Annual Technical Report 2006 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Russian Federation (SCIT/ATR/PI/2006/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.

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

In 2006, the Office procedures for filing and examination of applications for the grant of Russian Federation (RF) patents for inventions remained unchanged.

In 2006, the Recommendations concerning the examination of applications for inventions and utility models came into force, containing an updated chapter disclosing the particular features of the examination of applications in the field of chemistry and medicine in certain specific situations, and two new chapters relating to the examination of inventions in the field of biotechnology and the food industry.

A reduction in the labor-intensive nature of examination processes was achieved by enhancing the technology used to prosecute applications.

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

Inventions

Table 1 (attached) shows the data for 2005-2006 for the filing of applications for and grant of RF patents for inventions.

The patents granted for inventions in 2006 were distributed according to the sections of the International Patent Classification (IPC) as follows: (see attached Table 2).

In 2006, the same distribution trends were preserved according to the sections of the IPC as in 2005. The largest number of patents for inventions in 2006 was granted to Russian applicants for Section A of the IPC – Human Necessities; and to foreign applicants for Section C – Chemistry and Metallurgy.

The least popular among both Russian and foreign applicants was Section D —Textiles and Paper. The number of patents granted under this Section in 2006 constituted only 0.79 per cent of the overall number of patents granted for inventions.


Utility models

As shown in Table 3 (attached), the number of utility model certificates granted in 2006 both to Russian and foreign applicants increased significantly (by 32.12 per cent).

Below (Table 4)are the data for the distribution of utility model certificates (patents) according to sections of the IPC.

The leading section of the IPC in 2006 was once again Section B – Performing Operations and Transporting, and in second place Section A – Human Necessities. The one in least demand remained Section D – Textiles and Paper – according to the number of certificates granted it is the least numerous – and also Section C – Chemistry and Metallurgy.

Table1 Table2 Table3 Table4

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide statistics related to patents

Statistical information on all types of industrial property is provided on the Office site in the About Rospatent section, Reports, reviews, statistics subsection:

  • Archive of statistical information http://www.fips.ru/ruptoru/reports_archiv.htm;

 

  • Rospatent Annual Reports, statistical information http://www.fips.ru/ruptoru/reports.htm

 

 

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.)

During the reporting period, the following were published in official gazettes:

  • 47,117 invention announcements, including 23,302 claims for invention patents, 21,287 claims for invention applications, and 2,528 claims for previously unpublished inventions;

 

  • 9,573 utility model claims.



Documents providing protection were prepared and sent to rightsowners for all types of industrial and intellectual property subject matter.

 

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

Table 5 (attached) gives information on the main types of Office communications in the field of patent information.

In 2006, annual indexes to the gazettes for 2005 were issued:

  • five volumes (nine parts).


In 2006, the 2005 Rospatent Annual Report was prepared and released.

The Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette on electronic CD-ROM carrier, with a search system, and corresponding paper Gazette, are distributed by subscription. The last three Gazettes are available on the Rospatent site.

 

Table5

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

Data on inventions and utility models are classified and thoroughly checked in technical databases.

Most of the information received and issued is stored on optical disks (higher information-capacity DVD-ROM carriers are more and more widely used).

Paper information carriers are also used to store data. Archive information which is not part of the PCT minimum documentation is also stored on microforms.

Word processing and office automation

As part of the comprehensive program to modernize the automated systems of Rospatent, in 2006 the following work was completed:

  • the functional possibilities of the Electronic Applications Archive Automated System for invention and utility model applications were expanded by devising new automated work spaces allowing electronic applications to be supplemented with incoming correspondence and providing the necessary quality of particular application components;

 

  • the Patent Attorneys of the Russian Federation Automated System was devised and brought into operation, whereby a register of Russian Federation patent attorneys was kept and certification examinations for applicant patent attorneys automated. The means for transferring data on patent attorneys to all the operational Rospatent automated systems in XML format were devised;

 

  • the Legal Decisions Automated System was devised and is being introduced, as an electronic document-exchange system, linked to procedures for participation in court hearings and to the implementation of court decisions on various forms of intellectual property subject matter. The Automated System allows a database of legal decisions to be set up and serves the purposes of establishing precedents for court proceedings. The integration of the Legal Decisions Automated System with Rospatent’s existing prosecution systems is planned, as well as with publication systems and the keeping of State registers;

 

  • an open electronic register of national invention applications with a filing date beginning on January 1, 2007 was devised and brought into operation. It contains dynamically changing information on the prosecution of applications. The above register increases the Office’s openness and serves the purposes of expanding the users’ information service;

 

  • a unified automated system for prosecuting agreements (Agreements Automated System) was brought into operation for all forms of intellectual property subject matter.

 

 

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

Information for publication is prepared by means of scanning and numbering with the subsequent transfer of texts to the MIMOSA search system.

CD-ROMs containing the Official Gazette are printed by a firm which specializes in the publication of such products.

The paper Gazette is printed on a polygraphic base by the Federal Institute of Industrial Property (FGU FIPS) by polygraphic means on a Romajor-314 printing machine and using a Docutech 6100 operational printing system by electrographic means.

All materials for printing are transferred electronically in PDF format.

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide access to online publication of patent documents and gazettes, and other primary and secondary sources of patent information, including patent publication servers and download of bulk patent data

The webpage address on the Rospatent site, which provides access to online publications:

  • official gazettes – Inventions. Utility models subsection in the Electronic gazettes section http://www.fips.ru/el_bl/default.htm

 

  • patent documents and other main patent information sources, including patent publication servers and downloading of main patent data array – in the Information search system section of the:
    Databases subsection http://www.fips.ru/russite/dbs/dbs.htm;
    Classification section http://www.fips.ru/russite/classificators/classificators.htm#iz;
    Open registers of Russian patent documents http://www.fips.ru/cdfi/reestr_rupat.htm; http://www.fips.ru/cdfi/reestr_rupm.htm;
    Register of Russian invention applications http://www.fips.ru/cdfi/reestr_rupatap.htm;
    Register of Russian utility model applications http://www.fips.ru/cdfi/reestr_rupmap.htm


 

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

Abstracting, reviewing, translating

In 2006, abstracts continued to be issued for RF patents and utility models granted:

  • in Russian, as part of full texts of patent documents on paper;

 

  • in Russian, on CD-ROM with bibliographical information;

 

  • in Russian and English, on CD-ROMs containing full descriptions of patents and utility models.



Abstract-related information for Rospatent patent documents is also available on the Internet:

  • RUABRU – a free abstract database for inventions in Russian, containing information on 578,000 applications and patents for inventions from 1994 to 2006 inclusive;

 

  • RUABEN – a free abstract database for inventions in English, containing information on 322,000 patents for inventions from 1994 to 2006 inclusive.



The abstracts databases are updated three times per month.

In 2006, the Information and Publications Center of Rospatent continued to issue the Russian edition of Inventions of Countries of the World containing abstracts for inventions from WIPO, the European Patent Office (EPO), France, Germany, Japan, Russian Federation, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States of America, published in 2005 in Offices’ official gazettes.

 

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)

In 2006, the eighth edition of the IPC (core and advanced levels) was published on paper, CD-ROM and the Internet.

The results of the reclassification of national patent documents according to the advanced level of IPC 2006 were entered in the database. Reclassification information is entered in the MCD database.

Patent documents missing from CD-ROM publications for the period 1924 to 2005 were reclassified according to the advanced level of IPC 2006. A list of patent documents, which were reclassified according to the advanced level of IPC 2006 and contain errors in the IPC indexes, was drawn up.

In 2006, the advanced level of IPC 2006.01 was used in the publication of patent documents.

The Russian language version of examples of IPC study, approved by the IPC Revision Working Group in 2006, was prepared.

The Definitions for the subclasses of the IPC, which were approved by the IPC Revision Working Group in 2006, were prepared.

The Russian language version of IPC 2007.01 was prepared.

In 2006, comments and proposals were prepared and sent to WIPO on the drafts of:
А004 (Н02М)
M012 (C09J)
D085 (H05C)
D122 (H01J)
D096 (C07B)
M031 (removal of information references from headings and sub-headings in the IPC)
M032 (removal of information references from headings and sub-headings in the IPC)

IPC-related activities were conducted in examination divisions.

Hybrid system indexing

In 2006, FIPS examiners provided full hybrid system indexes for national patent documents on all publications.

Bibliographic data and full-text processing

In text processing, application data are entered on a machine-readable carrier using software based on an optical symbol recognition system. The data obtained are used subsequently for various purposes, including in the internal search system. In 2006, work continued to enter full texts of patents granted and claims for invention and utility model applications in the Rospatent database.

All the applications for inventions and utility models received by the Office in 2006 were fully converted into electronic form.

IV. Search file establishment and upkeep

File building

The main parts of the State Patent Collection (GPF) are the Patent Examination Collection (FPE), intended for use by State examiners only, and the Central Patent Collection (TsPF), intended for use by all categories of patent information users (including examiners).

The All-Russian Patent Technology Library (VPTB) of the FGU FIPS is one of the largest centers of patent documentation and information in the world. The FGU FIPS VPTB’s activities are coordinated and financed from the State budget and extrabudgetary sources.

The main sources supplying the GPF, providing 98 per cent of all the Collection’s acquisitions, are official Rospatent publications and patent documentation received through an international exchange with patent offices of foreign countries and other information centers.

The structure and content of the FPE are defined by their purpose and the problems which the Collection is able to resolve. The content of the FPE is governed by Rule 34 (“minimum documentation”) of the Regulations Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), and also by bilateral interoffice agreements and conventions.

In structural terms, the FPE consists of current and retrospective portions of collections of national and foreign patent documentation, a collection of patent-related literature, including scientific and technical literature in the form of books and periodicals, and also a collection of patent-law, standard-setting and method-related, and reference literature. FPE patent documentation is arranged according to IPC headings, within headings by country, within countries by year of publication, and thereafter in numerical order.

FPE national patent documentation includes descriptions of inventions of the USSR (from 1924 onwards), descriptions of RF inventions and utility models (applications, patents and certificates), and the official gazettes of the USSR and Russian Federation. National patent documentation is compiled in separate collections (documentation of the USSR, Russian Federation and the collection of descriptions for RF utility models).

Updating

The current portion of the Collection is updated annually both with national and foreign patent documentation. In 2006, 365,700 copies of patent documentation on a paper carrier were received by the FPE, including 312,100 copies of foreign documentation and 53,600 copies of national documentation. The overall volume of FPE patent documents on a paper carrier stood at 19.1 million on January 1, 2007, of which 1.9 million were foreign, and also 176,000 scientific and technical books and journals. In addition, 1,429,500 copies of patent documents were received on optical disks, of which 1,404,300 copies of foreign documents and 25,200 copies of national documents.

Storage, including mass storage media

Patent documentation on paper is stored in cases on shelves and on optical disks in special cupboards.

Documentation from other offices maintained and/or considered part of the available search file

As at January 1, 2007 the foreign patent documentation collection on paper for examiners contained 17.2 million patent documents from various countries of varying depths, beginning from 1920, and included documentation collections from the following countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States of America, and WIPO, EPO and Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO), as well as patent documentation from CIS countries.

In their work, examiners also use foreign narrow-thematic, encyclopedic, reference and other patent automated databases on optical disks.

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

In-house systems (online/offline)

Rospatent uses databases containing national and foreign patent information on CD-ROM optical disks and also databases supplied through the Internet.

In 2006, a radical change took place in the acquisition of the CD-ROM examination collection. Based on the results of a study and analysis of use by examiners for search purposes of the collection of optical carriers, a decision was taken to transfer the unused portion of the collection to the VPTB Division.

The duplication of information on optical carriers and the Internet allowed the databases of the EPO, WIPO, OAPI, EAPO, Russian Federation and countries of the CIS to be preserved in the CD-ROM examination collection. In addition, the Globalpat and PAJ databases, and a number of narrow-thematic databases form part of the current collection.

At the end of 2006, the CD-ROM examination collection contained 99 databases stored on 7,957 disks (CD-ROM and DVD-ROM), containing information from 22 countries and four international organizations.

The information search mechanism for the CD-ROM examination collection, stored on paper and in electronic form, is in working order, which allows examiners to find answers in operational terms to the questions arising, relating to the formulation of a request, use of operators, software possibilities, supplementing of databases and other aspects of conducting searches.

The ongoing computerization of examination divisions now allows examiners to conduct searches, basically at their workstations. In those cases where the information accessible at their workstations is insufficient, or in especially complex cases, examiners use CD-ROM rooms and remote access.

In these rooms, examiners may use the commercial databases, not accessible from their workstations, including Delphion, VINITI, databases on library Internet sites and narrow-thematic databases containing scientific and technical literature, as well as Google, Rambler, Yandex etc. search engines.

In order to enhance the process of analyzing documents selected during searches, in 2006 the automated text translation system PROMT was upgraded. PROMT is now used successfully by examiners at 75 workstations, in the near future a further 50 workstations will be connected, and henceforth this figure will be brought up to 200 workstations, from which an examiner may work with an automated text translation system both on the local network and the Internet.

In 2006, Internet access was granted, on the Rospatent site, to:

  • an information search system (ISS) on national patent documentation;

 

  • registers of Russian patent documents on all types of industrial property;

 

  • Official Rospatent Inventions and Utility Models Gazettes.
    Rospatent’s Internet resources include the following databases:

 

  • a full-text database of Russian inventions (contains information on 323,000 invention patents from 1994 to 2006 inclusive; updated three times per month);

 

  • a retrospective database of Russian patent documents in facsimile form (contains information on 1,433,000 patent documents for inventions from 1924 to 1993 inclusive);

 

  • a database of abstracts for Russian inventions (contains information on 578,000 applications and invention patents from 1994 to 2006 inclusive; updated three times per month);

 

  • a database of abstracts for Russian inventions, in English (contains information on 322,000 invention patents from 1994 to 2006 inclusive; updated three times per month);

 

  • a database of abstracts for Russian utility models (contains information on 59,000 Russian utility model certificates and patents from 1996 to 2006 inclusive; updated three times per month); in 2006, more than 37,000 database documents were updated with descriptions in facsimile form;

 

  • the Future-Oriented Inventions database;

 

  • the IPC (seventh and eighth editions) database.

 

External databases

For information searches of applications, FGU FIPS examiners basically use online electronic databases.

Primarily, these are patent office databases freely available on the Internet and a number of databases with non-patent documentation, which examiners may search from their workstations in sectoral divisions. In 2006, databases containing patent documentation from China with an English-language interface (CNPAT) and Portugal were added to the list of such databases.

In most cases, examiners use databases freely available on the Internet, from Rospatent, the EPO (Esp@cenet), the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Japan Patent Office, the German Patent Office (Depatisnet), WIPO and the in-house EAPO search system, EAPATIS.

In 2006, a Rospatent in-house search system, PatSearch, was brought into operation on a trial basis in examination divisions. It has a user-friendly Russian-language user interface and broad possibilities for searching and reviewing documents. The PatSearch system currently contains all the USSR and Russian Federation patent documents, and also an English-language bibliography and abstracts of patent documents from leading countries of the world, downloaded from GlobalPat disks.

In the reporting period, work was done to provide access to a new version of the EPO in-house search system, EPOQUE.

Of the non-patent literature databases freely available from examiners’ workstations, in most cases the medicine and pharmaceutical databases of the United States National Library, PubMed, and the polythematic database ScienceDirect are used.

In addition to databases freely available for application search purposes, examiners are provided with commercial databases, including:

  • Patent and non-patent databases provided through the STN International network. In most cases examiners use databases on chemistry (REGISTRY, CA, BEILSTEIN, CASREACT, CHEMCATS etc.), medicine (EMBASE, BIOSIS) and polytechnical databases (INSPEC, PASCAL, COMPENDEX).

 

  • Delphion network patent databases. In addition to the databases of the patent offices of leading countries of the world and the INPADOC database through the Delphion network, FGU FIPS examiners use the Derwent World Patent Index (DWPI) patent abstract database.

 

  • The database of patent documents of Japan in English, PATOLIS-e. It has broader content than the JPO IPDL database of Japanese patent documents freely available on the Internet. As a result of the closure of the PATOLIS-e English-language service, provided by PATOLIS Corporation, in 2006 an agreement was concluded between FGU FIPS and the company Questel-Orbit for the provision of access to the PATOLIS-e database.



Access for FIPS examiners to commercial databases is provided in a specially equipped room, with the participation of qualified staff, where necessary providing consultation and method-related assistance in conducting searches. In the room, access for examiners to remote databases is usually provided in complex cases, i.e.: if the use of online resources is required for search purposes, access to which is not possible from examiners’ workstations or if an examiner does not have sufficient qualifications in carrying out searches of any database.

During 2006, more than 1,500 searches were carried out in the remote access room. Most of them were conducted in the STN network chemistry databases – REGISTRY and CA.

Access to the Delphion network databases is provided both in the remote access room (four workstations) and also in the CD-ROM room (four workstations).

Staff of the remote access room identify and study online databases which can be useful for conducting information searches and prepare method-related guides for examiners on the use of these databases. In addition, room staff train groups of examiners in how to use online databases.

In 2006, the database of the Patent Office of China (CNPAT) was studied, and also the non-patent literature database “Russian Medicine” and narrow-thematic databases on the Internet, relating to electrical and radio technology. Their information capacity and search possibilities have been described.

 

Administrative management systems (e.g., register, legal status, statistics, administrative support, etc.)

Since 1986 Rospatent has used an automated system for prosecuting applications for inventions, utility models and industrial designs – the FGU FIPS Automated System.

The system is intended to monitor the prosecution of applications for inventions, utility models and industrial designs, account for the payment of patent fees, draw up plans and reports relating to the activities of examination divisions, prepare data for publication, and receive reports on Rospatent’s activities, presented in the annual report of Rospatent and WIPO.

The system is used to enter and register application materials and incoming letters, prepare outgoing correspondence, enter data on application processing procedures and monitor all processes in the life cycle of applications, beginning with the filing of an application and ending with an examination decision (grant, refusal, withdrawal).

The automated database is a system for managing relational databases of the UniVerse type, operating under the management of the OS Reliant Unix V5.45 operating system on an RM600 computer and constituting a whole series of data files, dictionaries and programs.

The number of simultaneously connected users of the system is 300. Access to the system is provided from more than 700 workstations.

Since 1997, application documents have been scanned and downloaded into the Electronic Applications Archive. In 2005-2006 software was devised for the management of documents and tasks for users in the Electronic Applications Archive, the means for preparing outgoing correspondence, the means of processing incoming correspondence and creating the Electronic Applications Archive for inventions and utility models. The Electronic Applications Archive system has a Web-interface and is closely linked to the FGU FIPS Automated System.

At the beginning of 2007, the Applications section of the Rospatent site was expanded with information on the prosecution of applications for inventions, utility models and industrial designs. The aim of expanding this particular section of the site is to increase the openness of information from Rospatent for applicants and other external users. Interested persons can follow the prosecution of applications of interest to them and, after publication of invention applications, have access to information on published applications for Russian inventions, beginning from 1992. Access to the data on the site is through subsequent entry in the following sections: Information resources, Open registers and Applications Register.

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

 

  • RM600-E80 Server (OM – 1GB, processors – 3, external memory – 360 GB)

 

  • Compaq DL380 server – 20 units (OM – 2 GB, processors – 2, external memory – 200 GB)

 

  • Compaq DL580 server – 5 units (OM – 8 GB, processors – 4, external memory – 300 GB)

 

  • Compaq 586, P MMX, PII, PIII, P4, Fujitsu-Siemens workstations – 990 units.



Switching equipment: SmartSWITCH 6000; 3Com CoreBuilder 3500; Cisco

Software: SINIX, Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.

Carriers used: SDLT magnetic tapes.

 

VI. Administration of the industrial property office library and information products 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)

Planning, administration, automation, security, buildings

The TsPF is supplied with national and foreign patent documents on all forms of industrial property subject matter, with both full-text descriptions of inventions relating to applications and patents, utility models and industrial designs, as well as abstract and bibliographical information; also with search-reference and other information.

The FGU FIPS VPTB provides free access without any restrictions to the TsPF and serves a wide circle of information users in Russia, neighboring and other foreign countries (including examiners).

The Library premises are equipped with an alarm system and an automatic fire-fighting system.

Collecting, acquisitions, preparation

The TsPF includes national (from 1814) and foreign patent documentation collections of varying depths, abstracts and bibliographies covering all forms of industrial property subject matter, collections of patent-law, standard-setting and method-related, and reference literature, as well as an information search system for these collections.

As of January 1, 2007, the TsPF had more than 80 million copies of patent documents on various types of carriers, including a collection of foreign patent documentation – about 72.2 million copies, a collection of national patent documentation – about 5.9 million copies, a specialized collection of industrial design examinations from 19 countries and WIPO – about 1.9 million copies, and a collection of patent-law, standard-setting and information-related and reference literature – more than 72,200 copies; and a collection of national and foreign periodicals and abstracts (on paper) – 266,600 copies of documents.

In 2006, more than three million copies of national and foreign patent documents were received by the TsPF on optical disks. In this regard, paper acquisitions almost ceased completely, as a result of which duplication of patent documentation in the collection is excluded.

Collection management, preservation

The main TsPF collections on paper are arranged along geographical-systematic-numerical lines.

The conditions for storing the collections are determined primarily by the type of format:

  • patent documentation on paper is stored in cases on shelves;

 

  • on microcarriers – in metal boxes in files-film libraries (microfilm) and in metal cupboards (microfiches);

 

  • in automated databases;

 

  • on optical disks - in special cupboards.

 

 

Interlibrary lending, resource sharing, networks of patent libraries in the country

In 2006, State patent information resources were stored in the collections of the:

  • Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks;

 

  • intersectoral territorial scientific and technical information centers (STICs);

 

  • libraries (national libraries of subjects of the Russian Federation, regional universal scientific libraries – RUSLs).

 

 

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)

The VPTB’s overall readership stands at more than 17,200. In 2006, 1,600 people registered with the Library and in the past year 93,200 readers visited the Library.

About 39.3 million copies of patent documents were issued to users, including more than 11 million copies on paper; 8,700 copies on microcarriers, and more than 28.3 million copies of patent documents on optical disks.

General and specialized reading rooms operate in the VPTB Division for the comfort of readers who wish to work. These rooms provide:

  • dictionary and reference literature, and foreign patent law publications;

 

  • microcarriers;

 

  • industrial designs;

 

  • an information-bibliography service;

 

  • optical disks and remote databases.



Visits to the Library and service for all categories of users are free of charge. In addition to conventional forms of service, in 2006 access for readers to automated databases in the VPTB was extended and improved. More than 200 databases are currently fully installed and in use.

The FGU FIPS VPTB provides both a fixed service for information users and also a service for remote users, employing all forms of communication currently in existence: post, telephone, facsimile and electronic mail. VPTB subscribers include more than 900 remote users of patent information.

In order to simplify access to information resources, the VPTB provides patent-information services including a thematic selection of patent documentation, a search by systematic indexes, a search in automated databases, a search for patent-analogs, and others representing more than 30 designated services.

In 2006, the FGU FIPS VPTB satisfied around 20,000 information requests from users, including about 400,000 pages of copies of patent documentation, which were produced. A trend towards a reduction in the copying of patent documentation, as a result of the active use of the possibilities offered by the Internet, is observed.

As part of Rospatent’s Program of Cooperation with the regions of the Russian Federation, about 120 organizations received free access to full-text invention databases.

External users are supplied with the following, free of charge, in relation to inventions:

  • abstract databases in Russian and English;

 

  • the Future-Oriented Inventions database;

 

  • a full-text database containing documents published in the last three Inventions and Utility Models Gazettes;

 

  • the IPC database;

    in relation to utility models:
  • databases containing documents published in the last three Inventions and Utility Models Gazettes;

 

  • the IPC database.

 

 

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide information on business procedures such as: filing, publication, examination and grant procedures related to patents; opposition and appeal procedures related to patents; etc.

 

  • in the Industrial property section; Inventions and utility models subsection http://www.fips.ru/ruptoru/invention.htm

 

  • in the About Rospatent section; Fees subsection, Regulations on fees for the patenting of inventions, utility models, industrial designs, registration of trademarks, service marks and appellations of origin, and grant of the right to use appellations of origin
    http://www.fips.ru/potrf/poshl.htm

 

 

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide a description of information products and services offered by the Office (e.g., patent search service(s), patent databases, etc.), as well as information on how to access and utilize them

 

  • in the Information resources section; the Services subsection http://www.fips.ru/russite/uslugi/podp.htm

 

  • in the About Rospatent section; FIPS services and tariffs subsection, tariffs for services relating to inventions, utility models and industrial designs
    http://www.fips.ru/potrf/tarif01.htm

 

 

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

The FGU FIPS VPTB currently receives an exchange of documentation from 57 countries and six international organizations. In 2006, the exchange with the People’s Democratic Republic of China (PDRC) was renewed and an agreement was signed for the exchange of patent documentation with the Patent Information Center of the PDRC Head Office for Inventions; in 2006, the exchange with the information firm Derwent ceased.

The volumes of acquisitions of foreign descriptions are determined by the scales of activity of national patent offices and international organizations. Leading positions in this field are occupied by Germany, Japan and the United States of America, as well as the EPO and WIPO.

As part of the international exchange in 2006, the FGU FIPS VPTB received 5,806,000 copies of foreign patent documents and 1,604,900 copies of national descriptions of inventions were sent to foreign patent offices.

Medium used for exchange of priority documents

The exchange of patent documentation on various media (paper and optical disks) continued in 2006, as did the active replacement of all other types of information carriers with optical disks.

In 2006, the following were received from patent offices in foreign countries:

4 annual sets of invention specifications on paper;
130 annual sets of invention specifications on optical disks.
The following were sent to patent offices in foreign countries on optical disks:
17 annual sets of the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette (abstract-related information);
64 annual sets of the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette (with full specifications of inventions for RF patents).

Optical disks with data on international applications located in the international phase are received from the International Bureau of WIPO.

Medium allowed for filing applications

In 2006 paper media were used for the filing of applications with Rospatent under the national procedure, in accordance with the Patent Law. However, materials were also received on any machine-readable carrier, confirmed by paper content.

In 2006, Rospatent received information on optical disks from the International Bureau of WIPO on international applications that had passed through the national phase.

Since January 1, 1999, as a receiving office Rospatent has accepted international applications using the functional possibilities of the PCT-EASY software, PCT-SAFE. Within PCT-EASY a statement and an abstract are filed on diskettes or CD. There were 143 such applications in 2006, i.e. 20 per cent of the overall number of applications filed.

As an international searching authority, Rospatent requests submissions on diskettes or CD of a list of the sequences of nucleotides and/or amino acids, if an international application contains the disclosure of one or more such sequences.

Implementation of the Statement of Principles Concerning the Changeover to Electronic Data Carriers for the Exchange of Patent Documents (please provide a status report on the extent to which your Office has changed over to electronic data carriers for the exchange of patent documents)

As part of the implementation of the Cooperation Plan in the Field of Information Technologies between WIPO and Rospatent:

  • in division 44, an experiment was conducted on the transfer to WIPO of PTC applications in TIFF and XML formats.

 

  • models of the forms РСТ/ RO/101 and РСТ/RO/IPEA/401 were prepared in PDF format for their subsequent transfer to WIPO with use in the future of РСТ- EDI.



The information in Section VII (paragraphs 1 to 3) of this report also describes this aspect of the Office’s current position.

 

VIII. Other relevant matters concerning education and training in, and promotion of, the use of patent information, including technical assistance to developing countries (please indicate URLs of web pages of the Office’s website wherever appropriate)

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

FGU FIPS employees were trained and retrained as part of the Unified Training System, using external and internal methods.


Internal training methods

Training of new employees who joined FGU FIPS in 2006 continued, according to the two-stage centralized training program.

According to the first-stage program, intended for all newly recruited staff with a work placement of up to four months, including familiarization with basic issues in the field of industrial property protection and the structure of Rospatent and the FGU FIPS (13 hours of lectures), 148 people were trained, including 76 examiners, six scientific staff, two librarians and 64 engineering and technical staff.

According to the second-stage program, intended for new examiners in the sectoral scientific research examination subdivisions with a work placement of between six months and one year (practical activities on the subject of “substantive examination of an invention application”, 20 hours), 33 new examiners were trained.

Training for newly recruited trainee examiners continued on work with the basic electronic patent information resources used in sectoral scientific research examination subdivisions when conducting searches. 56 people were trained.


External training methods

In the Russian State Institute of Intellectual Property (RGIIS), FGU FIPS staff undergo vocational retraining, receive first or second-level higher education, and train on postgraduate courses.

In the reporting year, on the RGIIS vocational retraining program, 23 employees (including 15 examiners and eight scientific staff) completed the training and defended their diploma work.

On the higher vocational education programs for the specializations of legal expert and economist, 20 FGU FIPS staff members are receiving training. In 2006, eight employees graduated from RGIIS having received first-level higher education and four staff members graduated having received second-level higher education.

Ten staff members are studying on the RGIIS postgraduate course. Of the ten, five were recommended by FGU FIPS for entry to the postgraduate course and five entered on their own initiative.


Training on foreign language courses

45 Rospatent system employees completed English-language training paid for by the EPO.


Distance learning

62 FGU FIPS staff members received Certificates from the WIPO Worldwide Academy (WA) following successful completion of the WIPO WA Foundations of Intellectual Property program.

38 FGU FIPS staff members completed training and received a Certificate in the Specialization Foundations of Judicial Examination at the Russian Federal Center of Judicial Examination, attached to the Russian Ministry of Justice.

During 2006, the FGU FIPS VPTB Division organized 34 excursions and practical activities on work with patent documentation for students from Moscow higher education institutes, in which 654 people participated.

Retraining and dissemination of knowledge in the intellectual property sphere for specialists from external organizations:

  • In 2006, two distance learning sessions were conducted on the WIPO WA program Foundations of Intellectual Property in Russia and in other countries in Russian. A total of 1,582 people registered for training in 2006, of which 825 people successfully completed a training course and received a WIPO WA Certificate.

 

  • Training was provided for 126 specialists on patenting and entrepreneurs on the programs Problem issues of copyright in law-enforcement activity. Patenting of industrial property subject matter abroad. Procedural amendments, Features of patent protection for inventions in the fields of chemistry, medicine, pharmacy and biotechnology.

 

  • In 2006, 13 specialists from the patent offices of Uzbekistan, Belarus and Kazakhstan underwent training on individual programs at FGU FIPS.

 

 

Promotional activities (seminars, exhibitions, visits, advertising, etc.)

In 2006, work with the regions continued in accordance with Rospatent’s Program of Cooperation with the regions on the creation, legal protection and use of the results of scientific and technical activities.

As in previous years, work was based on the provisions of the agreements and conventions concluded by Rospatent and FGU FIPS on cooperation with regional administrative and economic bodies. Thus, agreements were prepared and concluded with the Government of the Republic of Mordovia, and the authorities (Government) of the Kurgan Oblast and Novosibirsk Oblast. As at December 31, 2006, Agreements on Rospatent Cooperation were active with 22 regional authorities.

In accordance with the established procedure, Cooperation Agreements were concluded between the FGU FIPS and FGU support organizations, recommended by the regional authorities, including the Chuvash Center of Scientific and Technical Research, GUK National Library of the Republic of Chuvashia, the Kurgan A.K. Yugov Regional Universal Library, the Southern Urals Chamber of Trade and Industry, and the Samara Regional Universal Scientific Library.

Thus, at the end of 2006 FGU FIPS had concluded 38 cooperation agreements with regional support organizations.

In 2006, in the regions of the Russian Federation Rospatent organized and held 42 conferences and seminars on intellectual property issues, at which 41 Rospatent and FGU FIPS employees gave papers. More than 2,500 people attended the conferences and seminars.

Rospatent participated in nine international inventions and innovations exhibitions with exhibits detailing Patent Office activities.

IX. Other general information related to the Office that is available on the Internet -- URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that:

provide information on legislation related to patents

Inventions, utility models and industrial designs subsection in the Normative documents section http://www.fips.ru/npdoc/index.htm#2; Normative documents subsection in the Inventions and utility models section http://www.fips.ru/ruptoru/invention.htm

contain the Annual Report of the Office

Reports, Reviews, Statistics section http://www.fips.ru/ruptoru/reports.htm

provide open source codes related to patent information systems

References section http://www.fips.ru/russite/search/search.html

contain patent-related news regarding the Office

Main news section http://www.fips.ru/rospatent/index.htm,
News section http://www.fips.ru/ruptoru/news.htm

X. 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.

 

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.

 

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.