Annual Technical Report on Industrial Design Information Activities in 2014 submitted by State Intellectual Property of Ukraine
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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
Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of industrial design information activities and expected time frames for their realization
The main documents that determined directions for the development of patent information activities in 2014 are the Concept of the Development of the State System of Intellectual Property Legal Protection for 2009 - 2014, the Program of the Development of the State System of Intellectual Property Legal Protection for 2010 - 2014, the Basic directions of the State Enterprise "Ukrainian industrial property Institute" activities concerning realization of the Concept of the Development of the State System of Intellectual Property Legal Protection for 2009 - 2014, as well as annual plans of activities of the State Intellectual Property Service of Ukraine (hereinafter – SIPS) and the State Enterprise "Ukrainian Industrial Property Institute" (hereinafter – the SE "UIPI"). All these documents contain sections "Patent information support in the sphere of intellectual property and provision of wide public with access to the information related to intellectual property rights acquisition", which, in particular include:
- comprehensive development of the main directions of patent information support in the sphere of intellectual property;
- improvement of information support of the examination of industrial property rights applications in accordance with the worldwide trend of preferable use of information resources in a global Internet network, including access to the commercial databases;
- unification of the patent documentation international exchange procedure which is carried out with the purpose of acquisition of patent collections of the state system of intellectual property legal protection, taking into account the trends of transition of the intellectual property offices in many countries to the submission of patent information on the Internet only;
- implementation of series of actions aimed at ensuring the continued acquisition of patent information resources of Ukraine with the national patent documentation, improvement of this process by means of gradual transition to acquisition by the official publications exclusively on electronic carriers;
- development and realization of series of actions aimed at creating and development of the digital patent library;
- participation in the activities on unification and harmonization of the patent documentation of Ukraine with taking into account the world experience and in accordance with the international standards of the World Intellectual Property Organization and the current legislation of Ukraine;
- implementation of the activities for information safety improvement, including the international standard ISO/IEC 27001:2005 "Information technology – Security techniques – Information security management systems – Requirements" certification of the SE "UIPI".
Besides, the development of the industrial design information activities is stipulated by the Concept of the development of information and technical support of the main activities of the SE "UIPI" for the years 2013 - 2015 and by schedules of the projects on expansion of the Industrial Designs Automated System (IDAS).
The basic trends provided by the Concept and schedules contain:
- expansion of the technological IDAS functional possibilities, creation of additional software and search information databases for the needs of examination;
- implementation of the electronic document flow technology in the IDAS environment.
- introduction of the new version of electronic filing system.
The mentioned documents prescribed the following tasks for 2014:
- modernization of the IDAS:
- development of the e-filing system for provision of industrial design applications filing:
- introduction of the general Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) integrated with, inter alia, the IDAS.
Terms for completion of these tasks are set for 2014-2015 period.
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies(plans) mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
In 2014 in accordance with scheduled tasks the document management system for IPRs transfer agreements and license grants was developed. This system is integrated with the AS "Marks for Goods and Services" and the IDAS and it provides automation of procedures and functions for keeping the State Register of Ukraine of Marks for Goods and Services and the State Register of Patents of Ukraine for Industrial Designs in terms of IPRs transfer agreements and license grants work.
In 2014, the following measures for practical implementation of the project on improvement and expansion of functional possibilities of the IDAS were implemented:
- the IDAS was integrated with the document management system for IPRs transfer agreements and license grants. The Automated Systems Integrated Complex was presented for trial operation;
- for the automatic reports generation for WIPO and for the requests of the state authorities special programming features were implemented within the IDAS environment;
- the IDAS was integrated the EDMS. The integrated complex of systems provides for processing of general and technological e-documents. At the end of 2014 the integrated complex was presented for trial operation.
In April 2014 Information Security Management System was implemented at the SE "UIPI" meeting the requirements of the international standard ISO/IEC 27001:2005. It's accordance with the new edition of the international standard – ISO/IEC 27001:2013 – was provided in September.
The works on the Digital Patent Library (DPL) were continued in the state system of intellectual property rights protection.
A new important step in this direction was the EU-funded TWINNING project "Strengthening the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights inUkraine" which was launched in April 2014.
In May 2014 the first working visit of the European experts – representatives of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office toUkrainetook place as a part of subcomponent of the specified project "Improvement of the Digital Patent Library".
During the visit the EU experts have reviewed the presentations of the SE "UIPI" on the current status of the DPL and its development perspectives, in cooperation with the Ukrainian specialists analyzed the composition of resources and services of the DPL. By the results of the visit, the European experts prepared a description of the DPL, conducted a comparative analysis with the best European analogues and prepared recommendations for improving the existing system.
Another visit of the European experts – representatives of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office to the SE "UIPI" was held in July 2014. During the two working meetings consideration of issues associated with implementation of the TWINNING project subcomponent "Improvement of the Digital Patent Library" was continued, in particular, the issue of identifying ways of further development of the DPL inUkraineas a part of the project. According to the results of the visit in August 2014 the EU experts prepared and provided to the SE "UIPI" report containing proposals and recommendations for the improvement of the DPL, based on the analysis of the comparison with the best samples of the EU.
Recommendations provided by the EU experts for the improvement of the DPL were thoroughly analyzed by the Ukrainian experts and became the basis for the necessary conceptual and strategic decisions, the results of which determined measures that should be implemented during 2015.
The DPL is available on the Internet at http://library.ukrpatent.org. age:EN-US'>integrated with, inter alia, the IDAS.
Main areas of industrial design information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
The main types of industrial design information activities include examination of industrial design applications, formation of search databases for internal use in the examination body, publication of information about registered industrial designs in the official bulletin, creation of the interactive databases and information and reference systems for information servicing of the wide range of users via the Internet. Publication of information on industrial designs is also performed on optical carriers.
Processing of industrial design applications is carried out by means of the IDAS which has full functionality of the text processing and record keeping at all stages, from filing of an application to completing the examination and maintenance of the state register of patents ofUkrainefor industrial designs.
An automated workplace of the Editorial Department is used for formation of the information arrays, which are included to the Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist".
In view of discontinuation of a paper edition of the official bulletin starting from 2015, special software was developed at the end of 2014 for the official bulletin preparation on optical carrier.
Data generation for updating corresponding databases on the Internet is carried out by means of special software of the IDAS. The software modules were implemented in the IDAS to support export of bibliographic data in the XML format in accordance with the WIPO standard ST.86.
In 2014, the following activities were implemented in the direction of the IT-infrastructure development:
- two HP DL380p Gen8 servers put into operation with virtualization technology delivered on them;
- HP 3PAR StoreServ 7200 data storage system with 20 TB storage capacity and HP MSA 2040 data storage system for backup copies with 40 TB storage capacity were put into operation.
In 2014 network control software Intelligent Management Center (IMC) was put into operation. The HP IMC program is used for centralized local networks control. It provides for processing of crashes, network security and productivity control, backup copying and upgrade of network switches settings. The program enables complex control of the IT-infrastructure and system architecture scaling.
There was also commissioned the DPM system (Data Protection Manager), family of Microsoft System Center 2012 R2, for backup and recovery of servers in the event of accidents. It is used for centralized provision of continuous protection and reliable data recovery for all the servers (SQL Server, virtual servers, file servers) and support of desktops and laptops running Windows operating systems.
Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and grants (registrations) with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
Applications filed:
in 2013 – 3 778, in 2014 – 2 664, i.e. 29,5 % less than in the previous year.
Patents granted:
in 2013 – 2 010, in 2014 – 2 464, i.e. 22,6 % increase with respect to the previous year.
Distribution of the registrations on industrial designs in 2014 according to the following classes of the Locarno Classification:
Class 12 "Means of transport or hoisting" 528 (21,4%); Class 9 "Packages and containers for the transport or handling of goods" 330 (13,4%); Class 19 "Stationery and office equipment, artists’ and teaching materials" 281 (11,4%); Class 15 "Machines, not elsewhere specified" 195 (7,9%); Class 23 "Fluid distribution equipment, sanitary, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment, solid fuel" 158 (6,4%); Class 8 "Tools and hardware" 124 (5,0%); Class 32 "Graphic symbols and logos, surface patterns, ornamentation" 102 (4,1% ); Class 14 "Recording, communication or information retrieval equipment" 81 (3,3%); Class 5 Textile piecegoods, artificial and natural sheet material" 78 (3,2%); Class 25 "Building units and construction elements" 73 (3,0%).
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
Annual Reports, statistical information, the Annual Technical Reports of the Office:
http://sips.gov.ua/ua/plans_reports.html
http://sips.gov.ua/en/plans_reports.html
News of the Office on the issues related to the industrial designs:
Information on patent legislation related to the industrial designs
http://sips.gov.ua/ua/normative_acts.html
http://sips.gov.ua/en/normative_acts.html
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
Information for users on different procedures and sources of information on industrial designs, in particular information on legislation in the sphere of industrial designs, services and Office activities related to the information on industrial designs, statistical information etc. is published on the web-portal of SIPS (http://www.sips.gov.ua) and the web-site of the SE "UIPI" (http://www.uipv.org).
Information on patent-information services, including paid services which are provided by of the SE "UIPI" branch "Ukrainian Centre of Innovatics and Patent Information Services" of the SE "UIPI" (hereinafter – the Branch), is published on its web-site (http://www.iii.ua).
Information on the Public Patent Documentation Collection, its composition and quarterly updates is published on the web-portal of SIPS, (http://www.sips.gov.ua) and the web-sites of the SE "UIPI" (http://www.uipv.org) and the Branch (http://www.iii.ua).
Information for applicants on filing applications is available at the web-site of the SE "UIPI" (http://www.uipv.org).
Information and means for filing test electronic applications for industrial designs are posted in special section at the web-page for electronic filing of applications (http://efiling.uipv.org).
Access to on-line publications containing information on industrial designs is provided through the web-portal of SIPS and the web-site of the SE "UIPI":
http://www.sips.gov.ua/ua/info_resurses.html;
http://www.uipv.org/ua/bases.html.
In 2014 external users had an opportunity to take advantage of the software product "Applicant Off-line Module" (put into operation in 2013) which helps applicants by means of automatization of the secondary documents creation process.
It can be downloaded for free from the web-site of the SE "UIPI" (http://base.uipv.org/off-line/).
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
Applications filed on paper are converted into electronic form and loaded into the electronic document archive. Applications submitted through electronic filing system are automatically entered into the electronic archive. Thus, electronic archive contains all application materials filed electronically ("electronic application dossiers").
In 2014 software for electronic filing of applications for industrial designs was developed and tested.
Classification and reclassification activities; classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification
The International Classification of Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), Tenth Edition, translated into Ukrainian was used for classifying industrial designs.
Within the IDAS there operates a software system for checking classification symbols. It includes classification guides and specialized software for checking the allotted classification symbols and performing reclassification.
For information support of the wide range of users the IRS "International Classification of Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification). Tenth Edition" was created and posted on the official web-portal of SIPS and the web-site of the SE "UIPI" access to which is provided free of charge.
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)
Information of the Office on industrial designs is provided in the following publications (printed editions, patent information products on optical carriers, free electronic databases (DB) and information and reference systems (IRS)):
The Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist" (Industrial Property) – printed periodical edition;
The Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist" on DVD with search system;
DB "Electronic Version of the Cumulative Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist" (http://base.uipv.org/searchBul/);
Interactive DB "Industrial Designs Registered in Ukraine" (http://base.uipv.org/searchBUL/search.php?dbname=certpp);
IRS "Industrial Design Applications Prosecution State" (http://base.uipv.org/searchPPStat);
IRS "Information on Patents of Ukraine for Industrial Designs to be Invalid or Expired" (http://base.uipv.org/searchPPRevoke/);
IRS "International Classification of Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification). Tenth Edition" (http://base.uipv.org/locarno10/).
Information concerning industrial designs is published in Book 2 of the Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist" in paper format in the following sections: "Information on the Grant of Patents of Ukraine for Industrial Designs" (contains bibliographic data and images (set of images) of the industrial designs (variants) in black-and-white), in the Indexes to this section and in the section "Notices". Color images of the industrial designs (if any) are published in the appropriate section.
The Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist" was issued both on paper and electronic (DVD) carriers twice a month – 24 issues of the bulletin were issued during 2014. The Annual Index to the paper edition of the Official Bulletin for the previous, 2013, year was also published.
Publications in the electronic information resources:
- DB "Electronic Version of the Cumulative Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist" contains information on industrial designs to the same extent as in printed edition. Moreover, information concerning legal status of patents (as an extra operational element) is provided in the section "Information on the Grant of Patents of Ukraine for Industrial Designs";
- interactive DB "Industrial Designs Registered in Ukraine" includes bibliographic data and images (set of images) of the industrial designs (variants).
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.
In the section "Notices" of the Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist" (printed and electronic publications) with the periodicity of its release announcements in respect of industrial designs (to the extent provided by the respective applicable Law of Ukraine) are published including information on changes in the information entered into the State register of patents of Ukraine for industrial designs, information on issue of patents of Ukraine for industrial designs duplicates, information on modifications due to the correction of errors and other information relating to the registration of patents of Ukraine for industrial designs.
The said information is available on the web-sites at www.sips.gov.ua and www.uipv.org.
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
Information on information resources available to examiners is given in Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file.
industrial designs duplicates, information on modifications due to the correction of errors and other information relating to the registration of patents of Ukraine for industrial designs.
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
For information support of the wide range of public free access to the information concerning industrial designs is provided through the web-portal of SIPS and the web-site of the SE "UIPI" – the List of DBs and IRSs is provided in the section 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).
According to the Registries of free-of-charge distribution approved by SIPS, the Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist" on paper carrier and DVD was sent free of charge to the specified organizations of Ukraine (bodies of national system of scientific and technical information, in particular state and national libraries, as well as to the universities, departments of which are entrusted with the appropriate information functions) with the purpose of constant updating of their patent collections by national patent documentation.
External users can also purchase the Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist" on DVD with a search system and Cumulative Optical DVD "Industrial Designs Registered inUkraine" containing information on all registered industrial designs inUkrainefrom January 1993 to the date of the last publication in the Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist".
Access of the external users to the 9th edition of the International Classification of Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification) translated into Ukrainian was provided through the official web-portal of SIPS and the web-site of the SE "UIPI" where the IRS "International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification). Tenth edition" is placed and access to which is free of charge.
Moreover, external users had the opportunity to purchase the Ukrainian-language edition of the 10th edition of the Locarno Classification on CD-ROM with search system, which was issued by the Branch of the SE "UIPI" in 2014 and can be distributed till 2018 inclusive.
Annual reports of the Office (in Ukrainian and English), Annual Technical Reports of the Office in Ukrainian, quarterly review "Industrial Property in Figures" which includes basic indicators of the activities of SIPS and the SE "UIPI" are also accessible for free on the web-portal of SIPS and web-site of the SE "UIPI".
Information on services, available to external users, is provided in the first part of section 5 Promotion activities aimed to support users in access and efficient use of trademarks information.
Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
Information concerning legal status of the registered patents of Ukraine for industrial designs to the extent prescribed by the applicable law of Ukraine is published in the Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnit" in section "Notices" both on paper and in electronic form (DVD "Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnit" and DB "Electronic Version of the Cumulative Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnit").
In addition, such information is provided in the IRS "Information on Patents of Ukraine for Industrial Designs Deemed to be Invalid or Expired" and (as an extra operational component) in the relevant sections of the DB "Electronic Version of the Cumulative Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnit".
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
The IDAS software is built according to the Client-Server technology. The structure of the IDAS database provides for the processing function of the documents regarding industrial designs, stores all bibliographic data and offers wide range of search options.
The in-house computerized search systems for industrial designs include the IDAS, AS "Input Documents", AS "Accounting of Fees", Central Electronic Documents Archive, AS "Output Documents".
In 2014 the IDAS was integrated with several new in-house automated systems.
General Electronic Document Management System provides a full cycle of passing the document from its formation (or registration in case of receipt by mail) till execution;
Global Catalogue of Correspondents is designed for maintenance of the SE "UIPI" numerators (for generating the registration numbers of documents), records of persons - correspondents and different classifiers of general use. Procedures for maintenance documents classifier and other classifier were implemented;
AS for document management of IPRs transfer agreements and license grants.
Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
The network infrastructure consists of the WatchGuard XTM-520 device which contains the VPN and Firewall modules for connection with the Internet and the internal router (designed on the Unix server) to support the internal network. Having two firewalls enhance overall security.
The Cisco and HP equipment is used as network switches.
The internal network is divided into ten virtual networks (Vlan).
The network uses the following technical means:
- HP (DL380G5, DL380G7, DL380Gen8), Intel (SE7520JR2, SE7501WV2) and Supermicro (6025B-8) servers;
- HP (3Par StoreServ 7200, P2000, MSA2324fc, MSA1000), IBM (ProFibre Storage Array) and Infortrend (EonStor A16F-G2430, EonStor S12F-R1420, EonStor S16F-R1430) information storage;
- equipment for the network (SAN Qlogic SANbox 5600, HP SAN Switch 8/24);
- equipment for the LAN HP (Procurve 2910aI-24G, Procurve 2510-48, Procurve 2530-48).
Operating systems and software:
- on physical servers – operating systems Windows Server 2012R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Unix;
- virtualized servers on VMware ESXi and Hyper-V (Microsoft);
- DBMS – MS SQL 2008R2, MS SQL 2005.
Domain structure of the Active Directory (AD) which allows central managing of all Enterprise's information resources, including users, computers, files, peripherals, and access to the services, network resources, web-sites, databases etc. was designed.
Multiple domain controllers are used for organization of the domain structure fault tolerance.
The WSUS server provides updating of the servers and client computers operational systems.
The anti-virus server "Kaspersky Anti-Virus" provides control of all anti-viruses on the users computers, updating of the anti-virus databases, report generation on updating databases and existing threats.
The System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) by Microsoft is used for backup data reproduction and provides continuous data protection for a reliable renewal of the Windows servers operation. The plan of all servers and after-failure upgrading services was adjusted.
Measures for the IT infrastructure improvement were aimed at building a fault-tolerant core of the computer network, increase of its capacity, security and manageability, replacement of obsolete hardware infrastructure components, consolidation and virtualization of servers. Virtualization servers are combined into clusters providing high availability of all systems.
Measures were introduced to ensure compliance of the IT infrastructure with requirements of the complex information security system. Security feature is enabled at the network switch ports, making it impossible to connect unauthorized devices to the corporate network. Changes are introduced to the passwords policies that meet safety requirements. Two-factor user authentication system was implemented and is based on hardware-software device for generation and verification of digital signatures. To manage network equipment, information storages and SAN switches a secure HTTPS protocol and the SSH application layer network protocol were introduced.
In general, the corporate network consists of 600 PCs, 30 servers and other equipment.
Connection to the Internet for search and view of information was implemented for information systems users.
Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
The IDAS Database.
Database of International Registrations of Industrial Designs. Information is downloaded to the database from WIPO web-site ftp://ftpird.wipo.int/wipo/hague/.
Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
The Search portal consists of the arrays of applications entered into the technological IDAS database, database of international registrations of industrial designs and reference and search tool to it.
Input flow of documents (on paper carriers) is processed by the system of current scanning and recognition of the texts of documents on the basis of the ABBYY Recognition Server 3.0 software product. Digitized documents of applications are accumulated in the "e-dossier of applications" and stored in the database of the CEDA.
The IDAS database is completed and updated by the IDAS users in the process of carrying out examination of applications and maintenance of the State Register.
Information for the database of international registrations of industrial designs is loaded from the WIPO web-site (ftp://ftpird.wipo.int/wipo/hague/) in the batch mode once a day and stored in the specified database.
Documents of other Offices are not included to the Search Portal of industrial designs.
Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
Administrative support is provided by regular means of managing DBCS MS SQL Server 2005.
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
In order to satisfy public needs for patent information inUkrainethe Public Patent Documentation Collection (PPDC) functions within the structure of the Branch. The PPDC is the most comprehensive patent library inUkraineavailable to the public (intellectual property office library).
International cooperation with WIPO, the EPO and patent documentation international exchange with foreign patent offices has been the main source of foreign patent documentation, in particular concerning industrial designs, over extended periods. Such international cooperation allowed accumulating a considerable amount of current and retrospective foreign patent documentation, in particular official bulletins of 46 countries and organizations, first of all on optical carriers which contain information on industrial designs.
During 2014 the PPDC was updated by national and foreign patent documentation, primarily on optical discs. As of 31.12.2014 the PPDC numbered about 20.6 thousand copies of official bulletins that have sufficiently deep retrospective.
In the PPDC the users had access to information on industrial designs published in the Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist" (on paper carrier and DVD) and official bulletins of foreign offices and WIPO.
Proper storage of the PPDC documents meeting specified requirements and guaranteeing their safety was ensured during 2014.
In particular, visual control of unauthorized persons access to the PPDC premises was carried out constantly which made their access to the documents repositories impossible and the documents were provided to the users solely in the reading room. Modern technologies for ensuring protection of library collections from theft and damage (video surveillance) were also used. The fire safety (fire alarm, alert, fire fighting) was assured; checking of the fire and protection alarm, alarm systems in emergency situations is carried out every year; proper ventilation and air conditioning is ensured.
The PPDC is located in the premises of the Branch in the three specially adapted and equipped areas (two depositaries with a total area of 81 sq. m. and a reading room of 40 sq. m.). The PPDC is equipped with 12 up-to-date computers with appropriate licensed software, as well as scanners, printers and xerographic copying machines.
All necessary consultations and services were provided by the Branch, including on the basis of the PPDC, both free of charge and on paid basis.
Consultations concerning better ways to carry out information search regarding industrial designs were provided on free of charge basis. Free access was provided to use official bulletins, which contain information on industrial designs, including interactive databases on the Internet.
The PPDC also provided the following services in 2014:
- free access to the PPDC materials for users to work in the reading room was provided;
- consultations on the correctness of the application materials composition (364 in total, 25 for industrial designs);
- comparative analysis of 10 IPRs.
Information concerning the contents of the PPDC and its quarterly updating was published in the "Information resources" section on the web-portal of SIPS (http://www.sips.gov.ua), web-sites of the SE "UIPI" (http://www.uipv.org) and the Branch (http://www.iii.ua). The List of paid services and charges are also available at the web-site of the Branch.
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.
During the reporting year, with the purpose of updating patent collections of certain bodies of national system of scientific and technical information, in particular the state and national libraries and universities, departments of which are entrusted with the appropriate information functions, the Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist" on paper carrier and DVD was sent free of charge to the specified and some other organizations of Ukraine.
Education and training: training courses, e learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
SIPS pays great attention to the skills upgrading of experts involved in the state IP protection system.
As a part of experience exchange, training and skills upgrading, officials of the state IP rights protection system took part in a few events arranged by international organizations, governments and foreign IP offices.
In 2014, within the TWINNING Project, SIPS hosted working meetings with European experts, as well as training sessions and courses for SIPS and UIPI experts, patent attorneys, officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the Office of General Prosecutor of Ukraine, customs authorities of Ukraine, judges of the economic and administrative courts, and local courts of general jurisdiction, attorneys, Internet providers and other professionals involved in IP.
As part of the subcomponent "Professional Development of UIPI examiners", European experts, along with Ukrainian colleagues, prepared a program in the form of a paper, which was distributed among examiners and will allow them choosing those training modules they are interested in. In October, the first of five training sessions was held; entitled "Let Train a Tutor", it was aimed at training mentor examiners who would elaborate training programs for introductory courses and act as tutors. The event welcomed examiners of the department of examination of applications for inventions, utility models and topographies of integrated circuits, and department of examination of applications for marks and industrial designs. In November and December, the weekly workshops for examiners, who prosecute applications for trademarks, and industrial designs, took place.
In 2014, SIPS received 29 requests for certification from patent attorney candidates. Certification Commission decided to allow 27 candidates to pass qualification tests and certification. The Certification Commission certified 21 persons as patent attorneys. As of January 1, 2015, there were 445 registered patent attorneys, who render IP services in 41 cities and 24 regions ofUkraine.
In 2014, SIPS held international research-to-practice conferences, workshops, webinars, social activities, topical lectures, round-table meetings, etc.
On September 9-11, 2014, Kyiv hosted the XXII International Research-to-Practice Conference "Topical Issues of Intellectual Property", organized by SIPS, UIPI and WIPO. This year organizers extended the range of issues under discussion at the Conference, namely, besides standard matters of legal protection of copyright and related rights, and examination of industrial property rights, the issues of IP rights enforcement on the Internet and IP litigation were addressed considerably. Thus, a workshop on IP rights enforcement on the Internet, arranged under the auspices of WIPO, became an effective forum for discussion of problematic and topical issues for judges, lawyers, officials of prosecution and customs authorities. Topics for other sections of the Conference were sorted out in view of the European integration path ofUkraine, which allowed not only to discuss the matters raised in the light of signing of the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement, but to draft respective guidelines for government agencies and national business section as well. Therefore, participants of the Conference took an active part in all sessions, in particular on Acquisition and Protection of Industrial Property Rights Under the Adaptation of National Regulatory and Legal Framework to the EU Standards, on Problematic Issues Relating to the "Private Copy" Fee in Ukraine, and on the Methods of Improvement of Judicial System as Part of Harmonization of Legislation of Ukraine with the EU Law.
In October, the Kyiv University of Law of the National Academy of Sciences ofUkraine, under the auspices of WIPO, hosted the International Research-to-Practice Conference "Current Challenges and Pressing Issues of IP inUkraineandEurope". Program of the Conference covered the issues of state control in IP and innovation activities, control over contractual relations in IP, management of innovation projects and IP system of companies, legal protection of individualization means. The event was attended by the officials of the IP rights protection system ofUkraine.
In 2014, state IP inspectors of SIPS conducted a few outreach campaigns in various regions of the country and took part in thematic meetings on IP organized by other organizations and institutions.
In the reporting year, UIPI hosted a few seminars for applicants: "Specifics of Examination of Applications for Marks and Industrial Designs"; on consideration of objections by the Appeals Chamber of SIPS); and "Information and Analytical IP Support for Companies".
Other activities
An important aspect of SIPS activity as to the training of IP experts is the International Summer School on Intellectual Property under the auspices of WIPO, SIPS and theNationalUniversity"OdesaLawAcademy". In the reporting year, from July 21, 2014 to July 27, the 6th International Summer School was held only for the Ukrainian students and young professionals at the premises of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Summer School stirred great interest in the Ukrainian youth showing clearly the rise of awareness of IP significance for the progress of the country and economic advancement in the oncoming generation.
Detailed information on other activities of SIPS, the SE "UIPI" and the Branch in 2014 is contained in the 2014 Annual Report, section 6.2. Research-to-Practice Conferences, Workshops and Outreach Campaigns and section 6.3. Creativity Encouragement (http://sips.gov.ua/i_upload/file/zvit2014eng-WEB.pdf).
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)
The functions of patent documentation international exchange are performed by the SE "UIPI", recognized in 2003 by the law as the Centre of international exchange of publications according to the Convention on International Exchange of Publications, adopted on December 3, 1958 by the UN General Conference on the matters of education, science and culture.
In the framework of international exchange, the Official Bulletin "Promyslova Vlasnist" on DVD containing information concerning industrial designs was sent to 16 foreign patent offices and organizations.
The SE "UIPI" received official bulletins concerning industrial designs from 7 foreign patent offices.
In 2014 the SE "UIPI" also stopped documentation exchange on material carriers with Rospatent and mutual documentation exchange via FTP-servers of the Offices was started.
Documents of other Offices are not included to the Search Portal of industrial designs.
Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to industrial design information
In 2014 in the framework of international cooperation the specialists of the SE "UIPI" took part in the work of the Committee on WIPO Standards.
Assistance to developing countries
Other activities
VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS
One of the priority objectives of SIPS is to ensure effective functioning of the quality management system of the examination procedure for industrial property rights applications introduced in 2012 (International Certificate № 321012076 of 17.10.2012).
According to the results of the supervisory audit of the quality management system carried out by the Dekra Certification Company in 2013 the examination body confirmed that the implemented quality management system complies with the requirements of the ISO 9001:2008.