SCIT.ATR.PI.2005.SI

Annual Technical Report 2005 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Slovenia (SCIT/ATR/PI/2005/SI)

Where URLs are requested below, it is preferred that either URLs which are likely to remain stable over time (three years or more) are provided, or home (main) page URLs are provided with a short explanation of how to access the corresponding information.

The term "patent" covers utility models and Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in their Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities.

I. Evolution of patent activities

Changes experienced in terms of application filings and grants with respect to the previous year

National patent applications: 362 in 2005
PCT applications in national phase: 2 in 2005
European patents entered in the SIPO register: 1116 in 2005


NATIONAL PATENT APPLICATIONS

In 2005, SIPO received 364 national patent applications, 5.2 % less than the preceding year. 362 of those applications were regular, which is the highest number in the last eight years and a 0.6 % increase over the preceding year. Only 2 PCT applications in the national phase denote an expected drop of 92 % compared to the previous year, since the “national route” ceased to exist in 2002; however, PCT applications have still being filed until July 2005.

After the abolishment of the PCT national phase, the patent protection in Slovenia on the basis of an international application can only be obtained through PCT-EP route, with the designation of Slovenia upon entry into the regional phase with EPO.

In the year under review, SIPO received also 24 applications for short-term patents (the so-called patty inventions, which are in some countries protected as utility models). These applications, of which 2 were filed by foreign applicants, are statistically included in the total number of national patent applications.

NATIONAL PATENT APPLICATIONS BY ORIGIN

Out of the total of 364 national applications received in 2005, 344 were filed by Slovenian residents, a 1 % increase over the preceding year, and 20 by foreign applicants which represents a drop by 52.4 %.

REQUESTS FOR ENTRY OF EUROPEAN PATENTS INTO SIPO REGISTER

After EPO has granted a European patent, the owner must, in accordance with the EPC or Extension Agreement, file a request with SIPO for entry of his patent into the register. In 2005 SIPO received 1014 such requests, a decrease of 5.8 % compared to the previous year. 160 of those requests concerned European patents granted on the basis of an application in which Slovenia has been designated in accordance with the EPC.

OUTGOING SLOVENIAN PCT APPLICATIONS

SIPO functions as the receiving office under the PCT, forwarding international applications to the WIPO International Bureau. In 2005, 40 PCT applications were filed by Slovenian residents, a decrease of 18.6 % over the preceding year. However, according to WIPO data, applicants from Slovenia filed considerably more international applications (46) than in previous years directly with the International Bureau. The total number of such applications filed with both offices is therefore higher than the total number in the previous year in spite of a seeming drop by 38.7 % in 2005.

OUTGOING SLOVENIAN APPLICATIONS FOR EUROPEAN PATENTS

In 2005 Slovenian residents filed 19 applications for European patents with SIPO as the receiving office which gained that competence when Slovenia became a member of the European Patent Organisation in 2002. Compared to the previous year, this represents a decrease of 30 %.

SUPPLEMENTARY PROTECTION CERTIFICATE APPLICATIONS

In 2005, 13 supplementary protection certificate applications were filed with SIPO, all of them relating to medicinal products.

PATENTS GRANTED

In 2005, 1414 patents were entered in the SIPO register, 5 % less than the preceding year. This number includes patents granted on the basis of national applications as well as European patents granted on the basis of European patent applications in which Slovenia has been designated or extension of the patent to Slovenia has been requested. By the end of 2005, 6374 patents were in force in Slovenia.

PATENTS GRANTED ON THE BASIS OF NATIONAL APPLICATIONS

In 2005, 298 patents were granted on the basis of national applications, an increase of 6.4 % compared to the previous year. The share of domestic patent owners increased by 11.5 % and the share of foreign patent owners decreased by 27 %.



PATENTS GRANTED BY ORIGIN IN 2005

Most patents were granted to applicants from Slovenia (91 %), followed by applicants from U.S. (3 %), and Germany (1 %). European patents entered in the SIPO register are not included in this statistics.


PATENTS GRANTED BY IPC IN 2005

The majority of patents granted belong to sections B (21.8 %), A (21.5 %) and C (15.1 %) of the International Patent Classification. European patents entered in the SIPO register are not included in this statistics.


EUROPEAN PATENTS ENTERED IN THE SIPO REGISTER (T1)

In 2005 the number of European patents granted on the basis of European patent applications in which Slovenia has been designated or extension of the patent to Slovenia has been requested, and which were entered in the SIPO register 1116, increased by 4.7 % compared to the previous year.

EUROPEAN PATENTS BY ORIGIN IN 2005

The majority of owners of European patents entered in the SIPO register were from Germany (28 %), U.S. (17 %) and Italy (10 %).

EUROPEAN PATENTS BY IPC IN 2005

The majority of European patents entered in the SIPO register belong to sections C (44 %), A (31 %) and B (10 %) of the International Patent Classification.

DECLARATORY DECISIONS UNDER ARTICLE 93 OF THE ACT

As SIPO does not carry out substantive examinations of patent applications, owners of patents or exclusive rights from patents must submit no later than the expiry of the ninth year of the patent term evidence that the patented invention satisfies the requirements of the Act, i.e. novelty, an inventive step and industrial applicability. On the basis of such evidence, SIPO issues one of declaratory decisions.

In 2005, 49 documents of evidence were submitted and 45 decisions were issued, of those 9 to Slovenian patent owners. 17 decisions were issued under Article 93(1)(a), stating that the claims entirely meet the requirements, and 28 under Article 93(1)(b) on the basis of which the claims were modified.

Trends or areas experiencing rapid changes with respect to the previous year

There are no trends or areas with rapid changes with respect to the previous year.

II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, distribution and use of primary and secondary sources of patent information

Publishing, printing, copying (main types of publications of the office in the field of patent information, etc.)

SIPO publishes documents on granted patents (A), short-term patents (A2), patents with amended claims (B) and translations of claims of European patents extended or desgnated to Slovenia (T1, T2).

Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of patent information

In the Official Bulletin (BIL - Bilten za Industrijsko Lastnino) SIPO publishes announcements of issued patent documents (bibliographic data and abstracts), SPC and published European patent applications with extended to Slovenia (bibliographic data).

Mass storage media used (paper, microforms, optical storage, etc.)

Patent documents are stored on CD-ROM (Espace-SI), which is running under Mimosa software and contains bibliographic data, English abstracts and images of all published patents

Word processing and office automation

Patent documents are stored on CD-ROM (Espace-SI), which is running under Mimosa software and contains bibliographic data, English abstracts and images of all published patents.

(New) techniques used for the generation of patent information (printing, recording, photocomposing, etc.)

III. Matters concerning abstracting, classifying, reclassifying and indexing of technical information contained in patent documents

Abstracting, reviewing, translating

Abstracts and titles of all national applications are translated into English language and used for Espace-SI CD-ROM production and for on-line database, offered by SIPO.

Classification and reclassification activities; Classification system used, e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC), other classification (please indicate whether or not patent documents are classified by your Office and, if so, which classification is used)

Patent documents were classified according to the IPC version 7, using its indexing scheme. Implementation of IPC 8 was succesfully done up to 31.12.2005. From 1.1.2006 we classify according to IPC 8 Core level. Data in on-line database were reclassified on 31.12.2005.

Coordinate indexing (domestic deep indexing systems, keyword indexing)

Hybrid system indexing

Bibliographic data and full-text processing for search purposes

SIPO maintains on-line database containing bibliographic data and abstracts of all published patents in Slovene and English language. Up to now, there were no actions toward full-text processing.

IV. Search file establishment and upkeep

File building

Search files consist of patent documents on electronic media exclusively (CD-ROM series). They are updated through the exchange with other Offices.

V. Activities in the field of computerized and other mechanized search systems

Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), carriers used

- 2Mbit/s leased line used for Internet connection, CISCO Network Equipment (LAN based on Fast Ethernet and Gigabit solutions),
- Digital Alpha 2100 mainframe with Open VMS operating system and RMS for database; terminals VT 420 and VT 510;
- Windows environment: NT4.0 and 2003 for servers; workstations Compaq/HP Pentium with NT4.0 and XP,
- 2048/512 kbit/s ADSL line for Patnet2 VPN.

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)

Information services available to the public (including computerized services and search files contained in libraries remote from your Office and patent information posted by your Office on the World Wide Web)

SIPO on-line information service includes bibliographic databases on SI-patent register, register of SPC, EP published applications extended to SI, PCT published applications designating SI, and other. Patent register database is updated daily, and includes also legal status information. This service is offered to public in our library free of charge and, externally, under special agreement.

SIPO also offers SDI-selective dissemination of information service on ESPACE INPADOC database, provides documents from CD-ROM collection, opinions on novelty and patentibility from foreign Offices issued on the basis of special agreements, access to foreign databases, and other.

On SIPO Web Site there are basic information on filing of the applications, application forms and the list of Slovene patent agents.

A database containing all published Slovene patent documents is available free of charge on SIPO website.

VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of patent documentation and information

International or regional cooperation in the exchange of machine-readable information, e.g., bibliographic data, abstract and/or full text information

Under bilateral agreements, SIPO exchanges CD-ROMs with several patent Offices.

Medium used for exchange of priority documents

Priority documents can be exchanged only in paper form.

Medium allowed for filing applications

Applications can be filed in paper form only.

VIII. Other relevant matters concerning education and training in, and promotion of, the use of patent information, including technical assistance to developing countries

Training courses for national and foreign participants, use of audiovisual means

SIPO organised several presentations and seminar on patent protection for domestic applicants, inventors and industry in and outside the Office premises.

IX. Other relevant matters