Annual Technical Report on Industrial Design Information Activities in 2022 submitted by Canadian Intellectual Property Office

Please provide links to your website where the requested information can be found in English, French, or Spanish.  Alternately, you may provide text responses instead of URLs if desired.  If the information is not available on your website in an ATR language, then please provide text.

URLs in responses should meet the following requirements:

• Link to pages with information in English, Spanish, or French
• The URL will remain stable over time (at least three years, preferably more)
• Goes to the specific information requested, not to a general homepage
• If the URL goes to a long PDF document such as an annual report, please indicate which sections or pages contain relevant information.
•  Provide additional instructions for using the URL if needed. For instance, if the page requires the user to login first, or if the requested information requires selecting certain options or filters on the page that can not be included in the URL. 

    The term "industrial designs" covers industrial designs and models.

Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in this series of Annual Technical Reports.

I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

 Information on the following topics is desired:

1. Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of industrial design information activities and expected time frames for their realization
2. New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies(plans) mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
3. Main areas of industrial design information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
4. Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and grants (registrations) with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
5. Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.

1. Further to the implementation of The Hague Agreement for the International Registration of Industrial Designs focus in 2022 was to further improve procedures and processes used for the registration of International applications.
2. Industrial design information activities for 2022 were to continue to maintain dialogue with our stakeholders in order to benefit from stakeholder feedback on the changes implemented as part of the implementation of the Hague Agreement as well as continuing to improve online services.
3. The practice of meeting with representatives of the IP profession was continued in 2022 within the context of the Industrial Design Office Practice Committee, which consists of representatives of the IP profession and CIPO. The objective of this committee is to strengthen communications between CIPO and its stakeholders in order to identify and discuss issues and improvements to the industrial design office practices and services to clients.
4. The information concerning IT activities for 2022 are located on a release notes page that identifies all changes to the industrial designs online services. http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr04752.html
5. N/A
6. N/A

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

1. Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) - URLs
2. Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
3. Classification and reclassification activities; classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification
4. Other activities

1. Industrial designs guide: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr02300.html

          Industrial design office practices: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr00256.html

          How your industrial design application is processed: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr00255.html

          Filing or amending an application online: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr03953.html

          Roadmap of the application process: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr04357.html

          Industrial designs – Fact sheet: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr04316.html

          Industrial designs – Learn the basics: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr04697.html

          CIPO Calendar of events: https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/crmsri/cipo/events/?lang=eng

      2. Industrial design applications are not currently available electronically. An applicant or its agent may order a copy of the application through CIPO’s website: https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr02468.html

III. SOURCES OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

1. 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)
2. Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.
3. Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
4. Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
5. Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
6. Other sources

1. Industrial design registrations or applications that have been made available to the public are available for consultation on the Canadian Industrial Designs Database. This online database provides bibliographical data relating to the application or registration and a representation of the design.

        https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/id/bscSrch.do?lang=eng&wt_src=cipo-id-main&wt_cxt=toptask

        An industrial design guide is available online to learn what industrial designs are, why they are important for business, and what makes them a key element of a comprehensive intellectual property strategy. The guide allows the reader to find out why they would want to register an          industrial design, and how to apply for registration in Canada and abroad.

        http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr02300.html

        The Industrial Design Office Practice Manual provides information on the Industrial Design Office's operational procedures and examination practices; it is the primary source of information on how to prosecute an application for the registration of an industrial design in Canada.

        http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr00256.html

       2. CIPO does not publish industrial design information via an official gazette. Announcements are made either on CIPO’s website or via email distribution lists:

       http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr02989.html

       3. CIPO examiners have access to CIPO’s internal industrial database, which includes all designs registered in Canada and pending applications. Examiners also have access to “Orbit”, a web-based search tool for industrial design prior art.

       4. Industrial Design News email subscription services.

       Clients can register for our email subscription service to receive news and updates on the latest information regarding industrial design.

       https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr02989.htm

      CIPO’s website makes available information pertaining to industrial designs registered in Canada from 1861 to date from the Canadian Industrial Design Online Database.

      http://www.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/id/bscSrch.do?lang=eng&wt_src=cipo-id-main&wt_cxt=toptask

      Subscription to Industrial Design bulk data is available at the following link.

      http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr01933.html?Open&wt_src=cipo-id-main#industrialdesigns

      Industrial Design Release Notes page

      http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr04752.html

1. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Information on the following topics is desired:

1. Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements
2. Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
3. Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
4. Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
5. Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
6. Other matters

1. The Industrial Design Application (DesignPlus) has a built-in workflow - once the application is scanned/data entered into DesignPlus, the application number is automatically assigned and the processing clerk completes the filing process. Once the filing is confirmed, the application is automatically added to the classification workload queue. Once classified it proceeds to the pre-examination workload queue; then to the search workload queue; then to the examination workload queue; etc.

Once allowed the registration is confirmed and the registration certificates are printed and sent to the applicant or sent to the clients e-mailbox.

The maintenance fee is paid within the first 5 years from the registration date. A 6-month grace period is available with additional fees. Failure to pay maintenance fee within five years will cause the registration to become expired.

For all applications filed through our e-filing application, the information is checked for completeness by the front-end application, following this the transaction is transferred automatically into DesignPlus system.

The Industrial Design office has several online services permitting a variety of online transactions, such an electronic filing, submission of amendments, payment of maintenance of fees, a mailbox, a search database and a general correspondence. Only few transactions are still paper-based, although a new initiative is foreseen to offer the last paper-based transactions via the online services.

  2. SERVER

  IBM AIX

 Operating System AIX

 935 GB HardDisk, 8GB RAM

 Oracle RDMS V 10.2.0.3

 TCP/IP

 Image Converter: Alchemy 1.13

CLIENT WORKSTATION

Pentium based (min 3.2 GHz, 1GB RAM, 80GB disk)

2 SVGA monitors 22” LCD

MS-Windows

MS-Word

Samba NFS (Network File System)

Ascent Capture

Some workstations with Bar-code readers and/or scanners

PRINTERS

Lexmark T644 network printers

NETWORK

TCP/IP

1 GB between server and switches

100 MB between switches an SERVER IBM AIX

Operating System AIX

935 GB HardDisk, 8GB RAM

Oracle RDMS V 10.2.0.3

Microfocus server express 5.0

TCP/IP

Image Converter: Alchemy 1.13

Electronic Forms Generator: JF Central 5.4.1

1. In June 2002 the industrial design processes were automated with the implementation of DesignPlus. Today the system contains bibliographic design data dating back to 1861, including pending and registered designs. DesignPlus is used within the office to manage the overall industrial design process, including classification, search, examination, assignments and maintenance. The system supports such specific office processes as preparing correspondence and updating information.<

In July 2007, an electronic industrial design filing component was added to allow clients to file their applications electronically over the internet. For all client front-ends, the information is checked for completeness, the information is transferred to the Office via the Internet and the information is automatically loaded into DesignPlus.

In 2018, two new online services were implemented by Industrial Designs Branch in regard to issue electronic correspondence to clients. A first application, called E-Access, serves as authenticate the users so that they are able to manage their access and account in the E-Mailbox. This second application is a platform where users pull their electronic outgoing correspondence issued by the office.

In 2019 and 2020 came the introduction of E-Amend where authorised and authenticated users are able to amend previously filed applications electronically

In 2022 we introduced the AI search tool from Clarivate 

CIPO industrial design searchers and examiners use a Web-based search system from Oracle called Orbit to conduct international searches

2. All bibliographic data and images contained in industrial design applications and registrations are maintained on the internal system DesignPlus, in an NFS-based structure. A common repository across CIPO, called IP Document File Management (IPDFM) serves a document management storage. A synchronization between the NFS-structure and IPDFM occurs overnight to ensure that both structures are synchronized at all time. IPDFM is also connected to Enterprise Scan, a scanning solution for all the paper files, including paper correspondences, figurative elements, evidences and other paper documents.

Registered application data and images is available to the public on the Canadian Industrial Design Database via CIPO’s website.

3. DesignPlus is integrated with an EIS (Executive Information System) through a Cognos application. This EIS system provides detailed and comprehensive reports used for tracking and monitoring industrial design processes. Information on the production volumes and turnaround-times can be obtained from the EIS system.

SQL (Toad) is also used to query the database and retrieve ad hoc statistics that are often not programed in Cognos

1. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION

Information on the following topics is desired:

1. Office's library (if deals with industrial design information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
2. Publications related to different business procedures and industrial design information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
3. Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
4. Education and training: training courses, e learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
5. Other activities

The Industrial Design Office Practice Manual provides information on the Industrial Design Office's operational procedures and examination practices; it is the primary source of information on how to prosecute an application for the registration of an industrial design in Canada.

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr00256.html

Other industrial design publications:

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr00026.html#IndustrialDesign

VI.INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION

Information on the following topics is desired:

1. International exchange of industrial design information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)
2. Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to industrial design information
3. Assistance to developing countries
4. Other activities

1. Dissemination of data to clients and other Intellectual Property Offices.
2. WIPO’s Standing Committee on the law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS

Please insert links to specific pages on your website where the above information is posted in English, French, or Spanish.  See other requirements above.  You may also provide text instead of links.