Annual Technical Report on Patent Information Activities in 2019 submitted by MINISTRY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMY, TRADE AND AGRICULTURE OF UKRAINE
...
*
*According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of September 2, 2019 № 829 "Some Issues of Optimizing the System of Central Executive Bodies", in order to optimize the system of central executive bodies and in accordance with paragraphs 9 and 9-1 of Article 116 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine was renamed as the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine.
I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PATENT INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
...
Development of the OCAS software packages was completed at the end of 2019.
2. Creation of the specialized information system to provide access to the relevant data related to pendency of applications and maintenance of the state registers of IP rights titles of protection .
The Special Information System of Ukrpatent (SIS) ensures Internet access to information on any IP right in the close-to-real-time mode. The system search search tool which has a general purpose search interface provides open and authorized access (with the use of a qualified electronic signature) to any document of the electronic dossier of an IP right. The SIS has two search engines – a simple and an advanced one. There is a simplified search form for the simple search. The advanced search has additional range of search tools which allows restricting the search by the type of IP right and by legal status. According to the selected type and legal status, it is possible to select any search parameter for the search.
Development of the SIS software packages was completed in 2019.
3. The project on creation of the automated system for the Systemic Means of Creation and Use of the Information Registers of the Ukrpatent information system objects (SMCUIR).
The set of functions for maintainance maintenance and use of the classifiers and registers have been implemented within the framework of the development of this project, which provide provides unambiguous classification and record of objects in the Ukrpatent information system environment, creation of services for the use and identification of the Ukrpatent information system objects, creation of tools for the Ukrpatent organizational structure management, providing access to the system-wide classifications of any Ukrpatent information system components.
...
- increase of the convenience of use and simplication simplification of information perceiving (new search tools);
...
Works on the GDMAS improvement and refinement were completed in 2019.
2. Creation of the Specialized Information and Retrieval System (SIRS) to ensure unified access of Ukrpatent examiners to certain internal and external information sources.
The integration of the electronic patent documents (collections) sources into the information repository to ensure highly efficient patent information searches by Ukrpatent examiners during examination of applications for inventions and/or utility models was performed as a part of creation of the SIRS. The SIRS repository is made with due consideration of searches in large data sets, the volume of which reaches tens of millions of documents.
...
The structure of file repositories should be optimized for fast file retrieval.
3. Reengineering of the storage, retrieval and data processing.
As a part of the project, the following tasks were performed:
...
The main types of patent information activities in the field of inventions (utility models) include information support of examination of applications for inventions (utility models), including creation of search databases for internal use in the examination body, publication of official information about applications and granted patents in the bulletin, operation support of the existing interactive databases and information and reference systems and creation of new ones for information servicing of a wide range of users via the Internet. Information on inventions (utility models) is also published on optical carriers.
...
In 2019, measures were taken to update computer and telecommunications equipment, software as well as hardware and software security. In particular, LAN switches were put into operation in 2019. The switches are designed to replace the core of the Ukrpatent local network to increase its capacity and bandwidth to 40 Gb, as well as to improve fault tolerance and high availability of network equipment.
...
For easy uploading of data on industrial property rights in JSON format and further formation of own databases, the SIS API based on the HTTP protocol has also been created. The SIS API is available at https://sis.ukrpatent.org/api/v1/open-data/.
...
Electronic applications is performed through the Electronic Applications Filing System (EAFS). The applicant's personal account was implemented in the system providing access to all documents generated in the process of interaction between the examination body and applicants during processing of patent applications.
...
Electronic documents are signed with a qualified electronic signature. Information on how to get an electronic digital signature (qualified electronic signature) is available on the Ukrpatent website in the "Receiving Electronic Trust Services" section at:
...
All application materials (both primary and secondary) for inventions and utility models, irrespective of the way they are filed to Ukrpatent (through the electronic filing system, on paper carriers, by email, fax or other telecommunication networks), automatically and after scanning paper carriers are entered and stored in the electronic archive of documents. In order to use application materials during the processing of applications, the integration of technological automated systems with the electronic document archive has been implemented.
...
Within the Inventions AS the software system for checking classification symbols is operative. It includes classification guides and specialized software for checking the allotted classification symbols and reclassifying.
...
The Bulletin "Industrial Property" was issued twice a month – 24 issues of the bulletin were issued during 2019. The Annual Index to the bulletin for the previous, 2018, year was also published.
...
- DB "Electronic Version of the Cumulative Official Bulletin "Industrial Property" – information concerning inventions and utility models is published in the same scope as in printed edition. Moreover, information concerning legal status of patents (as an extra operational element) is provided in the sections "Information on the Grant of Patents of Ukraine for Inventions", "Information on the Grant of Patents of Ukraine for Utility Models";
...
The PIB contains the national and foreign patent collections, primarily of international and regional intellectual property organizations (WIPO, the EPO and the EAPO), patent documents issued by the leading Offices falling within the PCT Minimum Documentation. The documentation available in the electronic search collection has sufficiently deep retrospective and is constantly updated by current acquisitions of foreign patent documentation.
...
Over the course of 2019, the Examination Reference and Information Collection was stocked with encyclopedias, reference books (including on electronic carriers), legal and instructional and methodological literature, periodicals as well as the national patent documentation – current publications of the Bulletin "Industrial Property" on CD-ROM and the National CD-ROM "Inventions in Ukraine". The formation of electronic reference and search tool and a full-text non-patent literature DB of the Search Portal was provided.
...
- collections (including electronic) of 96 largest national and specialized libraries of Ukraine;
...
- collections of foreign countries' libraries (in the electronic delivery of documents);
...
- free national and foreign Internet resources, in particular, electronic digital libraries.
In 2019, as in the previous years, the activities on providing access for Ukrpatent examiners to the defined foreign commercial information resources which contain the PCT Minimum Documentation and the use of which is a prerequisite of quality patent search were given particular emphasis in the context of Ukrpatent’s functioning as ISA/IPEA. The significance and relevance of this task will remain in place, as in October 2017 the Agreement was signed between the Ministry and the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization in relation to the functioning of the State Enterprise "Ukrainian Intellectual Property Institute" as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, entering into force on January 1, 2018, and remaining in force until December 31, 2027.
In order to provide effective and high-quality search in the course of patent applications examination, 11 foreign commercial information Internet resources were used in 2019 as a search collection which, under respective agreements, provided access to the PCT Minimum Documentation (patent documentation and non-patent literature). These include the following databases: the EPO EPOQUE Net system; STN Files, Features and Services; REAXYS database; Derwent World Patent Index database; ScienceDirect ArticleChoice service; Access to Research for Development and Innovation (ARDI) program by WIPO; products of the American Chemical Society (ACS); IEEE Xplore digital library; electronic products of Wiley Online Library, Reaxys Medicinal Chemistry database, EMBASE database.
...
Information on registered patents for inventions and utility models is available in the form of open data on the integrated state web portal of open datasets (https://data.gov.ua/)..
Annual Reports of the Office, Annual Technical Reports of the Office on Patent Information Activities which Ukrpatent prepares for WIPO, the quarterly statistical review "Industrial Property in Figures. Performance Indicators in the Sphere of Industrial Property" (the Internet publication "Industrial Property in Figures") are also accessible for free on the Ukrpatent website.
...
The Bulletin "Industrial Property" on CD-ROM and the National CD-ROM "Inventions in Ukraine" were distributed for free in the framework of updating patent collections of a certain organizations of Ukraine by the national patent documentation according to the Registries of free-of-charge distribution approved in due order.
...
The specific software tool that ensured the main type types of activity related to the patent information is the Inventions AS.
The Inventions AS ensures automation of the processes for record-keeping of the applications for inventions, utility models and topographies of integrated circuits, as well as for the registration and maintenance of the validity of these titles of protection.
...
- the separate Checkpoint SandBlast Appliance TE100X device. Threat Emulation, which further prevents infection of networks from unknown sources, protects against the zero-day vulnerability and targeted attacks;
...
The server infrastructure is completely virtualized. The Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2016 and VMware ESXi operating system is used on physical servers which allow to create and operate the productive virtual servers. The servers of virtualization are grouped into Hyper-V clusters which allow to organize high availability of the productive servers with the Microsoft Windows Server 2019, Microsoft Windows Server 2016, Microsoft Windows Server 2012R2, Microsoft Windows Server 2012, Microsoft Windows Server 2008R2 and CentOS 7 operating systems.
...
The Veeam company software product – Veeam Backup & Replication, which ensures continuous protection for reliable recovery of virtual and physical servers, is used for data backup. The plan of upgrading all servers and services after a failure was adjusted.
...
The activities on the IT infrastructure development, carried out over the reporting period, were aimed at building the fail-safe core of the computer network, increasing its bandwidth, security and manageability, replacing the obsolete components of a hardware part of infrastructure, consolidation and virtualization of the servers. The servers of virtualization are integrated into clusters, which ensure high availability of all systems.
...
- the Inventions AS technological database which ensures performing the procedures of the examination record-keeping and maintenance of the State Register of Patents for Inventions and Utility Models. The database contains the whole range of information on applications and patents for inventions (utility models) from the moment of founding the Patent Office of Ukraine (1993). The data are updated on an ongoing basis in line with the process of filing new applications, carrying out record-keeping on the procedures of application examination and keeping patents in force;
...
Some of these databases have external connections with remote information sources. For example, the technological database has an indirect connection with the International Bureau of WIPO via PCT-EDI system.
...
The electronic search collection is located on the internal information resource called the Search Portal. This resource was created to enable access and search patent documentation and non-patent information sources in the process of patent application examination. The data at the Portal are updated regularly once current patent documentation updates are made available by foreign patent offices on optical carriers or uploaded from corresponding ftp-servers.
In 2019, in the framework of international exchange of patent documentation, Ukrpatent continued to receive optical discs with patent documents from foreign patent offices (6 countries) and data sets via FTP servers (from 4 countries). Loading of data from 218 optical carriers to the active information storage and its accessibility for search through the Search Portal was provided.
...
Thus, to maintain the registers and legal status of titles of protection for all IP rights, a multifunction subsystem is operative within the automated systems. The information from this system is forwarded to relevant databases for publication and for drawing statistic reports.
...
In order to satisfy public needs for patent information in Ukraine, which is necessary for study and analysis in the process of creation, legal protection and use of IP rights, the Public Patent Documentation Collection (PPDC) functions within the structure of the Department of Patent Information Services, Consultations and Innovation Activity Promotion. The PPDC is the most comprehensive patent library in Ukraine available to the public (intellectual property office library).
International exchange with foreign patent offices has long been the main source of foreign patent documentation. Such international cooperation allowed accumulating in the state system of intellectual property rights protection a considerable amount of current and retrospective foreign patent documentation, in particular official bulletins of many countries. The PPDC also contains methodological, reference and informational and periodical materials.
Current updating of the PPDC by national and foreign patent documentation on optical discs continued during 2019. In 2019 the PPDC was updated by nearly 340 optical discs with current national and foreign patent documentation. As of December 31, 2019, the PPDC collection of optical discs constitutes nearly 34,270 items.
Free access to the PPDC materials for users to work in the reading room was provided. The work of the customers with the collections of patent documentation available in the PPDC on optical carriers in foreign languages was carried out jointly with the consultants of the Department of Patent Information Services, Consultations and Innovation Activity Promotion of Ukrpatent.
...
The PPDC is located on the premises of the Department of Patent Information Services, Consultations and Innovation Activity Promotion of Ukrpatent in the three specially adapted and equipped areas (two depositaries with the total area of 81 sq. m. and a reading room of 40 sq. m.). The PPDC is equipped with 10 up-to-date computers with appropriate licensed software, as well as scanners, printers and xerographic copying machinesmachines.
To enable users to make online access to the electronic patent-information resources, such as the Digital Patent Library, the Internet access based on Wi-Fi technology was provided in addition to the traditional Internet access for users’ convenience.
Consultations were provided free-of-charge concerning optimal ways to carry out information search, qualified drawing up of retrieval schedule, search on CD-ROMs and in the free databases of patent documentation via the Internet and consultations on the most common issues: concerning the detection of the subject matter of invention or utility model in the materials presented by the applicant, acquisition of IP rights, detection and discontinuation of unlawful use of IP rights.
A total of 300 consultations were provided concerning verification of correctness of drawing up of application materials, including 60 for patents for inventions/utility models.
Consultations on the most common issues were provided on a day-to-day basis:
- concerning the procedure for obtaining legal protection for an invention/utility model (over 20 consultations of this type per day);
...
In particular, the following information searches were carried out during the year 2019: 7,062 title searches were made by all IP rights types on the requests of arbitration managers and liquidators of bankrupt enterprises, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, including 154 paid searches; 14 title searches by all IP rights types ordered under the contracts; over 60 information searches regarding inventions and nearly 600 searches regarding utility models to conduct a preliminary evaluation of compliance of the declared object with conditions of legal protection; 15 searches within the specialized database "Inventions (Utility Models) in Ukraine" in sections A and C; 13 thematic (information) searches regarding inventions (utility models). In addition, upon the request of users 11 recommendations were given on drawing up application materials for inventions (utility models).
...
Periodicals, e.g. scientific and practical magazine "Intellectual Property in Ukraine", which is distributed as paper and electronic edition over the territory of Ukraine by subscription, publish articles (including by the specialists of the state system of intellectual property legal protection) on various matters and in particular relating to legal protection of inventions (utility models). The printed edition of the magazine is accessible free of charge at the PPDC of the Department of Patent Information Services, Consultations and Innovation Activity Promotion of Ukrpatent.
The list of articles, speeches, slide presentations, methodical recommendations and practical manuals on topical issues of intellectual property, prepared by specialists of Ukrpatent for the period from 2004 to 2019, is available on the website of Ukrpatent. A certain part of the documents is available in electronic form.
...
The users of the resource placed their best practices and ideas on the pages of the Factory of Ideas free of charge. In 2019 the Factory of Ideas had about 208 projects.
Innovation Promotion section functions on the Internet Exchange website and the Factory of Ideas resource. Information on existing contests, grants, conferences is published at this section to stimulate the growth of inventive activities and provide more opportunities to promising scientists for receiving financing and for developing business opportunities.
...
In 2019, in the framework of international exchange of patent documentation, Ukrpatent received current foreign patent documentation on optical carriers from 6 foreign offices. It should be noted, that the decrease tendency retained in the number of disks with foreign patent documents received by Ukrpatent, which is connected with discontinuation by foreign patent offices of the traditional ways of publishing patent documents on physical carriers and providing access to it through the Internet and extension the data exchange, mainly through the offices FTP-servers.
Thus, in 2019 Ukrpatent downloaded patent documentation of four patent offices (the EAPO, Austria, Great Britain, Rospatent) from the FTP-servers to the Search Portal..
In 2019, in the framework of international exchange, Ukrpatent also:
- sent the Bulletin "Industrial Property" on CD-ROM to 6 foreign patent offices, the National CD-ROM "Inventions in Ukraine" – to 3 offices.
...
One of the priority objectives of the examination body is to ensure effective functioning of the Quality Management System (QMS) of the examination procedure for industrial property rights applications introduced in 2012 at Ukrpatent. Certificate No. 321012076/2 concerning the Ukrpatent QMS compliance with the requirements of the ISO 9001:2015 international standard is valid till September 14, 2021.
In August 2019, the independent certification organization carried out the inspection (supervisory audit) of the QMS compliance with the requirements of the ISO 9001: 2015 standard at Ukrpatent. According to the results of the inspection, the QMS meets the requirements of the ISO 9001: 2015 standard.
...