russia – on CD-ROM optical disks with MIMOSA V6 information-search system.

In 2007, work was completed on the development of new software for working with the tenth edition of ICGS, which is integrated into the automated trademark search system, TM-EXAM-SEARCH (TMES) – part of TM-ADMIN, the electronic trademark document flow system. The software allows lists of goods and services to be processed in two ways: collectively and individually. This links goods and services in trademark applications/registrations with ICGS terminology, thereby allowing future searches to produce more accurate results.

At the end of 2013, the search array used to search for trademarks with similar verbal and figurative elements contained all marks that had been registered or filed for registration under national or international procedures in the Russian Federation, as well as all the applications and registrations for all appellations of origin received by Rospatent.

The search databases are supplemented, renewed and updated with all marks received by Rospatent.

The verbal elements of each designation are transliterated and indexed for the occurrence of marks that have phonetic, semantic and visual similarities. On the basis of the reviewed RF TZ automated system database, information is provided for both examination and external users.

Formalized linguistic descriptions of figurative elements for all figurative marks received by Rospatent are in SILOIZ, in a form that allows automated searching for similar figurative elements of marks. On the basis of the reviewed SILOIZ database, information is provided for both examination and external users.

Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)

At the Office, the following document prosecution systems are used for information on trademarks:

• RF TZ automated system for prosecuting applications for trademarks and appellations of origin;
• the Agreements automated system for paperless prosecution of agreements on forms of intellectual property subject matter that come under the Office’s mandate, including trademarks;
• the Amendments to Trademark Registrations automated system for the prosecution of requests received following registration of a trademark (e.g. extension, change of owner or termination of validity);
• the Madrid Paperless Prosecutions of International Registrations automated system;
• TM-ADMIN, the electronic document flow system for registering and handling documents, including scanning, recognition and data entry procedures, document consideration processes, and preparing and sending outgoing correspondence;
• the electronic trademark application filing service, KPS RTZ, is intended for the filing of trademark applications and for electronic correspondence with applicants from the applicant’s personal area, and to provide the processes for exchanging electronic documents between applicants and the Office. It functions using a means of cryptography and electronic signatures, and is integrated into the hardware and software environment of the automated system for paperless prosecution of trademark applications, TM-ADMIN;
• the ‘My Area’ service on the FIPS website is intended for electronic correspondence relating to paper applications, and for a number of documents submitted electronically which require original documents to be submitted with hard-copy signatures.
• the electronic exchange of data with WIPO on the international registration of trademarks is carried out on the basis of MECA technology and WIPO Standard ST.66. Decisions on preliminary and final refusal are sent to WIPO electronically;
• the Electronic State Register of RF Trademarks and Service Marks, the State Register of RF Appellations of Origin, and the electronic list of trademarks well known in the Russian Federation (EGR). Each entry in EGR is signed with the electronic signature of the inputter, which allows the signatory to be identified and his/her authority to be verified at the time of signing;
• the integrated Fees accounting system, establishing the use of electronic payment documents received from the Russian Treasury, and allowing the recording of fees for legally significant acts relating to applications for trademarks and appellations of origin.

V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION

Office’s library (if deals with trademark information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries

The trademarks collection is intended for examiners and other categories of users. Information on trademarks is provided on a fee-free basis to third-party users at VPTB.

The industrial designs collection consists of two arrays of documents:
The VPTB trademarks collection, on both paper carrier and optical disks, includes:

• Rospatent Official Gazettes;
o patent gazettes from foreign countries and international organizations, both special gazettes and ordinary gazettes on industrial property with sections dedicated to trademarks;
o databases containing information on trademarks of Russia, foreign countries and international organizations.

In 2013, the issue of trademark gazettes from all countries came to over 13,700 items on paper carrier, while users viewed over 16,700 items on optical disks.

Publications related to different business procedures and trademark information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.

The VPTB patent law collection includes books and periodicals on a broad range of issues of legal protection of trademarks and service marks in Russia and overseas. The collection is available on electronic and paper carriers, also includes publications found on official websites, and contains different types of information sources: national and international law, commentaries and reviews, methodology recommendations, training aids, standards, patent office reports, conference and seminar materials, compilations of court decisions and collections of statistics, etc.

Internet publications from the All-Russian Patent Technology Library Division are available on the FIPS website in the State Patent Collection and VPTB Information Products sections at: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/fonds/.

In the Rospatent and Regions section of the Rospatent website the following Internet 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 forming the national nanotechnology network:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/regions/recomend
• In the Regulatory Documents section, the following methodology recommendations can be found on various examination and prosecution issues:
• Recommendations on the application of provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation relating to a patent owner's consent to registration of a similar trademark, approved by order of Rospatent No. 190 of December 30, 2009:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/nfile/5d4359ee-3074-11e1-351c-9c8e9921fb2c/rec_gk4.pdf
• Guidelines on determining the similarity of goods and services when examining applications for the State registration of trademarks and service marks, approved by order of Rospatent No. 198 of December 31, 2009;
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/nfile/6b1ee5c0-3071-11e1-351c-9c8e9921fb2c/met_rec_tm.pdf
• Recommendations on individual matters concerning examination of designations representing labels and polygraphic packaging, approved by order of Rospatent No. 170 of November 30, 2009:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/nfile/882e4a98-3074-11e1-351c-9c8e9921fb2c/rec_poligraf.pdf
• Guidelines on verification of claimed designations for identity and similarity, approved by order of Rospatent No. 197 of December 31, 2009:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/nfile/41661713-3072-11e1-351c-9c8e9921fb2c/metod_rec_tojd.pdf .

Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.

In 2013, 288 complimentary optical disks of national trademarks were provided free of charge to regional libraries, RF higher education institutions and information centers.

In case of interest, third-party users were offered consultations on various aspects of industrial design activities.

Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.

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. Guaranteeing conditions for the continuous professional development of employees is provided for under the FIPS Charter.

Organization of FIPS employee training using in-house training methods

In 2013, in accordance with the Combined Plans for In-House Training of Employees, as approved by the Director of FIPS, the following were held:
• 26 centralized sessions (for the managers of the structural subdivisions, their deputies, and senior FIPS employees, covering issues relevant to the practice of activities, and targeted at various categories of employee).
• 520 sessions directly in the FIPS subdivisions in accordance with the quarterly in-house training plans (mostly focused on studying newly released regulatory documents, issues in the performance of examinations, as well as analyzing the results of internal and external examination quality control in specific subdivisions, and conducted by the management of these subdivisions).

In order to exchange experience with foreign patent offices, two training seminars on familiarity with the law enforcement practices of other patent offices (EPO, USA) were held at Rospatent for staff examiners, and administrative and managerial staff from FIPS. The seminars were attended by 166 specialists.

Specialists from Scientific Production Enterprise, Garant-Servis Ltd., conducted a series of training seminars on the updated version of the Garant-Aero system. The seminars were attended by 22 FIPS employees.

Professional development of newly recruited FIPS examiners

Professional development of newly recruited examiners is carried out on a contractual basis and financed by the FIPS budget through open competition and conclusion of a civil contract between the educational institution and the winner.

In 2013, on the basis of the results of an open competition for the professional development of newly recruited FIPS examiners in the examination of inventions and utility models, a civil contract was concluded between a State Education Institution of Higher Professional Education of the Russian State Academy of Intellectual Property (GOU VPO RGAIS) and a federal budgetary institution.

In accordance with a contract signed in 2013, training was organized and conducted of the 11th stream of newly recruited FIPS examiners, consisting of 33 people. The training was carried out in accordance with the thematic curriculum, and was 220 academic hours in duration.

Training under higher professional education programs
In 2013, 18 FIPS employees continued training under the higher professional education program at RGAIS, four of whom were funded by FIPS (first degree). One person gained a degree, while three others are continuing their studies.

The training of 14 employees was self-funded (of whom 12 obtained a first higher degree, and two, a second higher degree). In 2013, five people gained a degree (three gained a first degree, and two, a second degree).
RGAIS post-graduate studies

Seven FIPS employees undertook post-graduate studies at RGAIS, of whom one was under special admissions, and six (including two competitors) acted on their own initiative (one person successfully defended his dissertation in May, 2013).

In 2013, 164 people from 57 organizations located in the seven federal districts of Russia attended distance-learning courses organized by WIPO with the participation of regional TISCs.

In 2013, 12 conferences, seminars and round tables on intellectual property organized and held by Rospatent in 10 regions of the Russian Federation addressed issues relating to trademark information, including issues of information support for applicants during the examination of trademark applications, and issues concerning the use of FIPS electronic services for filing trademark applications were addressed at regional practical research conferences held from March 25 to 27, 2013 in Bryansk, on May 22 and 23, 2013 in Tomsk, and on September 24 and 25 in Arkhangelsk, at an international practical research conference held on June 19 and 20, 2013 in Yakutsk, and at a Rospatent practical research conference as part of the 16th Moscow International Exhibition of Inventions and Innovation Technologies, Archimedes 2013, held on April 4, 2013 in Moscow. FIPS employees presented at each of these events.

On April 24, 2013, as part of the All-Russia Forum, Intellectual Property in the 21st Century, a meeting of the section, ‘Legal protection and enforcement of trademarks and other means of individualization’ was held in Moscow at the Russian Chamber of Commerce, which was attended by two FIPS employees.

On November 13, 2013, a seminar on “Obtaining Legal Protection for a Trademark under National and International Registration” was held in Tver, at the State Institution of Culture, A.M. Gorky Tver Order Badge of Honor Regional Universal Scientific Library, at which a FIPS employee gave a presentation and carried out consultations.

VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION

International exchange of trademark information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)

In 2013, under the framework of international exchange, 50 annual sets of the Rospatent Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazette were supplied on optical disks to 45 countries and three organizations.

The VPTB Division received trademark information from 45 countries and one international organization.

In 2013, 2,403 copies of Gazettes featuring trademarks were received from the United States of America, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Germany and other countries on all kinds of carriers: four copies on paper carrier; 256 copies on optical disks; 2,143 copies downloaded from the Internet.

Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to trademark information

During 2013, FIPS employees took part in a range of seminars and conferences held in Russia (including those organized and/or held with the support of WIPO):

June 13 and 14, 2013. A regional seminar organized by Rospatent and FIPS in conjunction with WIPO and the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry was held in St. Petersburg on “Promoting efficient use of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks, and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs”, which was attended by two FIPS and two WIPO members of staff.

September 11 and 12, 2013. A regional seminar organized by WIPO in conjunction with Rospatent, FIPS and the Don State Technical University was held at the Don State Technical University in Rostov-on-Don on “Strategic use of trademarks for business development and the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks”, which was attended by two FIPS employees and one WIPO member of staff.

From April 2 to 5, 2013, at the 16th Moscow International Exhibition of Inventions and Innovation Technologies, Archimedes 2013, the competition program, in which 836 participants took part from 18 countries, including representatives of over 50 regions of the Russian Federation, included the International Moscow Exhibition competition for trademarks and brand names “Trademark Leader”. As is traditional, Rospatent and FIPS organized the exhibition.

Under the framework of participation in international and regional activities and projects related to trademark information, employees of the trademarks division participated in the following events:
• preparation of the assignment of the delegation traveling abroad regarding international cooperation issues as part of the preparatory work for participation in the 29th (May 27 to 31, 2013) and 30th sessions of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (November 4 to 8, 2013);
• the seventh and eighth sessions of the Working Group on the Development of the Lisbon System for the International Registration of Appellations of Origin (April 29 to May 3, 2013 and December 2 to 6, 2013 at WIPO headquarters in Geneva) (RF Delegation participated as an observer);
• drafting proposals on the position of the RF in relation to Draft Agenda Item 28, the Madrid System, of the 51st session of the Assembly meetings of WIPO member States;
• the 11th session of the Working Group on the Legal Development of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks (October 29 to 31, 2013 at WIPO headquarters in Geneva);
• meeting of users of the Madrid System for International Registration of Trademarks, held as part of the 135th Annual Meeting of the International Trademark Association (INTA) (May 4 to 8, 2013), on implementation of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks, including implementation of these procedures in the Russian Federation;
• regional seminars on the development of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks organized jointly by WIPO and FIPS that took place in the Russian towns of St. Petersburg (June, 2013) and Rostov-on-Don (September, 2013);
• participation of a Division Four representative from February 13, 2012, to February 13, 2013, in the WIPO program for exchanging specialists under the Madrid System (secondment to WIPO headquarters in Geneva for one year);
• participation of a representative of Division Four in a training seminar on the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks organized by WIPO for national Offices (WIPO headquarters in Geneva, from November 13 to 16, 2013);
• As part of the bilateral exchange of experience, in October, 2013, representatives of Division Four took part in the eighth meeting of the Franco-Russian working group on protecting intellectual property and combating counterfeit goods, “Protection of Geographical Names in France and Russia”.
• As part of the cooperation between FIPS and the EU Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), the division took part in a video conference of the working meeting of specialists from OHIM, Rospatent and FIPS to discuss the development of guidelines for the examination of trademarks.

These activities were intended to harmonize legislation in the field of trademarks, appellations of origin, and geographical indications; improve mutual understanding of the procedures and practices for performing examinations in national and regional intellectual property offices, and internationally; studying the use of tools and means of performing examinations; increasing mutual confidence in the results of the offices’ work, and increasing the mutual use of search results and examination in the field of trademarks, appellations of origin, and geographical indications.

VPTB participates in the International Project “Establishing a Network of Technology and Innovation Support Centers”. In accordance with Appendices 1 and 2 to the Agreement on Establishing TISCs, over 850 DVD-ROM optical disks containing sets of Russian patent documents were sent to TISCs during 2013.

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 (29 titles), has been updated and placed on the FIPS website in the TISC section, under the heading “Information Resources for TISCs.”

Work was undertaken to prepare handout materials for participants at the Second TISC Conference. A handbook, “Establishing a TISC Network in the Russian Federation”, and the following bibliographic indices have been prepared: “Patent Landscape”, “Electronic Filing of Applications for Industrial Property in the Russian Federation and under International and Regional Agreements”, and “Electronic Filing of Applications for Industrial Property Abroad”.

In 2013, work began on involving TISCs in thematic meetings with leading FIPS specialists by video conference. The following five organizations took part in two thematic meetings:
• Federal State Independent Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education, Belgorod State National Research University;
• Independent Non-Profit Organization, Intellectual Property Center of the Republic of Mordovia, and Independent Institution, Technopark - Mordovia (jointly);
• Federal State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education, Tomsk National Research Polytechnic University.
• Federal State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education, the N.G. Chernyshevsky Saratov State University;
• Federal State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education, Bashkir State University.

Assistance to developing countries

Rospatent has no special program to help developing countries. Assistance is provided in response to individual requests from the Offices of developing countries.

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS

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