Annual Technical Report 2011 on Trademark Information Activities submitted by Estonia (CWS/ATR/TM/2011/EE)
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I. Evolution of registration activities
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In Estonia it is possible to apply for the protection of trademarks under the Trademark Act that took effect on 1 May 2004 (the first Trademark Act entered into force in 1992). From 1 May 2004 the EU legal acts concerning trademarks are also valid in Estonia.
Since spring 2007 it has been possible to file the trademark applications through the electronic filing portal. The portal enables to fill in and send trademark registration applications to the Estonian Patent Office and to look at the applications filed earlier. Anyone can fill in the form, but only the applicant (or a patent attorney representing him/her) can sign it. Estonian ID-card and its reader are required. Upon request the Office issues a notification about the acceptance of the application. The notification can be saved or printed. 53% of the Estonian applicants used the possibilities of electronic filing in 2011. Other documents relating to the examination can be filed electronically with a digital signature.
There are four possibilities to obtain legal protection for a trademark in Estonia:
• by registering it in the register of trademarks and service marks by filing an application with the Estonian Patent Office;
• by registering it with the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) requesting legal protection in Estonia;
• by making a trademark well known in Estonia;
• by registering it as a Community trademark with the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM).
1,254 trademark registration applications were filed in 2011, which was about 10% less than last year (1,386 applications in 2010). The number of applications filed by Estonian applicants has decreased. If there were 1,067 applications filed in 2010, then in 2011 there were 888, which is about 17% less. International trademark registrations designating Estonia numbered 1,788 (1,746 in 2010). There were 2.5% more international registrations than last year. In total 3,042 trademarks were filed for legal protection (3,132 in 2010). A general falling tendency that began already in 2004 due to Estonia’s accession to the European Union continued in 2011. The fall has not been very drastic, but in total there were still 3% less applications than last year.
At the end of the year (on 5 December 2011) 785,859 Community trademarks were valid in Estonia, including 591 trademarks from Estonia, 28,690 registered national trademarks and 32,726 international trademarks with legal protection extended to Estonia.
The Trademark Department rendered 3,801decisions – 1,441for national applications and 2,360 for international registrations, which is about 9% less than in 2010 (4,196 decisions). Estonian applicants filed 40 international trademark registration applications for forwarding to WIPO (38 in 2010). Among the countries designated for protection, Russia was the first, followed by Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Ukraine. In about 30% of the applications the European Union was designated.
In 2011applications from the EU member states made up 65% of the total of trademarks, including 29% from Estonian applicants. Among the EU member states
Germany was the most interested in gaining legal protection in Estonia. Applications and international registrations from Germany formed 6.6% of the total of applications,
followed by France (4.2%) and Poland (2.4%). Of other states Russia (9.8%), China (5.1%), Switzerland (4.9%), the USA (3.7%) were the most interested.
The most popular goods for which legal protection was applied in 2011 were pharmaceutical preparations (7.5%), followed by foodstuffs (6.1%), electrical and
scientific apparatus (5.2%) as well as cosmetics (4.9%).
The most popular services were advertising, business management and office functions (8.2%), followed by education, training, entertainment, cultural and sports activities (5%), scientific and technological research, design and development of computer hard- and software (3.2%).
For those who are interested, including the Customs Authorities, Police and Commercial Register, the Trademark Database is available on the Internet. This
contains data about registered and pending trademarks, as well as international registrations designating Estonia. The database is updated twice a week.
The examiners of the Trademark Department provide consultations on the issues related to trademarks in the office by phone and e-mail. 92 people were given
consultations of about 49 hours in 2011. Presentations on trademarks were made at the regular trainings in the Office and also in Võru and Tartu in the framework of the entrepreneurship week as well as at a county seminar in Põlva.
Trademark applications are fully examined on both absolute (distinctive character) and relative (prior right) grounds. The average duration of the examination of
trademarks and international registrations is 10–12 months, but in 2011 the examination of national applications took 16 months, because the large number of applications filed in previous years caused a longer examination queue than usual.
Registered trademarks are published in the Estonian Trademark Gazette twice – first, in Part I when the decision on trademark registration has been made, and second, in Part III after the entry of a trademark in the register of trademarks and service marks. International registrations are published for appeal in Part II of the Gazette.
Disputes concerning trademarks are resolved in the Industrial Property Board of Appeal, and in court.
In 2011 48 appeals and oppositions were granted. 31 of the granted oppositions concerned national trademarks and 13 international registrations. 4 oppositions, 3 of them concerning national trademarks and 1 concerning international registrations, were granted.
URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide statistics related to trademarks
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International Classifications (Nice Classification, Vienna Classification) of Goods and Services for the purpose of the registration of marks are used.
Before filing a registration application with the Patent Office, it is possible to submit an enquiry on registered and pending trademarks and to use the database of trademarks via the Internet which also includes international registrations of trademarks designating the Republic of Estonia.
Use of electronic classification systems to check the classification symbols furnished by an applicant and which are contained in the lists of goods and/or services
International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks used in the Estonian Patent Office (in Estonian)
http://www.epa.ee/client/default.asp?wa_id=831&wa_id_key=
Obligation for applicants to use pre-defined terms of the classification applied
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WIPO Standard St. 60 is used for bibliographic data coding.
IV. Trademark manual search file establishment and upkeep
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The information system of processing at the Patent Office consists of six registers (register of trade and service marks, register of patents, register of geographical indications, register of European patents valid in Estonia, register of utility models, register of industrial designs),
for the administration of which application software Common Software, database software Informix and operation system UNIX are used. The information system of processing is connected with the portal of electronic filing of applications for legal protection of industrial property via which the received applications are imported by the interface to the databases and from there the data to be published from the registers are sent to separately located search databases.
To facilitate trademark examination procedure the software ACSEPTO of figurative and verbal searches is in use. It contains the data of Community trademarks and trademarks valid in Estonia, also data of the emblems, official control and warranty signs as well as the names of international intergovernmental organisations under protection in compliance with Article 6ter of Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. In cooperation with the European Patent Organisation there is a direct connection (Patnet2) enabling the examiners to use the databases of EPO in their work.
VI. Administration of trademark information products and services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, registering trademarks, assisting clients with search procedures, obtaining official publications and registry extracts)
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2011 was the sixth year of operation for the Small-sized Enterprise Support Division. The main goal of the Division is to arrange events for entrepreneurs and the public in order to rise the awareness about the legal protection of intellectual property as well as to ensure that the Estonian Patent Office attends events (lectures, presentations etc.) introducing intellectual property arranged by other institutions.
The year brought along several changes. There was much work as well as success. Many activities undertaken in the previous years continued.
In 2011 the seminars held in the classroom of the Patent Office played an essential role. Namely the Division arranged 7 seminars in the classroom (2 seminars on the legal protection of inventions, 2 on registration of trademarks, 1 on protection of industrial designs and 2 on protection of both the trademarks and industrial designs). Demand for such seminars is very high.
In 2011 the Small-sized Enterprise Support Division of the Patent Office did cooperation with the development centres of the counties. This cooperation is of important to support the regional development of Estonia and the main aim is to raise the awareness about industrial property in the whole republic. This year the Division arranged an info day on intellectual property in Põlva. Besides the lecturers of the Patent Office also a patent attorney gave a presentation on the services provided by the patent agencies and Põlvamaa Development Centre shared its experience in registration of a trademark.
In addition, cooperation with other institutions is still important for the Small-sized Enterprise Support Division. So the examiners of the Patent Office gave presentations on inventions and trademarks for the second year student of economy at Pärnu College. The total number of students, who attended the lectures, was 73.
From 3-9 October 2011 an Entrepreneurship Week took place all over Estonia. Its aim was to raise the awareness of the society on entrepreneurship and to increase the knowledge of the entrepreneurs. In the framework of the Entrepreneurship Week a seminar "Which Benefits Does the Legal Protection of Intellectual Property Provide?" was arranged by the Patent Office in cooperation with the Entrepreneurship Department of Tartu City Government in Tartu on 5 October. Besides the presentations made by lecturers from the Patent Office experience on protection of inventions was shared by a local entrepreneur from Leidi Consult Ltd.. By the was the Patent Office was invited to the seminar at Võrumaa Entrepreneurship Week on 5 October, where our examiners disseminated their knowledge on protection of inventions and registration of trademarks. Cooperation with Tallinn City Enterprise continued successfully as well. On 5-6 October there was a subsequent Tallinn Entrepreneurship Day, where the Patent Office participated. On both days the Patent Office was there with an info desk providing consultations, information and publications on intellectual property. The Patent Office arranged also a seminar "Industrial Property and Entrepreneurship Culture" in the framework of Tallinn Entrepreneurship Day.
Traditionally the Small-sized Enterprise Support Division arranged two big seminars for SME-s in Tallinn: in April a seminar "Intellectual Property in SME-s" celebrating the World Intellectual Property Day and in October a seminar "Possibilities of Legal Protection of Industrial Property in the European Union".
Training courses for national and foreign participants
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X. Other relevant matters