Annual Technical Report on Patent Information Activities in 2014 submitted by Industrial Property Office CZ

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

Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of patent information activities and expected time frames for their realization

New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks

Main areas of patent 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 with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes

The number of patent applications filed by domestic applicants in 2014 has decreased by 8% compared to 2013. Domestic applicants in 2014 filed 910 applications for inventions, with the greatest number in the fields of transport and storage, as well as  measurement and optics.

In comparison with the year 2013, there were changes in patent and utility model activities as follows:

Trends or areas experiencing rapid changes with respect to the previous year

As regards the representation of individual segments, most of patent applications concerned transporting, storing (11,21 %);  measuring, optics, photography (9,26 %); organic chemistry (8,85 %); building (6,28 %); etc.

Regarding utility model applications, most of them came from the sectors of building (11,79  %); transporting, storing (11,32  %); measuring, optics, photography (9,44 %); lighting and heating (6,16 %);   health and amusement (6,03 %); electricity (5,16 %) etc.

Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.

Statistics

Since 2000 the Annual Reports and statistics have been available at the Office’s website: http://www.upv.cz/en/publications/annual-report/annual-report.html

The Bulletin: http://www.upv.cz/en/publications/ipo-bulletin.html

The Office website

The helpdesk: helpdesk@upv.cz

List of news and events: http://www.upv.cz/en/ipo/current-news/actual.html

Electronic filing of applications: http://www.upv.cz/en/client-services/on-line-filing.html

Element of proceedings: http://isdv.upv.cz/portal/pls/portal/portlets.rejst.formular?lan=en

Legislation related to all IP rights: http://www.upv.cz/en/legislation.html

 FAQ: http://www.upv.cz/en/information-sources/faq.html

Search service – patent and utility model databases (IPO, EPO, WIPO) (basic search/advanced search): http://www.upv.cz/en/client-services/online-databases/patent-and-utility-model-databases.html

Use of an electronic classification system to check IPC (International Patent Classification): http://www.upv.cz/en/publications/classsification-systems/classification-patents.html

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT 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

IPO CZ carries out patent granting procedure resulting from patent application that can be filed by the inventor or by a person, this right was transferred to by the inventor. Patent applications ordinarily follow a set form which must also include a description of the invention and/or related drawings and so called patent claims. The claims precisely define the subject-matter, for which the protection is requested. Application forms are available in the filing room of the IPO CZ and can also be downloaded from the IPO CZ website. Applications can be filed in person, by post or electronically.

The Office web sites http://www.upv.cz/en.html are the rich source of information.    

Electronic filing of patent applications: http://www.upv.cz/en/client-services/on-line-filing.html

Element of proceedings: http://isdv.upv.cz/portal/pls/portal/portlets.rejst.formular?lan=en

Search service :http://upv.cz/en/client-services/information-services/search-services.html

Fees and payments: http://www.upv.cz/en/client-services/fees.html

Information on business procedure related to patents: http://upv.cz/en/ip-rights/patents.html

Information on Services: http://www.upv.cz/en/client-services/information-services.html

Publications: http://www.upv.cz/en/publications.html

Patent and utility model databases: http://www.upv.cz/en/client-services/online-databases/patent-and-utility-model-databases.html

Patent classification system: http://www.upv.cz/en/publications/classsification-systems/classification-patents.html

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

The content of the file (element of proceedings) is available at: http://isdv.upv.cz/portal/pls/portal/portlets.rejst.formular?lan=en

Classification¹, preclassification² (if applicable), reclassification³ activities; classification systems used (e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC)); matters concerning indexing of patent information

IPC classification, Advanced Level, has been used since January 1, 2006.

All patent documents published since 1970 were reclassified to this edition of IPC classification.

Other classification systems are not used.

Abstracting, reviewing, and translation of the information contained in patent documents

Published patent applications, granted patents, and registered utility models are searchable by date of filing, publication, grant and registration, by priority date, by number of application, patent and registration, by name of inventor, applicant and proprietor and by IPC classification.

Search system in bibliographic data on the web site allows full-text processing.

Other activities

III. SOURCES OF PATENT INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Main types of publications of the Office (patent applications, full text, first pages, abstracts, bibliographic data, granted patents, etc.), medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)

Office notices are published weekly in the electronic Official Bulletin of the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic. Notices are also published at the Office’s website.

Mass storage media used are hard discs, magnetic tapes for backup and paper.

Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.

Lists of patent documents are published in the Official Bulletin of the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic. Starting from 2007 the Bulletin is published weekly in an electronic form only (updated on Wednesdays) and placed at the Office’s website (http://www.upv.cz/en.html). The standard content of the chapters regarding published patent applications, granted patents and registered utility models is:

• published patent applications arranged according to the number of applications and according to IPC symbols including list of applicants;
• granted patents arranged according to the number of patents and according to IPC symbols including list of owners;
•  registered utility models arranged according to the number of registration of utility models and according to the IPC symbols including list of proprietors;
• official decisions, legal status and announcements;
•  corrections and alterations.

No prior registration or subscription to view the Bulletin is needed. The information as published should be the authentic one for legal purposes. As from No. 1/2000, the Official Bulletin has been available on the web site of the IPO CZ as an electronic book in PDF format.

Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external collections and databases

• Internal SyPP2 database – contains all pending as well as decided applications
• Internal database of patent and utility model applications since 1991
• EPO search tool EPOQUEnet – moreover within this tool: external databases BIOSIS, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PUBCHEM, Non-Patent Literature)
• Science Direct database
• Freely accessible databases on Internet:

Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to external users, conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)

National and international patent (paper) documentation (EP, WO, US, DE (including DD), GB, FR, RU, CH)

Paid databases: STN International, DIALOG, QUESTEL and Science Direct

Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)

Internal and public Patent and utility model databases

Other sources

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide access to online publications of patent documents and gazettes, and to other primary and secondary sources of patent information, including patent publication servers and download of bulk patent data

The Official Bulletin:

http://internet.upv.cz/cs/publikace/vestnik-upv.html (Czech version - since 2000)

http://internet.upv.cz/en/publications/ipo-bulletin.html (English version - since 2007)

The public Czech patents and utility models database – basic search: http://isdv.upv.cz/portal/pls/portal/portlets.pts.frm?p_lan=English

The public Czech patents and utility models database – advanced search: http://isdv.upv.cz/portal/pls/portal/portlets.pta.formular?lok=en

IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT 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 PATENT INFORMATION

Patent library: equipment, collection management, network of patent libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign patent libraries

Publications related to different business procedures and patent information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.

Office's initiatives on providing foreign patent information in the local language(s) (e.g., machine translation tools, translation of abstracts)

Cooperation with universities, research centers, 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 PATENT INFORMATION

International exchange and sharing of patent information in machine-readable form, e.g., priority documents, bibliographic data, abstracts, search reports, full text information

Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to patent information

Assistance to developing countries

Other activities

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS

1.Classification is allotting one or more classification symbols (e.g., IPC symbols) to a patent application, either before or during search and examination, which symbols are then published with the patent application.

2. Preclassification is allotting an initial broad classification symbol (e.g., IPC class or subclass, or administrative unit) to a patent application, using human or automated means for internal administrative purposes (e.g., routing an application to the appropriate examiner).  Usually preclassification is applied by the administration of an office.

3. Reclassification is the reconsideration and usually the replacement of one or more previously allotted classification symbols to a patent document, following a revision and the entry into force of a new version of the Classification system (e.g., the IPC).  The new symbols are available on patent databases.