Annual Technical Report 2011 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Croatia (CWS/ATR/PI/2011/HR)
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
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Patent applications in 2011
National patent, applications
251 in 2011 -10% compared to 2010
International patent applications entering the national phase
10 in 2011 -29% compared to 2010
Foreign applications filed directly to SIPO
21 in 2011 0% compared to 2010
Patent applications filed by resident applicants
230 in 2011 -11% compared to 2010
Extended European patent applications (designation fee paid)
525 in 2011 +24% compared to 2010
International applications filed at SIPO as a RO
45 in 2011 +15% compared to 2010
Granted national patents
184 in 2011 +124% compared to 2010
Granted European patents with HR as designated state
734 in 2011 +73% compared to 2010
Consensual patents, registrations
87 in 2011 -33% compared to 2010
Number of valid national patents
3219 in 2011 +49% compared to 2010
Number of valid consensual patents
368 in 2011 -7% compared to 2010
Valid patents in 2011 by field of technology
28% organic chemistry
22% preparation for medical, dental or toilet purposes
7,5% transportation
Trends or areas experiencing rapid changes with respect to the previous year
In 2011, a total of 251 patent applications were filed with the Office, which represents a further decrease in the number of applications compared to the previous year for approximately 10%, and is the lowest annual number of patent applications ever filed with the Office.
During 2011, a total of 230 applications by resident applicants were filed, representing a decrease in the number of applications in relation to the previous 2010 by approximately 10%.
The number of resident legal persons (companies) that filed a patent application in 2011 is nearly identical to the number from 2010, while the number of natural persons as applicants decreased by approximately 11%. However, resident applicants are predominantly natural persons, which make a high 85% out of the total number of resident applicants.
As in the previous year, non-resident applicants filed a total of 21 applications, wherein the number of non-domestic legal persons as applicants (companies) continued the decreasing trend, started when the Republic of Croatia firstly acceded to the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Patents (Cooperation and Extension Agreement) and then to the European Patent Organization. In 2011, the number of non-domestic legal persons as applicants was almost exactly identical to the number of non-domestic natural persons as applicants.
Equally so, the number of international PCT applications that entered into the national phase of procedure in the Republic of Croatia was lower in 2011 as compared to the previous year, with only 10 applications filed.
The number of requests for the extension of European patent applications to the Republic of Croatia on the basis of the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Patents (Cooperation and Extension Agreement) between the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the European Patent Organization, in force from 2004 to 2008, published in the EPO Bulletin during 2011, was 525, which is 31% more compared to the last-year’s 401 request.
In 2011, the number of requests for entry of the extended European patents according to the same Agreement was 375, which is almost identical to the number of such requests in the previous year, when there were 376. The number of requests for entry of European patents on the basis of the European Patent Convention has risen as expected, reaching 364 requests, which is an increase of 372% compared to 77 such requests in the previous year.
In 2011, 45 international applications according to the PCT were filed with the Office as a receiving office, making an increase of 15% compared to the previous year.
According to technical field, the majority of applications of resident applicants filed in 2011 were in the following IPC classes: E01-E06 (fixed constructions) 11%, A61 (preparations for medical, dental or toilet purposes) 10%, G01-G12 (measuring) 9.6%, B60-B68 (transportation) 7%, A41-A47 (personal or domestic articles or appliances) 8.2% and F01-F04 (machines or engines) 7.8%.
According to technical field, the majority of applications of non-resident applicants directly filed with the Office in 2011 were in the following IPC classes: C07 (organic chemistry), E01 - E06 (fixed constructions) and F01 - F04 (machines or engines), 14% of applications from each class.
The largest number of patent applications by non-residents filed directly with the Office, considering the total number of patent applications, was filed by applicants from the countries of the EU (4%).
During 2011, a total of 1005 patents entered into the register, out of which 271 (27%) patents granted via the national route and 734 (73%) European patents with effect in the Republic of Croatia. The total annual number of patents entered into the register is by approximately 60% higher compared to the previous year. The number of patents granted via the national route increased by 28% and the number of European patents by 72%.
Considering the structure of the holders of European patents entered into the register of rights, non-resident legal persons make as much as 95%, while there is not a single resident legal or natural person among the holders.
At the end of 2011, a total of 3219 patents were valid in the Republic of Croatia, out of which 368 consensual patents. Compared to the previous year, the total number of patent rights is higher by approximately 25%.
As per technical field, the majority of the valid patents are in IPC classes C07 (organic chemistry) 28%, A61 (preparations for medical, dental or toilet purposes) 22% and B60-B68 (transportation) 7.5%.
In 2011 the number of requests for declaration of invalidity of a patent remained low in proportion to the number of granted patents (3 requests).
URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide statistics related to patents
http://www.dziv.hr/en/about-sipo/ip-statistics
Monthly official Gazette published on web pages of SIPO Croatia provides statistics:
http://www.dziv.hr/en/the-croatian-intellectual-property-gazette/archives
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, distribution and use of primary and secondary sources of patent information
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Since May 2009 the Office no longer publishes the Gazette on paper but only electronically. Current issue and archive of all issues since May 2009 are available free of charge at the Office's web site. Upon order and against payment Office provides issues of the Gazette on digital carrier.
Official Gazette contains the following published information on patents: Patent Applications, Request for the Grant of a Patent on the Basis of the Implementation of the Substantive Examination Procedure of Patent Applications, Request for the Grant of a Patent on the Basis of the submitted Results of the Substantive Examination Procedure of Patent Applications, Request for the Grant of a Patent without the Substantive Examination of Patent Applications (Consensual Patents), Patents Granted, Consensual Patents Granted, Record of Changes to the Register of Patent Applications, Record of Changes to the respective Register, Lapse for Patents/Consensual Patents, Declaration of Nullity for Patents, Corrections of Data to Published Patent Applications, Requests for the Extension of European Patent Applications, Revoked Requests for Extension of the European Patent Applications, Extended European Patents, Lapse for European Patents, Corrections of Data to Published European Patents.
http://www.dziv.hr/en/e-services/the-croatian-intellectual/
Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of patent information
Office notices are published in the Official Gazette, as well as on the Office’s web site.
In the Official Gazette (HGIV – Hrvatski glasnik intelektualnog vlasništva) SIPO publishes announcements of issued patent documents (bibliographic data and abstracts), and published European patent applications with extended to Croatia (bibliographic data).
The Annual Report of SIPO with statistics is bilingual and available on the Office’s web site.
Mass storage media used (paper, microforms, optical storage, etc.)
The bibliographic data are stored in Ingres 9.3.1 database and patent documents are stored in a LINUX network file directory.
The Office maintains a complete history of its patent files in paper form and all information for patent applied from 2000 to date in electronic form.
Word processing and office automation
All staff use MS-Word 2003 for word-processing that is operating in a Windows XP Professional environment. Each staff member has its own personal workstation at which different software tools (applications) are available. Most common office tools are available to each staff member, whereas specialised software tools are available depending of the type of work and responsibilities.
Outgoing letters and SIPO’s gazette are fully automated and generated in MS Word. It is also possible to generate numerous automated reports in MS Excel or MS Word.
(New) techniques used for the generation of patent information (printing, recording, photocomposing, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), etc.)
The bibliographic data are stored in the SIPO’s database via the application “Patent’s Register” (which is developed in INGRES OpenROAD application development tool). All patent documents and relevant images are stored on network discs in a doc and a pdf format (which are LINUX file directories).
Output documents and SIPO’s gazette are produced from automated MS Word templates.
Most of the outgoing letters (communications with the applicants) are MS Word templates that consist of the standardized text. Data, which are changeable and depend on the application/publication number, are retrieved from the SIPO’s database via ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity).
All data published in SIPO's Gazette are formatted and followed by the INID codes according to the WIPO standards.
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
Current issue of the Office Gazette and archive of all issues since May 2009 are available at:
http://www.dziv.hr/en/e-services/the-croatian-intellectual/
Free of charge searchable data base containing published information on patents applied for or granted is available at:
http://www.dziv.hr/en/e-services/on-line-database-search/patents/
A range of search options is available, including: Publication Number; Title; Publication Date; IPC; Inventor; Applicant; Applicant(State); Title In English; Filing Date; Date And Number Of Earlier Application from the former FPO); Priority Number By State, Application Number And Application Date; International Filing Date; International Application Number; International Publication Date; International Publication Number; Attorney (Representative, Agent); Abstract.
III. Matters concerning abstracting, classifying, reclassifying and indexing of technical information contained in patent documents
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Published patent applications and granted patents are classified by the Office according to the latest version of IPC.
The indexing schemes are not used by the examiners when classifying patent documents
The reclassification has been done regularly following the changes in the IPC. Last reclassification has been carried out according to the latest IPC Validity file (201101).
Coordinate indexing (domestic deep indexing systems, keyword indexing)
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EPO’s Epoque-system is the main source of foreign documentation.
Furthermore, the Office receives certain foreign patent documents on CD and DVD. Official bulletins of foreign offices are mostly available in electronic format and used as such if required.
V. Activities in the field of computerized and other mechanized search systems
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http://www.dziv.hr/en/intellectual-property-protection/patents/the-application-process/ (in English)
http://www.dziv.hr/hr/intelektualno-vlasnistvo/patenti/ (in Croatian)
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
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X. Other relevant matters
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| 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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