Annual Technical Report on Trademark Information Activities in 2022 submitted by
Bosnia and Herzegovina/Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Please provide links to your website where the requested information can be found in English, French, or Spanish. Alternately, you may provide text responses instead of URLs if desired. If the information is not available on your website in an ATR language, then please provide text.
URLs in responses should meet the following requirements:
- Link to pages with information in English, Spanish, or French
- The URL will remain stable over time (at least three years, preferably more)
- Goes to the specific information requested, not to a general homepage
- If the URL goes to a long PDF doc ument such as an annual report, please indicate which sections or pages contain relevant information.
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I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADEMARK INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information on the following topics is desired:
- Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of trademark information activities and expected time frames for their realization
- New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
- Main areas of trademark information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
In the course of the last year, in the framework of cooperation with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) with the aim to harmonize practice with the principles of practice of the member states of the European Union in the field of trademarks, the principles of Common Practice under the title CP4 - "Scope of Protection of Black and White Marks".
https://www.ipr.gov.ba/upload/documents/CP4/CP4%20-%20EN%20Practice%20Paper.pdf
Also, in the framework of cooperation with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) we ware in finish phase on tool for e-filing for trademarks.
http://eprijava.ipr.gov.ba/sp-ui-tmefiling/
The Institute for Intellectual Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina and IPA project working on the harmonization of the trademark law with the EU acquis.
Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and registrations with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
In calendar year 2022, Intellectual Property Office of Bosnia and Hercegovina received 769 national applications. 1057 national applications were registered. Compared to 2021 (869), the number of filling in national applications decreased.
At the same time the number of trademark applications filed under the Madrid System is 41 applications. Compared to 2021 (32), the number of applications fillings increased.
BA Office was designated in 3031 international applications in 2022. Compared to 2021 (2912), the number of applications fillings increased.
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
https://www.ipr.gov.ba/en/news
II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information on the following topics is desired:
Matters concerning classifying
- Classification and reclassification activities; classification systems used, e.g., International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification), International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification), other classification
- Use of electronic classification systems and pre-defined terms of the classification applied
The Nice Classification is used for the similarity examination search, for commercial search and for statistics. The translation of the list of goods and services is available on the web site: http://tmclass.tmdn.org/ec2/.
We have been using Vienna Classification in trademark examination procedure for years, but from the September of 2015, Trademark Department started to apply Vienna Classification through the IPAS system.
Matters concerning processing of different types of non-traditional marks (e.g., three-dimensional, motion, hologram, color mark, etc.)
IPO of the Bosnia and Herzegovina allows registration of trademark for the three-dimensional and color signs.
Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) - URLs
All relevant data considering the trademark protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina are available on the web site www.ipr.gov.ba. That includes 1) frequently asked questions about trademarks, 2) TM legislation, 3) guidelines and forms, 4) fees; 5) statistics; 6) reports and useful links.
National trademark database is available on following links: http://reg.ipr.gov.ba/ and https://www.tmdn.org/tmview/#/tmview
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
Application dossiers are available by the official website of the IP Office. Electronic trademark register contains bibliographic data on applications and registered trademarks and representations of trademarks.
III. SOURCES OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE
Information on the following topics is desired:
Main types of publications in the field of trademark information, outline of the content and medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)
The main type of publication in the field of trademark information is an official gazette: Intellectual Property Gazette. The following information and bibliographical data concerning registered domestic and international trademarks are published in the Intellectual Property Gazette: registration number, registration date, expected expiration date of registration, application number, date of filing of the application, date concerning exhibitions, data relating to priority under the Paris Convention, list of goods and services according the Nice Classification, disclaimer, reproduction of the mark, information concerning the colors claimed, indication relating to the nature or kind of mark, name and address of the holder of the registration, name and address of the representative. Trademarks are published in grayscale and color technique.
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online, URL), etc.
The Intellectual Property Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the basis of Trademark Law, publishes its official gazette, Intellectual Property Gazette, on the official web site. The Intellectual Property Gazette is published four times per year (31.03, 30.06, 30.09 and 31.12). The Intellectual Property Gazette, in the part referring to trademarks, is prepared by means of computer, using the IPAS system. From September 2015.
Gazettes can be found on our official web site: http://www.ipr.gov.ba/en/stranica/official-gazette_en
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
Examiners use IPAS, which contains bibliographic data on applications and registered trademarks and representations of trade marks, as well as the data on changes relating to applications and registered marks (assignments, licenses, pledges) and more information available through workflow.
Examiners use Madrid Monitor WIPO.
Examiners use TMClass.
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
National trademark register, International trademark database and Alphabetical list of goods and services of the Nice Classification are available to the external users via the official website of the IPO, free of charge.
Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
Legal status information are available through the Electronic Register of Trademarks, and also in paper version of the register on request.
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information on the following topics is desired:
- Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements
- 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)
IPAS 3.5 is used as administrative system for Trademarks
Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
Daily backup databases (full and incremental) is stored at NAS (Network Attached Storage).
Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
- 30/10Mbit/s Mostar; 16/8Mbit/s Sarajevo; 10/10Mbit/s Banja Luka used for Internet connection, HUAWEI Network Equipment(LAN based on Fast Ethernet – 1000/100/10Mbit/s)
- IPAS 3.5
- HPE ProLiant DL385 GEN10 Plus servers with Virtual Machines:
- Servers: Application server: HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8; Windows Server 2016 Standard, 64 bit, with 12GB Ram, 8 x CPU E5 - 2609
- Database server: HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8; Windows Server 2016 Standard, 64 bit, with 12GB Ram, 8 x CPU E5 - 2609
- Workstation: PC Pentium IV, PC I5 processor 4 generation, with Windows 10
V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION
Information on the following topics is desired:
- Office's library (if deals with trademark information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
- Publications related to different business procedures and trademark 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
https://www.ipr.gov.ba/en/novost/10396/seminar-intellectual-property-for-economic-entities-held
VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION
Information on the following topics is desired:
International exchange of trademark information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)
The trademark database of Bosnia and Herzegovina is updated in TM View database.
Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to trademark information
Cooperation with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).
Cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).