Annual Technical Report on Patent Information Activities in 2014 submitted by Hungarian Intellectual Property Office
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
The official activities of HIPO were characterized by user-friendly administration with respect to all titles of protection. The yearly performance was determined by meeting the legislative and high quality requirements, the reduction of the pendency time in the granting procedure as well as the efforts to process the on-going caseload.
Patent granting procedures (1339) and validation procedures (3342) were completed in a total of 4681 cases. Out of these, 3718 cases ended in grant of protection (out of this 376 decisions on granting national patents and 3342 decisions on validation of European patents). Almost a third (28%) of the national procedures completed in 2014 ended in grant of protection.
At the end of 2014, the number of pending patent cases filed following the national route was 2151 (out of this 1392 were national and 759 PCT cases) and there were 1468 pending validations of European patents, which primarily meant administrative workload for the Office. It is an important step forward that the number of pending national patent cases could be decreased by one-fourth (24%) compared to 2013. The accelerated processing of international patent cases (PCT) entering the national phase, which started two years ago, continued in 2014. As a result, the number of pending PCT cases could be diminished by a further 38% to 759.
In line with the strategic objectives of the Jedlik Plan, the average pendency time of the patent granting procedure substantially decreased. The gross pendency time of completed applications filed following the national route reduced by as much as one-third, from 44 months to 30.2 months; the net pendency time (in the office) reduced by 42%, from 40 months to 23.1 months. HIPO made efforts to meet the deadlines of publication, the average pendency time was 18.9 months. The average pendency time of applications for validation of European patents also diminished, from 5.7 months to 5.2 months.
HIPO also performed English language searches and examinations in the frameworks of the cooperation agreements with the Austrian Patent Office and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. In performing the tasks deriving from its international cooperation obligations, HIPO was aided by the colleagues of HIPAvilon Industrial Property Agency, who have several decades of experience. The performance of international services, separated from the national official granting procedure, results in surplus income, which contributes to maintaining operability, to fulfilling the payment obligation for the benefit of the central budget and to becoming an international searching and preliminary examining authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
By virtue of the amendment of the Innovation Act in 2012, HIPO has also had competence for the qualification of R&D activities since 1 February 2012. This task means, on the one hand, preliminary qualification, which can be initiated optionally and on a voluntary basis by enterprises, and, on the other hand, giving expert opinions on professional questions affecting the qualification of certain activites as R&D upon the requests received from the National Tax and Customs Administration (NTCA), other authorities and courts as well as third parties.
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
EUROPEAN PATENT WITH UNITARY EFFECT
The reform of the European patent system goes on two connected fields: it means on the one hand the establishment of the UPC, on the other hand the creation of a new European patent with unitary effect. The execution of the regulations of the “patent package”, adopted at the end of 2012, and the tasks preceding the entry into force of the agreement for establishing the UPC, concluded at the beginning of 2013, continued in 2014.
The Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (UPC Agreement), which is one of the pillars of the European patent reform, was signed by 25 EU member states in February 2013. The UPC Agreement has established a common international judicial institution taking over certain tasks of the national courts of the participating EU member states in order to settle legal disputes related to both European patents with unitary effect and “traditional” European patents. The Court is made up of a court of first instance comprising of local (or regional) divisions and central divisions to be set up in Paris, Munich and London, and the appellation forum in Luxembourg, and will have exclusive competence over cases related to infringement and validity of European patents.
In October 2014 the ministries of justice of Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia agreed in principle on establishing a common regional division in Budapest, operating under the system of the UPC.
Upon the request of HIPO, PricewaterhouseCoopers Hungary Ltd. prepared a study entitled Summary impact study on the impacts of the European unitary patent system o Hungary, which presents the impacts expected from the implementation of the new legal institutions in Hungary, by using modern and well-grounded methods of impact assessment.
Following the conclusion of the UPC Agreement the member states established a Preparatory Committee in order to deal with the most urgent preparatory tasks. The Preparatory Committee responsible for the preparation of the operation of the UPC put the draft Rules of Procedure to public consultation. The Select Committee of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg) continued the negotiations on implementing rules concerning the European patents with unitary effect, to be applied by the European Patent Office (EPO). As a result, the implementing rules were principally approved by the Select Committee, except for Rule 25 on financial matters. Negotiations on the renewal fees will continue.
In the course of establishing the UPC one of the most urgent tasks is to organise the training of future judges of the court, with special attention to the training of judges coming from member states which have small amount of patent cases. One of the results related to Hungary of the negotiations on the European patent reform is that the Training Centre for the judges of the UPC is located in Budapest. The Training Centre operates as an office coordinating the education and training of judges and candidate-judges of the UPC.
An international conference – organised jointly by the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, the EPO and the HIPO – was held in Budapest on the occasion of the inauguration of the Training Centre of the UPC in Budapest. The conference was opened by Tibor Navracsics, Minister of Public Administration and Justice. Keynote speeches were delivered by Zoltán Cséfalvay, Minister of State for Economic Strategy, by Benoît Battistelli, President of the European Patent Office (EPO), by António Campinos, President of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and by Olivér Várhelyi Human Resources and Training Group Co-ordinator of the Preparatory Committee. Presentations were also held by the heads of institutions performing education on intellectual property.
HIPO gave significant professional support to the establishment and organisation of the training centre for judges in Budapest. The training of future UPC judges started upon the ceremonial opening held on 23 February 2015. During the one-week high level training the first group of 19 candidate-judges received knowledge from the experts of the EPO and well-known European patent lawyers. The second training module will be held between 20 and 24 April 2015. In the selection procedure those candidates enjoyed priority, who had sent their applications from contracting states with smaller capacity.
Main areas of patent information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
PATENT COOPERATION OF THE VISEGRAD COUNTRIES
The initiative for the establishment of a regional PCT authority to be set up by the Visegrad countries, the Visegrad Patent Institute (VPI) with a seat in Budapest, was a task of high importance in 2014. The initiative of the four Visegrad countries was confirmed – based on the authorisation by the Prime Ministers – in October 2013 when the presidents of the IP offices concerned concluded a declaration of intent for the establishment of the VPI.
The principal aim of the establishment of the VPI is to offer for the inventors and enterprises of the participating and certain neighbouring countries the use of the system of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), managed by WIPO and extending to 148 countries and to join the global paten system under more advantageous conditions. It is expected that the VPI will encourage and stimulate innovation and creativity, in addition it will facilitate the economic growth and will improve competitiveness in Central and Eastern Europe. It will also be possible that the patent applicants of the participating countries can file international patent applications in their mother language, and their questions arising during the process can be answered in their mother language. The search and examination reports of the VPI related to patentability (due to the available fee discounts) will be more cost effective.
The VPI has been created as an intergovernmental organisation and will apply at appropriate professional fora for the appointment as an international searching and preliminary examining authority.
In 2014 the Visegrad countries finalised the text of the Agreement on the Visegrad Patent Institute, moreover they made progress concerning the content of the application to be submitted to WIPO for appointment as a PCT authority. HIPO represented the interests of the four IP offices of the Visegrad countries at the 2014 June meeting of the PCT Working Group of WIPO, and prepared the text of the application. The issue of the VPI was included in the topics and was supported at the Summit of Prime Ministers of the Visegrad countries and the Head of State of Switzerland held in Bratislava on 9 December 2014.
As a result of intensive international negotiations, on 26 February 2015 in Bratislava, the presidents of the industrial property offices of the Visegrad countries concluded an international agreement, which established the Visegrad Patent Institute with a seat in Budapest. On behalf of Hungary Miklós Bendzsel, President of the HIPO, signed the agreement.
GLOBAL PATENT PROSECUTION HIGHWAY
HIPO joined the project Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) on 6 January 2014. The participating offices accept each other’s positive opinions on patentability, so patent applications with the same priority date, filed at different offices can be granted at each office in an accelerated procedure. The aim of the international cooperation is to ensure the direct information exchange among patent offices and to speed up the patent granting procedure. Patent applicants may request the accelerated procedure at any of the participating offices if the claims of the patent description was found patentable at any of the 19 offices.
Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and grants with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
In the framework of international treaties an industrial property application may be filed with effect to almost any country in the world. The number of PCT applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) keeps on increasing year by year as an effect of globalisation. In 2014 the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) registered 213 thousand such applications, which means a 4% compared to the previous year. A small proportion of them results a protection also extending to the territory of Hungary in the later phase of the procedure. In 2014 Hungarian applicants initiated 158 procedures under the PCT[1].
European patents may be obtained on the basis of the European Patent Convention (EPC) valid for the 38 contracting states. An application may be initiated both at the European Patent Office (EPO) and at the HIPO. Out of nearly 56 thousand European patents granted per year patents designating HU the number of requests for validation in Hungary was 3323 in 2014, which is similar to the data in 2013[2].
The patent activity of Hungarian applicants abroad shows low intensity; they filed 158 international (PCT) and 190 European patent applications in 2014. The number of Community trade mark applications filed by Hungarian enterprises increased by 13% compared to the previous year, it exceeded 530. The number of international trade mark applications (under the Madrid system) also grew (282), similarly to Community design applications (175)[3].
[1] Source of the data of WIPO: http://ipstats.wipo.int/ipstatv2/searchForm
[2] Source of the data of EPO: http://www.epo.org/about-us/annual-reports-statistics/annual-report/2014.html
[3] Source of the data on international (under the Madrid system) trade mark applications: http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/statistics/annual_stats.jsp?type=EN&name=3
The Hungarian applicants have the possibility to file their applications initiated under international or regional cooperation through the HIPO. In 2014 they filed 129 PCT applications (at the same time European patent applications), 11 European patent applications, 25 Community and 276 international trade mark applications this way.
Main figures of the activities of Hungarian applicants abroad (2010-2014)
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
PCT applications | 172 | 142 | 162 | 163 | 158 |
European patent applications | 192 | 168 | 188 | 196 | 190 |
The number of protections valid in Hungary, which should be taken into account by Hungarian organisations in their research and development and economic activities, increased almost in every title of protection. Due to the increase of the number of European patents valid in Hungary, the number of valid patents grew above 20 thousand. A significant increase can be observed in respect of every title of Community industrial property protections.
PATENT ACTIVITY
The number of international patent (PCT) applications was more than 213 thousand in 2014, which may result requests for extension to the territory of Hungary in a later phase of the procedure, when entering the national phase. The number of actual national requests deriving from earlier PCT designations was 31 in 2014. Since Hungary’s accession to the European Patent Convention in 2003 foreign patent applicants have submitted their increasing requests for validating their European patents in Hungary rather by choosing the European route. The number of these requests was around 3000 (3323), similarly to the previous years. This sudden stop of the continuous increase observed in the previous years may be explained by the waiting attitude of the applicants due to the introduction of the European patent with unitary effect expected in 2016.
Main figures of patent cases aimed at Hungary and filed following the national route – from Hungary and directly from abroad – under international cooperations (2010-2014)
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | ||
Cases filed under international cooperation |
| ||||||
PCT designations | 164 341 | 182 437 | 195 334 | 205 270 | 213 568 | ||
Granted European patents designating HU | 32 803 | 40 372 | 47 485 | 53 486 | 56 021 | ||
Filing of the translation of the text of European patent (validation) | 2 635 | 3 218 | 3 342 | 3 485 | 3 323 | ||
Filing of the translation of European claims | 8 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
Cases filed following the national route |
| ||||||
Domestic applications | 646 | 660 | 689 | 641 | 546 | ||
Foreign applications filed following the national route | 44 | 33 | 54 | 60 | 42 | ||
Requests for actual national procedure deriving from earlier PCT designations | 11 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 31 | ||
Total number of applications filed following the national route | 701 | 698 | 748 | 708 | 619 | ||
Hungarian patent filing activity abroad (2010-2014)
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
PCT applications originating from Hungary | 172 | 142 | 162 | 163 | 158 |
Of them: by using receiving office services of HIPO | 150 | 131 | 146 | 138 | 129 |
European applications originating from Hungary | 192 | 168 | 188 | 196 | 190 |
Of them: by using receiving office services of HIPO | 89 | 25 | 16 | 15 | 11 |
The number of patent applications filed following the national route was 619 in 2014, which means a 12% decrease compared to the previous year. The application activity of domestic customers touched the lowest point; it declined by 15% compared to 2013. This was caused by, besides the well-known low IP awareness, especially the failure in announcing the R&D tenders and the tenders to support IP protection. Although, the number of PCT applications that entered into the national phase was rather low, their number increased again (from 7 to 31). 66% of the applications filed following the national route belonged to individuals, 34% of them to institutions. It is an unfavourable phenomenon that the number of domestic patent applications filed by institutions diminished by a further 9% compared to the previous year; it was only 185, which is unacceptably low.
Breakdown of applicants filing applications for the validation of European patents in Hungary by countries of origin (2014)
Sweden, Belgium, Austria, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, France, Switzerland, United States of America, Germany
Most of the right holders filing applications for the validation of their European patents in Hungary had their place of business in Germany (22.5%) and in the USA (21.6%).
At the end of 2014 the number of patents valid in Hungary exceeded twenty thousand/20 000 for the first time since 1991. The number of valid patents increased by almost 7% in 2014, which is due to a more than 13% growth in the number of valid European patents. The amount of patents granted following the national route was 4695, that of the valid European patents was 15 731. The number of valid European patents has increased by 2.5 times in the past six years, which is more than three times larger than the number of valid patents granted following the national route. The ratio of Hungarian right holders – with 943 patents – is 4.6%.
Number of patents valid in Hungary (2010-2014)
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
Valid patents granted following the national route | 5 688 | 5 227 | 4 769 | 5 237 | 4 695 |
Valid European patents | 8 165 | 10 163 | 11 930 | 13 893 | 15 731 |
Valid patents in total | 13 853 | 15 390 | 16 699 | 19 130 | 20 426 |
Regarding the technical fields, at the end of 2014 – similarly to the previous year – the pharmaceutical patents were in the lead; both with respect to patents granted following the national route, and the validated European patents this technical field headed the list: 15% of all valid patents in Hungary concentrated on this field. This was followed by other machinery with a 4.6% ratio and chemistry (without pharmaceuticals) with 3.5%.
PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION
In 2014 the HIPO received 30 new applications for plant variety protection. At the end of last year 97 such protections were valid. Last year the Community Plant Variety Office received 3626 Community applications for plant variety protection, which is more by 10% than in the previous year. At the end of last year more than 22 thousand Community protections were valid.
SUPPLEMENTARY PROTECTION CERTIFICATE
A Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) extends the term of patents of medicinal or plant protection products. In 2014 the HIPO received 60 new applications for SPC. At the end of the year 145 such protections were valid. Out of this, in 78 cases the SPC, while in 67 cases still the basis patent was valid. 30% of the SPCs valid at the end of the year were granted in 2014.
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/mivel-fordulhatok-a-hivatalhoz/tajekoztatas/kiadvanyok/a-hivatal-eves-jelentesei (See Annex of Annual Report)
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
e-Filing: https://ugyintezes.sztnh.gov.hu/eBej2/step1
Forms and fees: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/en/patent/international-application/forms-and-fees
How can I protect my intellectual property?: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/hogyan-vedjem-a-szellemi-tulajdonomat/hogyan-vedjem-a-talalmanyomat
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
http://epub.hpo.hu/e-nyilvantartas/?lang=HU
Classification1, preclassification2 (if applicable), reclassification3 activities; classification systems used (e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC)); matters concerning indexing of patent information
The Adavanced level of IPC is used.
Development of the CPC classification system completed in 2014. The Office has introduced CPC classification system from 1 January 2015. CPC has been replaced ECLA.
Abstracting, reviewing, and translation of the information contained in patent documents
Patent abstracts of Hungarian patent applications (that have no family members) are translated into English.
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)
The IP-search is an electronic searchable database, available also on the website of the HIPO. All industrial property rights are accessible in this database. Full text of published patent applications and granted patent documents are also accessible in the IP-search in searchable format. http://epub.hpo.hu/e-kutatas/?lang=HU
Searchable granted HU patents are accessible in electronic format from 1896.
Searchable published patent applications are accessible in electronic format from 1992.
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.
Gazette of Patents and Trademarks has been published electronically, and accessible on the website of the Office free of charge, in searchable pdf-format, published twice a month. http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/kiadv/szkv/201509a-pdf.html
Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external collections and databases
The Unified Administrative System of the Office covers the bibliographic and image data, the documents and the official letters belonging to the different intellectual property rights (with the additional data that are not accessible for the public). The public electronic-databases GAZETTE, IP-SEARCH, E-REGISTER, E-DOSSIER are also used by the Examiners. The IP-SEARCH database has an internal version covering public and non-public data.
E-SEARCH for internal use covering the public and non-public data.
E-SEARCH for the public: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vedjegy/hogyan-kutassunk-az-adatbazisokban/e-kutatas
IPC classification system: http://classifications.mszh.hu/ipc/
Patent Databases: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/szabadalmi-adatbazisok
Searches are performed mainly in the EPOQUENET system. Examiners regularly use EP-REG, Espacenet and other web-based patent databases. Commercial databases are also used in special technical fields, such as Thomson Reuters, STN and Elsevier both for patent and non-patent information.
Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to external users, conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
E-SEARCH for the public: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vedjegy/hogyan-kutassunk-az-adatbazisokban/e-kutatas
IPC classification system: http://classifications.mszh.hu/ipc/
Patent Databases: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/szabadalmi-adatbazisok
Web-based patent databases, eg.: Espacenet, etc.
Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
Lagal status information (not certified) can be accessed in E-dossier: http://epub.hpo.hu/e-nyilvantartas/?lang=HU
Certified statements on the validity of protection can be available on payment of a fee.
Other sources
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
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
The IT system provided the necessary background for the Office’s official and service activity, and supported its tasks related to e-governance. The system supports 135 different services or service families altogether. Out of these 69 service families provide direct support for the performance of the Office’s official and central tasks, and an additional 66 services support the operational, service management, information security and ISO certification objectives of the previously mentioned functions.
In order to ensure a higher level of information security, in 2014 the Office prepared once again a risk assessment analysis of its electronic information systems and adopted a plan to reduce the risks. It classified its systems into security categories in accordance with the relevant legal provisions, and took the necessary steps in order to increase the level of security in the Office.
The IT activity of the Office is made easier by the fact that two of the three certifications of the Office belong to the IT field: the ISO/IEC 27001:2005 Information Security Management and the ISO/IEC 20000-1:2013 IT Services Management Systems.
The aim of the SZEMAFOR (‘Modular Data Base and Process Management System for IP Protection’) programme is to replace the crucial IT business management system of the Office with a new electronic system. The SZEMAFOR project was started in 2012 and financed partly from EU funds, but it was stopped by the Office for objective scheduling reasons; in June 2014 it was re-started under the name of SZEMAFOR programme within a new framework and exclusively with internal financing. So far all the official business processes of HIPO have been electronically mapped and the possible introduction of electronic payment is being considered. The digitalization of official documents continued as well: approximately 27,000 documents were digitalized in 2014.
Customer satisfaction is enhanced by the fact that submissions can also be filed outside the normal registry time, since the Office set up a round-the clock client terminal. This terminal quickly became popular among clients, and in 2014 more than 773 submissions were received by the Office through this channel.
Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
Unix Tru64 server
Linux server
Netware server
MS Windows server
VMware ESX
Oracle VM/RAC
ASA VPN
ZORP
Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
The Unified Administrative System of the Office comprise the bibliographic and image data, the documents and the official letters that belong to the different intellectual property rights.
The public electronic-databases GAZETTE, IP-SEARCH, E-REGISTER, E-DOSSIER are also used by the Examiners. The IP-SEARCH database has an internal version covering the public and non-public data.
Searches are performed in the EPOQUENET system covering both patent and non-patent information. Other commercial databases, eg.: STN, MEDLINE, ELSEVIER, etc. are also used.
Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
The Unified Administrative System of the Office is used for file building, which covers all industrial property titles of protection. It is a real-time update system and has a daily backup storage. The system covers also data of validated EPO patents.
Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
The Unified Administrative System of the Office is used for file building, which covers all industrial property titles of protection. It has a real-time update system and has a daily backup storage.
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
Accessible databases:
HUNTÉKA Onlene Catalog: http://hunteka.asp.hunteka.hu/hipo/index.jsp;jsessionid=0C33EADC538177502CCB010CBBB3EF80?lang=en
E-SEARCH: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vedjegy/hogyan-kutassunk-az-adatbazisokban/e-kutatas
IPC classification system: http://classifications.mszh.hu/ipc/
Patent Databases: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/szabadalmi-adatbazisok
The customer service of HIPO received a record amount¸ 25 514, of enquiries. The total number of enquiries exceeded the figure of the previous year by 14%. A large part of the requests for information was received by phone: 10 600 enquiries, which is a 15% increase. Both the number of enquiries in person (more than 5600) and by fax or letter (461) decreased by 14%, while the number of enquiries by e-mail (1527) is at the same level of the previous year. The number of enquiries for public data on industrial property also grew: in 5059 cases the enquiry needed information from databases, which is the double of such enquiries received in the previous year. The customers enquiring about public data had the opportunity, as part of information provision, to better learn the use of databases and to learn how to use them individually.
Most of the enquiries (5910) requested information on trade marks, similarly to the previous years. Other important fields are patents and general information: in 2014 HIPO received 2351 and 1970 such enquiries.
The customer service received 98 enquiries from other authorities, nearly three-quarters of them were submitted by the National Tax and Customs Administration and concerned trade marks (60).
HIPAvilon also takes part in the customer service functions of HIPO by maintaining the relations with customers in order to gain new applicants and customers.
The services against payment of HIPAvilon for patent and trade mark search, as well as its services for IP audit and IP valuation are of great help. In 2014 HIPAvilon received 85 such orders.
THE WEBSITE OF HIPO
In 2014 the website of HIPO was visited 824 917 times by 518 420 individually identified users and they downloaded more than 11 million pages, which is more by 53% than in the previous year. (The growing interest in the activity of the Hungarian Design Council also contributed to this increase.) The development of a new portal based on responsive technology was started in 2014 in order to reach customers who are less informed in IP-related matters and to make the website available in mobile tools.
The Gazette of Patents and Trademarks was in the centre of interest of users in 2014 as well: 3 058 530 pages were downloaded, which is more by 16% than in the previous year.
The website raising IP awareness prepared for the general public (www.szellemitulajdon.hu) had 103 028 visitors.
Publications related to different business procedures and patent information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
HIPAVILON NONPROFIT LTD.
The Hungarian Intellectual Property Non-profit Agency Ltd. (hereinafter ‘HIPAvilon’ or ‘Agency’) efficiently assists the Office in the high-quality performance of its many-fold tasks. The property management rights of this state-owned Agency are exercised exclusively by HIPO.
The task of HIPAvilon is the development of IP-based innovation management in the process of publicly financed innovation and modernization. It was founded in 2012 with the aim that it should professionally support the Office to more effectively perform its public tasks, to participate in the provision of domestic and international services, and last but not least – within its non-profit and entrepreneurial activity – to provide market-oriented, IP-based innovation management services to enterprises to promote the proper assessment, protection and use in the market of the IP assets in their possession.
The Government created a normative framework for optimal capacity management by enabling contractual cooperation between the Office and HIPAvilon Non-profit Ltd. on the basis of authorization in an Act of Parliament and of appointment by the relevant Government Decree. The cooperation developed with HIPAvilon Non-profit Ltd. makes it possible for HIPO to perform all of its non-official core tasks at a high quality, to the full and in a timely manner.
The Agency effectively supports the Office, among other things, in the smooth and continuous performance for the public interest of its awareness raising, educational, promotional, administrative and editorial tasks.
With the operation of the extended and further developed range of services of HIPO and with decades of experience among the staff of HIPAvilon, the Agency, alone in Hungary, provides IP based services of considerable added value to all phases of the innovation cycle. In 2014 the Agency registered 763 client contacts and performed 85 service orders. Within the framework of its service activity performed on the basis of international cooperation, nearly a thousand cases could be closed and almost two thousand reports were made.
The services portfolio of HIPAvilon facilitates the identification of innovative solutions and of innovative potential. It is able to provide indispensable help in the development of a strong publicly financed or entrepreneurial portfolio and in the building of domestic and international IP protection strategy. It offers guidance as well as business alternatives for the ‘pricing’ of protected products or technologies.
In addition to its existing services of patent, trade mark and IP assets assessment, the Agency further extended its range of services, and in 2014 introduced a service to help searching for technology partners, furthering the increase of the business activity of innovative enterprises by using publicly accessible industrial property data bases to offer potential partners for cooperation to interested parties in areas of purchase or sale of technology, of technological cooperation or of investment.
IP PANORAMA Multimedia information package for small and medium-sized enterprises for extension of their intellectual property knowledge:
http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/szabadalom/ip-panorama
Start-up Guide: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vallalkozoknak/hogyan-kezdjek-hozza/start-up-guide
AIDA Light: Assessment and Improvement integrateD Approach: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vallalkozoknak/hogyan-kezdjek-hozza/aida
Partner Search: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vallalkozoknak/partnerkereso
Tenders: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vallalkozoknak/palyazatok
IP Valuation Forum: http://ipvaluation.hipo.gov.hu/
Information nationwide: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vallalkozoknak/informacio-orszagszerte
Our partners
Other intellectual property sites
etc, see: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/hogyan-vedjem-a-szellemi-tulajdonomat/hogyan-vedjem-a-megjelolesemet
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.
Cooperation with higher education
Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Eötvös Loránd University, University of Miskolc, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, University of West Hungary, Óbuda University, University of Pécs, Széchenyi István University, Szent István University, University of Applied Sciences, Budapest, College of Nyíregyháza.
As separate subject, lectures on intellectual property were held in 11 institutions of higher education. Knowledge on intellectual property was taught at 7 universities, connected to subjects including knowledge on business/technology/law/social and/or natural science.
Improving awareness of enterprises
The enlargement of knowledge on industrial property and copyright, the improvement of awareness on intellectual property of enterprises – especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) – are objectives of high importance. In case of these parties it is essential that they can have personal consultation not only at the headquarters in Budapest but they also can find information points or events close to them, in their regions, where they can receive information. In this spirit, the relations with partners continued to enlarge in 2014. HIPO cooperated with 16 chambers of commerce and industry in counties and towns, 6 PATLIB centres, 7 regional innovation agencies and 2 professional organisations (HITA, SEED) in programs related to awareness raising.
In the framework of the VIVACE program improving the knowledge on industrial property of enterprises HIPO participated in the preparation, organisation and accomplishment of 18 events on awareness raising in and outside Budapest. The program was financed mainly by the projects of OHIM and EPO and from the sources of IPorta project supported by the European Commission.
Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
The courses on industrial property and the education on intellectual property in institutions of higher education are important fora of education and awareness raising in Hungary. They significantly contributed to the improvement of the culture of industrial property, to the education of future IP experts and to awareness raising. HIPAvilon Ltd. also took active part with providing technical support.
The numbers of classes of IP education and of the participants have been increasing since 2012. In 2014 the number of classes was 907, the number of participants was 1991. These figures are more by 23% and by 31% respectively than in the previous year.
10 persons participated in the basic level industrial property course, 56 persons finished the intermediate level industrial property course and passed the final exams, moreover, 49 participants of the advanced level industrial property course passed the exams successfully. Besides the employees of HIPO, the representatives of law and patent attorney offices, institutions of higher education, pharmaceutical companies and other enterprises participated in the trainings. The courses on demand were mainly attended by employees of the National Tax and Customs Administration, researchers of the institutions of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and representatives of creative industries.
The education of intellectual property in the form of e-learning was available at Budapest University of Technology and Economics, University of Debrecen, Károly Róbert University College and College of Szolnok.
39 students from 12 universities and colleges applied to the – renewed – Ujvári János Award for diploma works announced for graduating students of higher education. 13 of them were awarded for their high level work.
The comprehensive education project attached to the curricula framework for the students of the primary and secondary schools and their teachers was continued. As a result, the first package of lesson plans was prepared, which is accessible free of charge on the website of HIPO. As part of the project for the implementation of knowledge on intellectual property in public education, HIPO announced a quiz game and contest for designing logo entitled Invent it/find it out/find it! for secondary school students.
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
HIPO regularly provides EPO with bibliographic data, abstracts, search reports, full text of patent information.
Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to patent information
IMPROVING IP CULTURE, PROVIDING INFORMATION
The partners and customers of HIPO, who are interested in intellectual property, can choose from a variety of services or programs of customer service, information provision and education. Through these tools HIPO improved the conditions of awareness, information provision and education of industrial property and copyright culture in Hungary.
Improving awareness of enterprises
The enlargement of knowledge on industrial property and copyright, the improvement of awareness on intellectual property of enterprises – especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) – are objectives of high importance. In case of these parties it is essential that they can have personal consultation not only at the headquarters in Budapest but they also can find information points or events close to them, in their regions, where they can receive information. In this spirit, the relations with partners continued to enlarge in 2014. HIPO cooperated with 16 chambers of commerce and industry in counties and towns, 6 PATLIB centres, 7 regional innovation agencies and 2 professional organisations (HITA, SEED) in programs related to awareness raising.
In the framework of the VIVACE program improving the knowledge on industrial property of enterprises HIPO participated in the preparation, organisation and accomplishment of 18 events on awareness raising in and outside Budapest. The program was financed mainly by the projects of OHIM and EPO and from the sources of IPorta project supported by the European Commission.
A survey questionnaire was prepared on the awareness on industrial property of Hungarian SMEs with the involvement of the Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in respect of the circle of enterprises already observed in 2005 and 2009. According to 435 answers, although the level of knowledge on intellectual property has become better but the use of industrial property systems has declined, which draws the attention – in compliance with the Jedlik Plan – to the importance of the development of services.
See „Outstanding Events” in Annual Report: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/mivel-fordulhatok-a-hivatalhoz/tajekoztatas/kiadvanyok/a-hivatal-eves-jelentesei
HIPO performed English language searches and examinations in the frameworks of the cooperation agreements with the Austrian Patent Office and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. In performing the tasks deriving from its international cooperation obligations, HIPO was aided by the colleagues of HIPAvilon Industrial Property Agency, who have several decades of experience.
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.