Annual Technical Report on Industrial Design Information Activities in 2014 submitted by ARIPO
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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
The main policies and plans of ARIPO in 2014 were anchored on the Consolidated Medium Term Strategic Plan 2014 - 2015 biennium adopted by the Administrative Council of ARIPO at its 37th Session held in Kampala, Uganda from November 25 to 26, 2013. The Consolidated Strategic Plan approved by the Administrative Council reduced the strategic goals to five, and the implementing programmes to 15.
Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of industrial design information activities and expected time frames for their realization
Despite the relevance of the utility models in innovation in Africa and its importance for the protection of local inventors, applications are low. However, it’s worth highlighting that the utility models filed in 2014 originated from patent agents, thus showing a growing interest on this right by the specialists on IP.
The industrial designs, although maintaining the positive trend did not show significant difference with the previous years.
The most designated States in industrial designs in the year 2014 are: Kenya, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Zambia.
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies(plans) mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
Main areas of industrial design information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and grants (registrations) with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
There was a decline in new applications received in 2014 compared to 2013. Only 154 new applications were received for 2014 compared to 217 in 2013
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc
-Website: www.aripo.org
-Face book account under African Regional Intellectual Property Organization
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
To ensure compliance with the ARIPO patent procedures, a number of national roving seminars under the theme "making better use of intellectual property for business competitiveness and development in Africa" were held as follows:
Swaziland from March 24 to 28; Mozambique from April 21 to 25; Liberia from April 28 to May 2; Sierra Leone from May 19 to 23 and The Gambia from August 4 to 8 benefiting a total of 655 participants.
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
Classification and reclassification activities; classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification
ARIPO uses the International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification) system
Other activities
Digitization of documents under the WIPOScan project continued.
III. SOURCES OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE
Main types of publications in the field of industrial design information, outline of the content (industrial design applications, design patents, registrations, etc.) and medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
Other sources
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements
Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
Other matters
V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION
Office's library (if deals with industrial design information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
Publications related to different business procedures and industrial design information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
Education and training: training courses, e learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
Other activities
VI.INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION
International exchange of industrial design information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)
Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to industrial design information
The 31st Session of the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademark, Industrial Designs and the Geographical Indications from March 17 to 21
The 4th Session of the Working Group on the Legal Development of the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs from June 16 to 20
Assistance to developing countries
Other activities