Annual Technical Report 2004 on Trademark Information Activities submitted by United States of America (SCIT/ATR/TM/2004/US)
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.
I. Evolution of registration activities
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The Office collects 100% of all new application data via a scanning and optical character recognition process (for paper filed applications) and in various formats including image and XML (for those applications and correspondences received and transmitted electronically). Images of all new applications and subsequent correspondence are available electronically at the desktop of examiner’s working in the Office or working from home. The contents of the older paper pending paper files are being captured as electronic records.
Word processing and office automation
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The USPTO does not maintain a manual search file for internal use. All searches performed by examiners are completed using an automated search system.
V. Activities in the field of computerized trademark search systems
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As described above, the USPTO continues to support two automated trademark search systems. X-Search for all internal trademark searching requirements and limited access to the public and TESS which is accessed via the Internet at the www.uspto.gov site.
External databases
External resources are used for specific search requirements. Included is Lexus/Nexus and certain CD-ROM based search database such as Computer Select and McCarthy/LawDesk. Additionally, the Internet is available to all Examining Attorneys for reference.
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The USPTO makes the most recent 5 weeks of Trademark Official Gazette available for free through its web site at: http://www.uspto.gov/web/trademarks/tmog/.
Exchange of machine-readable information
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The USPTO offers various programs to provide technical assistance to developing countries and to countries moving to a market economy. Program focus on establishing adequate systems in these countries for the protection of intellectual property rights. They also provide intellectual property enforcement training. With the exception of the Visiting Scholars Program, USPTO programs usually last one week. The goal of its various programs is to provide advice and expertise to these countries with the desired outcome being the reduction of losses resulting from piracy of U.S. intellectual property.
Since 1985, the USPTO Visiting Scholars Program has provided participants from foreign countries with two weeks of classroom and hands-on study of the United States’ system for protecting intellectual property. The majority of those trained include personnel from industrial property offices. The goals of the program are: to foster a better understanding of international intellectual property obligations and norms; to expose participants to at least one method of providing TRIPs-level protection for a variety of intellectual property disciplines, and to promote discussion of intellectual property issues in a friendly and supportive environment.
The USPTO has been working extensively with Chinese authorities to improve the protection of intellectual property, especially with a focus of reducing piracy and counterfeiting activity. In 2004, a USPTO attorney-advisor was appointed intellectual property attaché to the U.S. Embassy in China to work with government officials to improve Chinese intellectual property laws, regulations, and enforcement procedures.
The USPTO organized and conducted a workshop in Bangkok, Thailand for more than 90 judges, prosecutors, and intellectual property officials from ten Southeast Asian countries. The USPTO also organized and conducted a workshop on intellectual property protection and enforcement for intellectual property and trade officials from 14 South Pacific Island nations.
In coordination with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Commercial Law Development Program and the U.S. Embassy in Croatia, the USPTO participated in the “Southeast Europe Intellectual Property Rights Border Enforcement and Regional Customs Cooperation Workshop” in Croatia.
The USPTO assisted the government of Jordan in holding its second annual Intellectual Property Week workshops on intellectual property protection, enforcement, and public awareness. More than 300 participants from Jordan participated.
The USPTO also organized a workshop on the “Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights” in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a seminar on “Fostering Economic Development and Ensuring Public safety through IPR Protection” in Kampala, Uganda. Both programs brought together high-level officials from government agencies, and private sector representatives to discuss the importance of protecting and enforcing Intellectual Property Rights.
More than 200 jurists and legal practioners attended a USPTO conference in Barbados entitled “The Symposium on the Establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice: The Effect on Intellectual Property and international Trade.
IX. Other relevant matters