Annual Technical Report on Industrial Design Information Activities in 2016 submitted by EE
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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.
The expression "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
In Estonia, the protection of industrial designs can be applied for on the grounds of the Industrial Designs Protection Act that entered into force on 11 January 1998. From 1 May 2004, legal acts of the European Community concerning industrial designs, including the Council Regulation 6/2002/EC of 12 December 2001 on legal protection of the Community Designs, are also valid in Estonia.
Pursuant to the Regulation, all industrial designs disclosed to public in the territory of the European Union automatically have a 3-year protection against copying as well as other existing possibilities for registration.
Estonia acceded to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs on 23 December 2003. Common Regulations of the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the Deposit of Industrial Design entered into force on 1 April 2004. To protect an industrial design via the Hague system, an application in English or French should be filed with the International Bureau of WIPO in Geneva, designating the countries where protection is wanted.
In Estonia, industrial designs are registered by formal registration system. The Estonian Patent Office does not examine the industrial design as to its novelty, individual character, industrial applicability or the right of a person to file the application. The rights of the owner of the registered industrial design may be contested in court.
It was an extraordinarily successful year in the field of industrial designs. In 2016, the Patent Office received 71 industrial design registration applications, which is a considerably larger number compared to the 50 applications in 2015. If we also count the 16 applications created by division, we end up with as many as 87 national applications. By country, the majority of national registrations were filed from Estonia, a large amount also came from Sweden (15%), one application from Finland and one from Ukraine. Estonian applicants filed 110 applications with the EUIPO in 2016. Registrations filed like that will acquire protection in the whole territory of the European Union, including Estonia.
The number of applications for international registration filed under the Hague Agreement also increased almost four times – it was 12 in 2015, but 46 in 2016. Most of the international registration applications were filed from France (40% of subtotal). The most popular international registrations were lighting apparatus and means of transport or hoisting. Most of them concerned cars and their lights.
57 people were given altogether 47 hours of consultations in the Patent Office (25 people in 2015). In addition, many more received advice by phone or e-mail. Presentations on legal protection of industrial designs were also given in the Patent Office, but also for example in Kuressaare.
At the end of 2016, there were 23 national applications and 29 international applications pending. The average processing time of an industrial design without deficiencies – from filing the application to decision – is approximately 3 weeks. On 31 December 2016 there were in total 482 industrial designs in the Estonian register of industrial designs. 891 international registrations of industrial designs had been granted legal protection in Estonia.
It is difficult to assess what caused the significant rise in the number of both national and international industrial design applications. There is certainly an interconnection between the amount of consultations given by the Patent Office and the number of applications. At the same time, it is often beneficial for the applicant, as a business strategy and also economically, to file the application directly with the EUIPO. We are of course content with the number of applications filed with both the Estonian Patent Office and EUIPO. One can only hope that 2017 will bring a continuous increase in the number of applications and the awareness of the applicants.
Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of industrial design information activities and expected time frames for their realization
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies(plans) mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
Main areas of industrial design information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and grants (registrations) with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) - URLs
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
Classification and reclassification activities; classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification
Other activities
III. SOURCES OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE
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)
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
Other sources
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements
Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
Other matters
V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION
Office's library (if deals with industrial design information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
Publications related to different business procedures and industrial design information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
Education and training: training courses, e learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
Other activities
VI.INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION
International exchange of industrial design information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)
Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to industrial design information
Assistance to developing countries
Other activities