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Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of industrial design information activities and expected time frames for their realization
The outline of main policies and plans of design information activities have officially been announced in the following plans.
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New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies(plans) mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
Concerning the above a)(i), the JPO started Foreign Patent Information Service (FOPISER) which enables users to retrieve overseas industrial design information obtained by data exchange with foreign IP offices in Japanese by means of machine translation in August 2015. For details, see 3.(4) a-3).
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Main areas of industrial design information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
Toward the realization of “the world’s utmost quality service to provide patent information,” in order to discuss how the measures for disseminating and utilizing patent information should be, the subcommittee on dissemination and utilization of patent information consisting of patent information experts was appointed under the Intellectual Property Committee under Industrial Structure Council, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in July 2015. The result of the study was summarized as a report, “Toward further utilization of patent information” in May, 2016.
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Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and grants (registrations) with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
In 2015, the number of applications was 29,903 (up 0.6% compared to the previous year) and the number of registrations was 26,297 (down 3.7% compared to the previous year).
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Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
(Annual Report in Japanese) http://www.jpo.go.jp/shiryou/toukei/gyosenenji/index.html
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Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) - URLs
a) Paper based application
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Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
a) On-line reference
The software for electronic application allows users to request or refer to application documents and registers from computers from their home or office, and to make a request for issuing certifications on-line.
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Classification and reclassification activities; classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification
In January 2005, the JPO started using the revised Japanese Design Classification in order to cope with the new conception of articles etc. such as the information and communication devices. The revised Japanese Design Classification mainly uses the concept of the usage in the same way as the former Japanese Design Classification, which is comprised of a 3-stage classification; group, main class, and minor class, and consists of about 3,200 classification branches in total.
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The JPO has prepared an English version of the revised Japanese Design Classification in 2005, which has been posted on the JPO website since October 2006.
Other activities
Nothing in particular
III. SOURCES OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE
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Main types of publications in the field of industrial design information, outline of the content (industrial design applications, design patents, registrations, etc.) and medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)
The JPO publishes the following design documents in 2015:
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Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.
Nothing in particular
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
The external database is not used.
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Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
a) Providing IP rights information via the Internet
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Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
Legal status information of applications filed in January 1990 onwards can be searched on the Japan Platform for Patent Information (J-PlatPat) by using document numbers such as application numbers, publication numbers and registration numbers. In addition, applications filed in 1989 and before can be searched if any data (e.g. publication of Gazettes, registration for establishment of rights, requests for trials/appeals) was renewed in April 1998 onwards.
Other sources
Nothing in particular
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
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Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements
In January 2000, a paperless system for design was launched and the administrative and examination procedures were completely moved to a system based on electronic data. Therefore, a total system, covering every procedure from design application filing, formality check and substantive examination, dispatching, registration, publishing the gazette, requesting inspection of files, to requesting certification, was realized. The effect of this system is far reaching, such as more efficient drafting based on the close link between the administrative system and the design search system, more efficient examination by implementation of electronic approval, faster design gazette publication and the separate management of each application.
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Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
Please refer to “Annual Technical Report on Patent Information Activities.”
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Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
a) Design search system
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Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
(1) File building
The JPO has stored in search files the following: designs presented in magazines published in Japan and abroad, in catalogs, on home pages on the internet and elsewhere; image data (including color image data) and bibliographic data (including the Japanese Design Classification and D-term) of foreign design gazettes. These are used as the base data for the JPO’s design examination.
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Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
Refer to 4.(1).
Other matters
Nothing in particular
V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION
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Office's library (if deals with industrial design information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
a) Operation of the JPO Library, collection and management of materials
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Publications related to different business procedures and industrial design information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
a. Japan Platform for Patent Information (J-PlatPat)
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Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
Nothing in particular
Education and training: training courses, e learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
a) J-PlatPat training seminars
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This seminar is intended for those who have sufficient knowledge in the Design Act while aiming at cultivating human resources capable of effectively protecting product designs by industrial design rights, and properly capturing scopes of rights after acquisition of rights by further improving the ability to conduct a design search and a prior design search (once a year).
Other activities
Nothing in particular
VI.INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION
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International exchange of industrial design information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)
a) Sending Official Gazette on CD-ROM to overseas
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Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to industrial design information
The JPO started providing the Design Gazette which carried information about registered design of Japan on a worldwide design information database, “Global Design Database” owned by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on August 1, 2015.
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Assistance to developing countries
a) Activities/cooperation through voluntary contributions (Funds-in-Trust) for WIPO
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Nothing in particular
Other activities
Nothing in particular
VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS
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- The expression “industrial designs” covers industrial designs and models.
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