Annual Technical Report 2004 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Czech Republic (SCIT/ATR/PI/2004/CZ)
Where URLs are requested below, it is preferred that either URLs which are likely to remain stable over time (three years or more) are provided, or home (main) page URLs are provided with a short explanation of how to access the corresponding information.
The term "patent" covers utility models and Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in their Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities.
I. Evolution of patent activities
In comparison with the year 2003, there were changes in patent and utility model activities as follows: in 2004, 1.252 patent applications (3.579 in 2003), 1.213 utility model applications (1.117 in 2003) and 90 PCT international applications (82 in 2003) were filed; 1.514 patents were granted (1.802 in 2003) and 1.104 utility models (1.022 in 2003) were registered. As regards the representation of individual segments most of patent applications concerned organic chemistry, medicine, hygiene, biochemistry and genetic engineering. Regarding utility model applications, most of them came from the sectors of transports, packing and the storage of products.
The European Patent Office granted 876 patents effective in the Czech Republic in 2004. So far, the IPO CZ has received 102 translations of these European patents, which validated them in the territory of the Czech Republic. In 2004, 935 patents valid in the territory of the Czech Republic lapsed and 4 patents were invalidated. By the end of the 2004, 9.807 national patents were valid in the territory of the Czech Republic.
In 2004, 14 applications for granting of a supplementary protection certificate for medicinal products (SPC) were filed.
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, distribution and use of primary and secondary sources of patent information
1.707 patent documents and 1.104 utility models were issued in printed form; abstracts were printed on all title pages of patent documents.
Patent documents in paper form were distributed to industrial property offices of five countries and to six technical libraries in the Czech Republic.
The digitalisation of full texts of Czechoslovak and Czech patents from 1919 continued within the framework of technical co-operation with the European Patent Office.
The Official Bulletin of the IPO CZ (Vestnik UPV) is issued monthly (Part A - Inventions, Utility Models, Industrial Designs, Topographies of Semiconductor Products; Part B - Trademarks, Designations of Origin and Geographical Indications). The Bulletin A was issued in 220 copies, the Bulletin B in 250 copies.
As from No. 1/2000, the Official Bulletin has been available on the web site of the IPO CZ as an electronic book in PDF format.
The standard content of the chapters regarding granted patents, published patent applications and registered utility models are:
- Published patent applications
- arranged according to the number of applications
- arranged according to IPC symbols
- List of applicants
- Granted patents
- arranged according to the number of patents
- arranged according to IPC symbols
- List of owners
- Registered utility models
- arranged according to the number of utility models
- arranged according to the IPC symbols
- List of owners
- Official decisions and announcements
- Changes
- Corrections
CD-ROM ESPACE PRECES (Patents from the Region of Eastern and Central European States) and CD-ROM PRECES ACCESS (Bibliographic data and abstracts of the patents from the Region of Eastern and Central European States) were produced, including also Czech patents.
III. Matters concerning abstracting, classifying, reclassifying and indexing of technical information contained in patent documents
Abstracts were printed on title pages of all patent documents and in the Bulletin, Part A, in the case of published patent applications. Czech granted patents were on-line accessible via search national database on Internet.
Patent and utility model documents were classified according to the IPC.
IV. Search file establishment and upkeep
The Office received foreign patent documents both in paper form and on CDs or DVDs. In 2004, the Office received Patent Bulletins from 48 countries, including the EPO and WIPO.
Patent library stored over 40 million patent documents from more than 20 countries + EPO and PCT documents. The file in paper form was arranged according to the IPC. The CD and DVD collection was built and used.
V. Activities in the field of computerized and other mechanized search systems
Searches were carried out in STN International, DIALOG, QUESTEL and EPOQUE.
The following CD-ROM search systems were used:
CASSISS (US), ACCESS (EP), PATOS (DE), PAJ (JP), GLOBALPAT.
Creating the search database of Czech and Czechoslovak granted patents, published applications and registered utility models continued; information was made accessible via Internet (http://isdvapl.upv.cz/pls/portal30/pt.ptfrm).
In January 2004, the standard operation of the new information system for application proceedings and for keeping registers of subject matters of industrial rights (IS SyPP) was started. The aim of the project was to create a modifiable and extendable information system over one unified database and to replace two riginally separated systems with different conceptions, designed separately for patents and utility models and separately for trademarks. The system is equipped with electronic archiving of incoming and outgoing files. The system makes it possible to receive data of European patents, and processes data of proceedings for the database and for publishing in the Office Bulletin.
VI. Administration of the industrial property office library and services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, for assisting clients on searching procedures, for obtaining official publications and registry extracts)
Methodical and consultation assistance for the public was given in the public reading room and the information centre.
Search sytems on CD-ROM and Internet were used.
Reprographic services were assured in the public reading room.
Patent searches for the public were carried out in database centres: STN International, QUESTEL, DIALOG and the system EPOQUE (WPI, CA, Inpadoc, PlusPat).
Patent documents on CD-ROM and DVD-ROM from EP, WO, DE, US, GB, AT, BE, LU, NL, CH, DK, FR, JP, SI and RU were available.
Czech patent documents were sent to the public according to off-line thematic profiles defined by the IPC symbols.
Electronic order forms of patent searches were available via Internet.
VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of patent documentation and information
Exchange of CD-ROM and DVD carriers continued, Czech patent documents in paper form were distributed to patent offices of five countries.
Official Bulletin was distributed to almost 200 clients in the Czech Republic and in foreign countries.
Patent applications could be filed in paper or in electronic form.
VIII. Other relevant matters concerning education and training in, and promotion of, the use of patent information, including technical assistance to developing countries
Various courses and seminars were organized for the students and representatives of SMEs or research institutions; Groups of university students were accepted in the premises of the IPO CZ.
In 2004, the two year study course of industrial property rights was conducted within the Office's own educational facility - the Industrial Property Training Institute.
The IPO CZ presented its information activities and products at the following exhibitons and trade fairs:
- International Machinery Trade Fair (Brno, CZ)
- MACH 2004 (Prague, CZ)
- FOR ARCH 2004 (Prague, CZ)
- Innovation 2004 (Prague, CZ)
- IENA - Exhibition of Inventions and Innovations (Nurnberg, DE)
- Exhibition of Inventions (Geneva, CH)
- PATLIB 2004 (Vilamoura, PT)
- EPIDOS 2004 (Prague, CZ)
The IPO CZ co-operated with Regional Patent Information Centres (PATLIB) in information product dissemination or providing training and education.
The IPO CZ issued the Industrial Property Journal every two months.
IX. Other relevant matters
| 1. | Classification is allotting one or more classification symbols (e.g., IPC symbols) to a patent application, either before or during search and examination, which symbols are then published with the patent application.
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| 2. | Preclassification is allotting an initial broad classification symbol (e.g., IPC class or subclass, or administrative unit) to a patent application, using human or automated means for internal administrative purposes (e.g., routing an application to the appropriate examiner). Usually preclassification is applied by the administration of an office.
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| 3. | Reclassification is the reconsideration and usually the replacement of one or more previously allotted classification symbols to a patent document, following a revision and the entry into force of a new version of the Classification system (e.g., the IPC). The new symbols are available on patent databases.
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