SCIT.ATR.PI.2007.PL

Annual Technical Report 2007 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Poland (SCIT/ATR/PI/2007/PL)

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

The Industrial Property Law of 30 June 2000 which applies in the field of industrial property protection, was amended twice in 2007. The Law of 29 June 2007 amending the Industrial Property Law (Official Journal No. 89, item 540) :
-allowed possibility of online filings, specifying technical conditions of online filing and electronic correspondence;
-specified the procedure for translation of the priority certificates, for amending the application and for filing of divisional patent application (Art. 39 of Industrial Property Law);
-lessened legal requirements concerning patent claims (Art. 33 of Industrial Property Law);
-resigned from 6-month period for the third party's comments in the process of filing patent applications (Art. 44 of Industrial Property Law).

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

In 2007, the Polish Patent Office (PPO) received 2 606 patent applications under the national procedure, out of which 2 392 were filed by domestic applicants and 214 by foreign applicants.
A slight increase in domestic and foreign patent applications under the national procedure was observed in comparison with the year 2006 (of approx. 10%).
147 applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty entered the phase of examination carried out by the Office (so-called national phase).
Under the international procedure, as the receiving Office, the PPO received from domestic applicants 89 patent applications under the PCT procedure and 49 European patent applications with the aim of seeking protection abroad.
The total number of patent applications filed in 2007 amounted to 2 753, which is of 2.1 % less than in 2006.
In 2007, the Office received from foreign applicants 16 applications for the grant of supplementary right of protection for medicinal products and plant protection products (SPC). The Office settled 10 SPC applications.
In 2007, 7 943 decisions in cases concerning grant of patents were issued, out of which 4 543 on granting patents. The total number of decisions issued in 2007 rose by 28% in comparison with the number of decisions in 2006.
The number of cases pending on 31 December 2007 - as compared with the same period in 2006 - decreased of 4 722 (that is of 13.2 %) and amounted to 31 236.
In 2007, the PPO received and examined formally 1 504 translations into Polish of European patents which is the pre-condition for validating the protection of the related inventions on the territory of the Republic of Poland. 277 patents entered the separate section of the Patent Register for the European patents.
In total, on December 2007, 17 250 patents have remained in force, out of which 1 788 were European patents.

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

Statistics related to patents are presented in the Annual Report of the PPO at the following address:
Annual Reports: http://www.uprp.pl/Polski/Wydawnictwa/Raporty+Roczne.htm ; http://www.uprp.pl/English/About+the+Polish+Patent+Office/annual/default.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.)

In 2007, the following publications were issued:
a) periodicals
"Biuletyn Urzedu Patentowego" ("Patent Office's Bulletin"-bi-weekly) 26 numbers, i.e. 9 465 copies.
"Wiadomosci Urzedu Patentowego" (Patent Office's Announcements- monthly) 12 numbers, i.e. 4 345 copies.
"Dziennik Urzedowy UPRP" (The PPO Journal-annual) 3 issues and index i.e. 320 copies
2006 Annual Report of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland, 650 copies
Patent Specifications (3086 titles) - 108 095 copies
List of utility models which were granted protection right by the PPO in 2005 - 69 copies
List of utility models which were granted protection right by the PPO in 2006 - 65 copies
List of patents granted by the PPO in 2005, volume I and II- 146 copies
List of patents granted by the PPO in 2006, volume I and II- 146 copies

b) non-periodicals, single brochure publications:
Miedzynarodowa Klasyfikacja Patentowa, wskazowki dla uzytkownikow (International Patent Classification VIII edition, User's guide) - 250 copies
Ustawa-prawo wlasnosci przemyslowej (Industrial Property Law) - 2500 copies
Uklad o wspolpracy patentowej (PCT). Tekst jednolity regulaminu do ukladu o wspolpracy patentowej (Patent cooperation Treaty-unified text) - 300 copies
Konwencja o patencie europejskim 2000 (European Patent Convention 2000) - 1000 copies

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

In 2007, 2 833 announcements on filed patent and utility model applications were published in "Biuletyn Urzedu Patentowego" ("Patent Office's Bulletin") and 4 156 announcements on granted patents and granted protection rights on utility models were published in "Wiadomosci Urzedu Patentowego" (Patent Office's Announcements). Both publications are available in PDF format on the PPO website free of charge.

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

The PPO uses the following carriers of patent documentation: CD-ROM discs, DVD, paper, with gradual decrease of paper carrier.

Word processing and office automation

n/a

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

The constantly modernized publication system enables production of the Office's publications on its own. The publishing process is based on the DTP system and covers preparation of data contained in the Office's databases, text editing in Ms Word programme and picture processing in Adobe Photoshop CS. Final typesetting is made in InDesign 3.0 programme. Printing is performed on the offset machine and digital reproducer. The text of patent specifications is scanned in OCR technique and pictures are scanned in Adobe Photoshop programme. Then, the text is combined with the pictures and the first page with bibliographic data. Finally, the patent specification is proof-read and printed in Ms Word programme. Printing is performed on the digital reproducer.
Parallel to publishing in paper format, patent specifications are posted in PDF format on the PPO's website.

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

Legislation: http://www.uprp.pl/Polski/Akty+prawne/ ; http://www.uprp.pl/English/Law/
Annual Reports: http://www.uprp.pl/Polski/Wydawnictwa/Raporty+Roczne.htm ; http://www.uprp.pl/English/About+the+Polish+Patent+Office/annual/default.htm
Translations into Polish of the EPO patents (Poland as designated state): http://www.uprp.pl/epo_t/
Press Review: http://www.uprp.pl/Polski/Przeglad+prasy/ .

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

Abstracting, reviewing, translating

Patent literature collection was enlarged by the 1 200 pdf files of European patent specifications, translated into Polish (available online).
Additionally, 60 abstracts of patent specifications published in the "The Patents Office's Bulletin" were translated into English.

Classification¹, preclassification² (if applicable), and reclassification³ 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 2007, the current VIII edition of IPC was applied in the PPO, both at the stage of classifying new applications and to currently published patent documents.

Coordinate indexing (domestic deep indexing systems, keyword indexing)

n/a

Hybrid system indexing

n/a

Bibliographic data and full-text processing

n/a

IV. Search file establishment and upkeep

In 2007, building of Polish and foreign patent documentation file on CD-ROM, DVD, optical discs, and paper was continued.

File building

In 2007, the increase of patent documentation was as follows:
-2 303 912 copies on optical discs CD-ROM and DVD (1 602 cassettes) including specifications of inventions, patent specifications and utility model specifications;
-524 CD-ROM discs i.e. 28 titles of bibliographic and thematic databases within the scope of patents and trademarks;
-on paper carrier 15 675 copies of Polish patent specifications, 3 133 copies of Polish industrial designs specifications, 1 285 copies of Polish utility models specifications;
-143,000 publications i.e. 2 668 booklets of patent, technical and legal literature on paper;
-60 volumes of books-fulfilling the orders of PPO examiners.
Within patent documentation field, the PPO uses professional databases: "World Patent Index" (DWPI Derwent/Thomson) and "EMBASE".

Updating

In 2007, the PPO continued collecting, storing, and preparing patent and technical literature by:
-purchasing and introduction of 60 volumes of books into the ZBILNI database;
-registering and providing access to 2 169 booklets of patent, technical and legal literature on paper.

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

In-house systems (online/offline)

In-house own systems:
The Office has its own internal retrieval system (TULIPAN) with access restricted to examiners. The system offers procedural data concerning patents and utility models in the course of the whole procedure.
The integrated database is also maintained for searches on filling and granting procedures with regard to patents and utility models, supported by the fee control system.

In-house systems in co-operation with others:
In co-operation with the EPO, the software for submitting applications online was integrated in the online system - eOLF, and also the set of tools for the electronic dossier management - e-Phoenix was implemented.

In-house CD-ROM databases:
The Office has CD-ROM/DVD collections containing the major collections of patent documents, like Espace family, GlobalPat, Cosmos etc. These collections are searched under MIMOSA software and are also available to public visitors in the in-house Patent Library. The patent examiners and the information centre staff have also access to those collections.

External databases

The PPO uses regularly external databases:
-databases under the EPOQUEnet system. It is planned to interrogate the EPOQUEnet database using a number of online hosts;
-many databases accessible via Internet such as DEPATIS, JAPIO, US Automated Patent Information, EPOline facilities (including EP Patent Register), etc.

As the esp@cenet family member, the Office:
-maintains the PL esp@cenet retrieval system with regard to the Level 1 national holdings
(Polish patents and utility models);
-enables, through the PL esp@cenet interface, access to the Level 2 information on the complete EPODOC and BNS collections held at the EPO.
Information is accessible through both Polish and English interfaces.

For external users the PPO provides:
-Web site:
The Office's website offers facilities for accessing information on Polish patents and utility models. Functionality is also offered to customers who have free access to periodic information as well as information on procedure and fees from the PPO's databases.

-Publication Server:
The system was introduced in 2007 with the necessary preparatory work for launch and adaptation to the Polish system of dissemination of patent information. The national version of Publication Server - the PPO's data base, -is an independent and managed service offering integrated facilities to search PL patents (B), utility models (Y) and translations into Polish language published by the EPO patents which are valid on the territory of the Republic of Poland. Mostly external users are targeted by the service.

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

The legacy system based on the Revelation technology is providing administration of bibliographic data of patents and utility models in the course of the whole procedure.
Offline systems providing information to examiners, lawyers and the accounting staff, including:
legal information system; patent attorneys information system; payroll and finance-accounting system;

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

The PPO workstations infrastructure includes around 4 different types of workstations configured specially to meet the EPO applications requirements. All of those workstations (approximately 580 PCs) are secured by McAfee antivirus and antispam system. All network connections are based on CISCO and Alcatel equipment with 10 Mb access to Internet.
Server infrastructure for the On-line Portal includes 9 application servers; 5 database servers; 10 TB build-up array; back-ups for Tivoli Storage Management, Fujitsu FI-5900C scanner, 125 packages for the purposes of qualified signatures. On-Line Portal servers are supported by local UPSes and they are also hooked to Main power supply unit for the PPO.
Back office hardware located in secured/zoned Data Centre with fire alarm and CTV system, redundant air-conditioning and technical floor.

Most of workstations run under Windows 2000, and server's operational systems are Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10.
The SAN mass memory network was configured in order to make matrices available to the computing systems.

Existing online thesauri; their structure, presentation and usefulness for computerized searches

n/a

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 PPO's internal library and reading room are run by the Patent Literature Department and are accessible to the PPO employees and external users.
The available collection includes PL abstracts, IPC, ECLA, but also other publications, such as dictionaries, encyclopaedias, official journals, etc.
Some of them are available on the PPO's website.

Collecting, acquisitions, preparation

In 2007, in the field of organisation and upkeep of the files available to the Office's examiners and the public, the following documentation was included in the files:
- 2 303 912 copies of patent documents on optical discs CD-ROM and DVD containing abstracts of patent and utility model applications, from 27 countries and 2 international organisations;
- 15 675 copies of Polish patent specifications on paper;
-524 CD-ROM discs i.e. 28 titles of bibliographic and thematic databases;
- 5 291 cards of patent and utility model application abstracts published in the "Patent Office's Bulletin" and not published or given a negative decision;
- final files of the class collection out of number collection of patent specifications of the United States of America in accordance with the V edition of IPC.

Collection management, preservation

Patent documentation collection on paper carrier is stored in the storage rooms on movable bookshelves in numerical and class arrangements, with division to respective countries. Class collection is stored in special files, adjusted to this type of collection. Numeric collection is stored in bound volumes. The storage rooms meet all the requirements for collection's safety. Polish patent documentation organised in class arrangement is available in the general reading room, while foreign patent documentation in class arrangement is available in the examiners' reading room.
Collection of patent documents on CD-ROM and DVD is stored on special bookshelves adjusted to this type of collection. It is available in the reading room also to external users.

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

Within the co-operation with the PATLIB centres in Poland, the Office continued supplying them with foreign and Polish patent documentation and literature. In 2007, the Office sent:
-905 discs with full text databases on CD-ROMs
-124 discs with patent literature
-287 copies of patent bulletins
-2 519 copies of Polish industrial design and utility model specifications
-1 326 copies of "Patent Office's Bulletin"
-744 copies of the "Patent Office's Announcements"
-129 copies of the "Official Journal"
-43 copies of Index of the Official Journal for the year 2006
-43 copies of International Patent Classification, VIII edition, User's guide
-27 copies of 2007 Annual Report of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland
-34 copies of List of utility models which were granted protection right by the PPO in 2005
-34 copies of List of utility models which were granted protection right by the PPO in 2006
-69 copies of List of patents granted by the PPO in 2005, volume I and II
-65 copies of List of patents granted by the PPO in 2006, volume I and II
-286 copies of Industrial Property Law
-43 copies of Patent cooperation Treaty-unified text
-43 copies of European Patent Convention 2000

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)

Within the services rendered for the users in 2007 the following were made accessible:
- 37 771 retrievals on the patent and trademark databases on CD-ROM for 3 852 outside users;
2 920 files with foreign patent documentation was available for examiners and 2 916 for outside users and 8 174 copies of single Polish and foreign patent specifications, 857 volumes of books and 417 booklets. Free access to Polish and world patent documentation was also provided. A significant drop in the number of information requests on paper carrier results from easier access to online data bases, including those in the EPOQUE system for experts and other free of charge databases.

URLs of web pages of the Office's website for electronic filing of patent applications

n/a

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.

Filing with the PPO:
National Procedure:
http://www.uprp.pl/Polski/Procedura+krajowa/
International Procedure:
http://www.uprp.pl/Polski/Procedura+miedzynarodowa/
Forms (including those for electronic filing):
http://www.uprp.pl/Polski/Procedura+krajowa/Formularze/Formularze.htm
Databases:
Polish:
http://www.uprp.pl/patentwebaccess/databasechoose.aspx?language=polski
English:
http://www.uprp.pl/patentwebaccess/databasechoose.aspx?language=english
Procedures before the PPO - Basic Information:
http://www.uprp.pl/Polski/Informacje+o+UPRP/Podstawowe+informacje+i+poradniki/
http://www.uprp.pl/English/About+the+Polish+Patent+Office/Basic+information/

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) and patent databases), as well as information on how to access and utilize them

see above

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

In 2007, the exchange of patent documentation and information with foreign patent offices was continued. We sent to libraries abroad:
- to 35 countries - 400 copies of "Patent Office's Announcements";
- to 16 countries - 416 copies of "Patent Office's Bulletin";
- to 6 countries - 16 964 copies of full text Polish patent specifications.

Medium used for exchange of priority documents

paper

Medium allowed for filing applications

paper, internet

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

Within the twinning programme project with the Danish Patent Office "Enforcement of the protection of industrial and intellectual property rights" a series of seminars and workshops were conducted from February to September 2007. In cooperation with PATLIB centres in 9 provinces, the workshops were conducted in the following locations:
-Conference Centre of the University of Technology in Poznan
-University of Zielona Gora
-Regional Centre of Patent Information at the Chief Institute of Mining in Katowice
-University of Technology in Gdansk
-Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun
-University of Technology in Wroclaw
-University of Technology in Kielce
-University of Science and Technology in Krakow
-University of Technology in Rzeszow
The PPO participated also in trainings and conferences organised by the European Patent Office (43 people). The events focused on issues, such as: Patent procedures and automation tools, Networking in PR and Marketing on IP, Search matters, International Patent Classification, EPOQUEnet functionalities and use, Appeal procedures in EPO, Administration of European patent applications, Strategic use of IP information, Electronic publications etc.
Every year Polish Patent Office organises trainings to raise professional skills of its staff.
In 2007, after completing two year training, 12 Office's employees obtained examiner's qualifications and 16 employees who completed their training and passed the qualifying examinations obtained assistant expert's qualifications.
Additionally, language courses for PPO employees (languages: English, French, German, Spanish)were organised.
Within the framework of the training program for assistant experts, and for newly recruited civil service members, 12 lectures for 70 participants were given on industrial property law and responsibilities of the PPO.
Moreover, staff members benefited from many specialist training courses organised by professional educational centres such as: National School of Public Administration, Foundation in Support of Local Democracy, Mazovian Voivodeship Centre for Personnel Training. The subject matter of the trainings included the issues of public procurement, management, finances, structural funds, information technologies and labour law.

Assistance to developing countries (sending consultants and experts, receiving trainees from developing countries, etc.)

n/a

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

In 2007, within industrial property protection the PPO organised or participated in the following events:
-Conference "Towards Innovation-Oriented Economy" organized in Warsaw by the Patent Office in cooperation with Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and Ministry of Science and Higher Education;
-12th Exhibition of Inventions awarded at international exhibitions in 2006
in the Museum of Technology in Warsaw (the PPO's informational - promotional stand);
-International Innovation Fair WIPRO 2007 Knowledge-Innovation-Development, organised at the University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz (participation of the PPO in the seminars and organisation of promotional stand);
-Academic Conference on "Industrial Design as a National Brand" on the occasion of the World Intellectual Property Day, co-organized in Warsaw by the Polish Patent Office, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Institute of Industrial Design, and Association of Industrial Designers;
-Conference on "Disseminating IP Knowledge in Universities" organized in the Senate by the Polish Patent Office and the European Patent Academy
-Annual "Scientific Picnic" of the Bis Radio in Warsaw (promotional stand);
-International Fairs in Poznan (promotional stand);
-Conference on “The EU Systems of Industrial Property Protection” in Sandomierz, organized by the Patent Office within the EU twinning program Transition Facility “Strengthening the protection of intellectual and industrial property rights” and with the co-operation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;
-26th Seminar for patent attorneys from universities and academies in Cedzyna near Kielce, organized by the Patent Office together with the Council of Patent Attorneys of Universities, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, European Patent Office, Kielce University of Technology, and Kielce School of Trade;
-International Symposium in Krakow on “Industrial Property in Innovative Economy – Technology Transfer from Universities to Industry” co-organized by the Patent Office, European Patent Office, Krakow University of Technology and Jagiellonian University;
-Industrial Technology, Science and Innovation Fair in Gdańsk (promotional stand);
-7th National Educational Forum for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Warsaw organized by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (promotional stand);
-Conference of the European Patent Office “EPO Online Services” in Como, Italy (promotional stand);
-Annual conference “Patent Information Conference” in Riga, Latvia, (promotional stand);
-12th Academic Conference on “Patent Information for Science and Industry” organized for PATLIB centers in Świder/Warsaw;
-EPO DAY – Conference on “How to obtain a European patent” on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the European Patent Office, organized by the Patent Office, jointly with the EPO, Warsaw University of Technology, Patent Attorneys Company PATPOL, and Patent and Trademark Attorneys Office POLSERVICE;
-Ceremony of prize award in the 5th edition of the competition for the best artistic poster as well as postdoctoral, doctoral, master’s and student’s theses on the subject of industrial property organized by the Patent Office
Additionally, a series of posters and information boards were designed and published for the fairs and exhibitions.

Studies to identify trends in new technology, e.g., by the use of patent statistics and preparation of monographs

n/a

Assistance furnished by offices to facilitate the changing over of receiving offices to electronic data carriers for the exchange of patent documents (see also fourth sub-item of item VI, above)

n/a

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

Legislation: http://www.uprp.pl/Polski/Akty+prawne/ ; http://www.uprp.pl/English/Law/

contain the Annual Report of the Office

Annual Reports: http://www.uprp.pl/Polski/Wydawnictwa/Raporty+Roczne.htm ; http://www.uprp.pl/English/About+the+Polish+Patent+Office/annual/default.htm

if necessary, provide further information related to the topics referred to in the current ATR

n/a

provide open source codes related to patent information systems

n/a

contain patent-related news regarding the Office

n/a

X. Other relevant matters