SCIT.ATR.ID.2002.AT

Annual Technical Report 2002 on Industrial Design Information Activities submitted by Austria (SCIT/ATR/ID/2002/AT)

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The expression "industrial designs" covers industrial designs and models. Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in this series of Annual Technical Reports.

I. Evolution of registration activities

The following numbers of applications/registrations of industrial designs in Austria in 2002 are presented below in comparison with the numbers in 2001 (=100%):

Number of applications: 4,411 in 2002 (-7,4%)
4,766 in 2001

Number of registrations: 4,333 in 2002 (-2%)
4,421 in 2001
At present 30,603 industrial design rights are in force. Out of these rights, 12,231 are owned by Austrian residents.

45% of the total number of applications in 2002 were filed by applicants with residence in Austria. This is a slight decrease of 3% in comparison with 2001.

Most design applications were furnished for lamps (floor lamps, chandeliers, wall lamps, ceiling lamps, lampshades etc.), whereby the number of applications in this product category with 12,4% of all applications is significantly higher than in the previous year. Likewise, for prefabricated construction units, e.g. windows, doors, roller blinds, fences, more design applications were submitted. The design applications for decoration and jewellery products decreased.

At present 30,949 industrial designs are protected in Austria. 12,388 of these rights have an Austrian owner.

II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, and distribution of industrial design documents and of secondary sources of industrial design information, i.e., official gazettes

The bibliographic data and images (only one image for an industrial design) of the registered designs are published in the industrial design gazette (Österreichischer Musteranzeiger”) which is issued on the 20th of every month. The gazette is published in paper form, only.

The bibliographic data together with the classification symbols, a short description of the design and the images are stored in the industrial design data base of the office. The images are stored on PCs, the other data elements on magnetic disks.

III. Matters concerning classifying, reclassifying and indexing of industrial design information according to the classification systems applied

The designs are classified according to the International Classification for Industrial designs (Locarno Classification). No other classification system is applied.

The classification symbols are allotted by the applicant. It is up to the office to afterwards check, and eventually to correct, the classification symbols.

IV. Search file establishment and upkeep

Only electronic search files are used. The files are built up according to the Locarno Classification Scheme and are regularly updated.

Bibliographic data elements and classification symbols are searchable. The images are displayed together with these data elements.

V. Activities in the field of computerized search systems for industrial designs

An online in-house system is installed using an internal design database. No external database is integrated.

The application and registration procedure, the examination for legality, the administration of the design register and the execution of the statistics are completely performed by an EDP management system.

A project to allow for access to the images of industrial designs registered in Austria via the Internet-Information system of the office was started in 2000 and finalized in 2001. The first image of an industrial design is displayed in addition to the bibliographic data. This service is liable to a fee.

An electronic registry for Appeals and Nullities including work-flow information is installed. The registry is accessible via the Intranet of the office.

Hardware equipment: Siemens H 80; Operating system: BS 2000; Number of terminals or emulation : 5

Software: Cobol

Data carriers: magnetic disks for bibliographic data, PC for images.

VI. Administration of industrial design services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, registering designs, assisting clients with search procedures, obtaining official publications and registry extracts

The Austrian Patent Office offers free information services concerning legal questions, details of registration procedures, property rights or due fees, which can be submitted verbally (personally or by telephone).

Legal and technical experts of the Austrian Patent Office can be consulted for legal and technical questions in connection with an intellectual property right, a pending application or for an intended application. The legal information service is available personally or by telephone free of charge on all working days.

At the information centre in the Austrian Patent Office information is provided by telephone or personally about all national intellectual property applications and granted rights, about published European and international patent applications designated for Austria, as well as about registered international trademarks with effect for Austria, and about community trademarks of the European Union. This information covers all bibliographic data of the mentioned protection rights. This inquiry can also be made in the library by self-service (with support of the library personnel) on computer workstations.

The register administrators of the Austrian Patent Office provide information concerning the current legal status of all effective patents, utility models, semiconductor rights, supplementary protection certificates, trademarks and designs. The officials in charge can be consulted at their consultation hours about specific applications, e.g. the correct trademark or design classification of a sign or product.

Information services of the Service and Information Sector (TRF)

The Service and Information Sector of the Austrian Patent Office (TRF) commenced its activities in the fall of 1994 pursuant to the appropriate regulations of the amendment of the Patent Law of 1992 and the corresponding ordinance of 1994. The central purpose of the founding of this enterprise was to offer customer-oriented service and information products in the area of patents, trademarks and designs in a commercial manner. In the filed of industrial designs, the following services are offered

The written information:
The Service and Information Sector also establishes written information concerning industrial designs on request.

Uncertified register extract:
This information product concerning , among others, industrial designs covers data with regard to the owner of the property right as well as data of the application and registration.

Express service:
Register extracts as well as written information are supplied within 24 hours after receipt of order by fax and soon also by email upon request.

External on-line information:
Network access via telephone network to the database of the Austrian Patent Office for information concerning patents, utility models, designs and supplementary protection certificates is available.

The homepage of the Austrian Patent Office contains general information as well as detailed references for applicants concerning forms for application and the current fees for all industrial property rights, namely patent, utility model, trademark, design, supplementary protection certificate as well as semiconductor protection. All register data, especially information about time limit and amount of the next annual fee, are free of charge. Full access to the database of the Austrian Patent Office, which covers all property rights for Austria according to different search criteria, e.g. owner, inventor, international patent classification, application and register number, is made possible by using a password.

The address of the Austrian Homepage has changed to:

http://www.patent.bmvit.gv.at or http://www.patentamt.at

VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of industrial design documentation and information

The Austrian Design Gazette is mutually exchanged on a bilateral basis with almost all of the PCT Member States.

VIII. Matters concerning education and training including technical assistance to developing countries