Annual Technical Report on Trademark Information Activities in 2018 submitted by the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland

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

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

A number of projects were established within the Cooperation Fund, many of them have already been implemented but on some of them the work is still pending. The Cooperation Fund covers work in collaboration between the EUIPO and national offices. The main goals of this project are: harmonization of practices, adaptation to the digital environment, barrier removal, improvement of technical system. Such objectives create a good strategy especially in order to adapt to the competitive internal European and digital market. That is why here in Poland, the Office decided to participate in all of the 20 CF projects. PPO is still using developed databases. In 2016, EUIPO launched European Cooperation Programme aiming at enhancing cooperation between national IP offices. PPO trademarks examiners were members of the following working groups: Major Improvements to Back Office, Use of a trade mark in a form differing from the one registered.

As for 2018, the Polish Patent Office continues to use the following databases:

  • Register Plus for trademarks - in order to ensure easy and widespread access to data on polish trademarks, the Patent Office of Republic of Poland provides the external users with Register Plus;
  • TMview - online trade mark search tool, an online consultation tool allowing Internet users to search, free of charge, for national, international and community trademarks of all trade mark offices involved in the initiative;
  • TMclass - free online tool to search, translate or classify goods and services when applying for trademarks. TMclass is a central point from which it is possible to access the terms that appear in the classification databases of each of the offices participating in the initiative;
  • Quality Standard for Trade Marks and Designs - transparent and harmonized information about services and quality standards provided by participating offices;
  • Common User Satisfaction Survey - Harmonized User Satisfaction Survey - a Cooperation Fund project, the Common User Satisfaction Survey allows for a common approach to carrying out surveys across participating IP offices. The project also allows for the cross-linkage of other CF projects, like Quality. An analysis of the completed survey will allow the participating office to: measure customer satisfaction, draw attention to areas for improvement, plan future work of the office;
  • eLearning – a tool providing online training for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on the importance of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). This e-Learning tool is divided into two main sections: "Why is Intellectual Property Important", where you can find information about Intellectual Property throughout the different stages of production, and "What and How to Protect" where you can find information targeted towards Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), covering the different types of Intellectual Property rights;
  • Enforcement Database - an up-to-date database to help enforcement agencies to better identify counterfeit goods. The tool holds data on registered IP rights, contact information, supplementary product information and logistics. This information can be used by enforcement authorities in order to detect counterfeit products;
  • Anti–Counterfeiting Intelligence Support Tool - with this tool enforcement authorities can see how counterfeited goods are moving within the internal market so that they can use their resources more efficiently. The system enables end users (enforcement authorities, the EUIPO Observatory, etc.) to upload the relevant data via a user friendly interface.

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

In 2018, the project entitled “Common Practice – New Types of Marks – Examination of formal requirements and grounds for refusal” under European Cooperation Programme was launched. A Polish trademark examiner participates in the project working group along with the representatives from other European national offices, EUIPO, and users associations.  The main goal of the project is to identify general principles for assessing formal requirements and grounds for refusal for new types of trademarks and provide recommendation in this respect.

In 2018, the PPO actively participated in the development project of the new electronic services platform (PUEUP). The main aim of the project is to provide a new platform for providing electronic services to clients. In 2018, the public procurement procedure to select the final contractor was conducted. The newly selected company had to prepare the following modules of PUEUP platform: e-Baza Wiedzy (knowledge database), e-Profil (user profile), e-Platności (payments), e-Powiadomienia (user message system), e-Wyszukiwarka (search system) and Infrastruktura (infrastructure). During the 2018, the first step of analysis was initiated.

In 2018, the PPO was active in the field of e-administration services taking part in the development of functionalities related to the use of the governmental Electronic Platform of Public Administration Services (ePUAP). PPO dealt with maintaining the existing forms in terms of their functionality and reliability and it redefined the process of exchanging documents between ePUAP and Electronic Document Management System (EZD). The most important activity was the preparation of new formulas allowing for faster data collection and elimination of access errors.

In 2018, the PPO took actions to improve and extend the functionalities of the PPO Industrial Properties Search System. The new mechanisms for collecting translations of European patents into Polish, valid on the territory of Poland, were introduced with the possibility of collecting statistical information on queries statistics. After the implementation of the newly prepared Intranet system, the above search systems were reinstalled on the new SharePoint 2013 platform.

In 2018, the PPO finished the implementation of Intranet system based on Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Enterprise software.

The PPO continued the maintenance of the Register Plus system for trademarks.

The PPO continued to maintain Patent Attorneys and Applicants List searchable. Only minor adjustments in the data structure were introduced and the system was adopted to existing legislation.

The PPO continued to provide data at DanePubliczne.gov.pl website concerning the protection of industrial property, publications provided by the Office, as well as information on patent attorneys, etc.

Minor changes in the publication system were maintained. In all systems there are separate official publications of Bulletin of the Patent Office (BUP) for trademarks, inventions and utility models.

Main areas of trademark information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year

In 2018,the BackOffice system for trademarks and industrial designs was maintained, implementing changes requested by end users and required by new regulations. A new version of the Vienna Classification was implemented in the BackOffice system. The solution was modified to change the language of communication with WIPO from French to English regarding international trademarks. The process of handling new types of trademarks began and the implementation of the solution in the BO system for the e-Notification module (user message system) of the PUEUP platform continued.

The Register Plus software application for trademarks was further developed and enhanced in 2018. The quality of data was improved and a wider range of presented data was introduced.

Updating of the search system for trademarks – TMView with Polish data was performed.

Maintenance  and updating of the search system for new trademarks were carried out throughout the year – Acsepto contains bibliographic data and images concerning national, international and community trademarks.

Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and registrations with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes

In 2018, the Polish Patent Office received in total 13,667 trademark applications under national procedure. 

In 2018, the Patent Office received 12,811 trademark applications from domestic applicants and 3,665 applications from foreigners, including 856 under national procedure and 2,809 under Madrid Agreement. 

The number of trademark registration rights in force on 31 December 2018 was 233,118 (149,807 under national procedure and 83,311 under international procedure).

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

Statistics are accessed at the following URLs:

http://www.uprp.pl (Annual Reports' box)

Detailed statistics may be provided on request (please write to http://www.uprp.gov.pl/Text01,205,161,1,index,pl,text).

News page: http://www.uprp.pl/aktualnosci/Menu01,16,7,index,pl/

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK 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

The PPO information and support options in 2018 included:

1) Via website: http://www.uprp.pl/przedmioty-wlasnosci-przemyslowej/Menu02,12,4,index,pl/ (all information about patents, trademarks, designs, etc. and instructions e.g. "How to patent an invention or utility model to protect?");

2) Via telephone: (+48 22 579 05 55);

3) Via e-mail: http://www.uprp.pl/Text01,205,161,1,index,pl,text/.

Management of the contacts in 2018  (phone + mail) was performed  through a software:

1)         Personal contacts (CRM system);

2)         Within the IP Protection Information Center customer contacts (OSCC, CRM systems);

-           2,185 emails were received

-           24,414 calls were answered and performed (including the call backs) 

-           1,822 meetings took place with examiners and at the information centre; 

3)         Identification  and differentiation of customers (OSCC, CRM systems);

4)         Carrying out customer satisfaction surveys (CRM system) - level of satisfaction 95.5%;

5)         Analyses of the contacts (analyses, statistics - CRM, OSCC systems);

6)         Keeping records and transferring customer requests (satisfaction, complaints, suggestions for improvement) (TRX system).

The CRM system is shared between 11 departments in contact with the public. A change of version was introduced for:

- independent work with the contact, regardless of the fact who established the contact and possibility to change/edit the contact data;

- interfacing with other applications (Computer Telephony Integration, callback, meetings time and visits) to facilitate the customer relation management. Tool for measuring the customers’ satisfaction. IP Info Center has a non-verbal communication system to improve information service for deaf and hard-of-hearing customers.

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

Customers who use ePUAP have access to the application files which are sent electronically to the PPO.

Matters concerning classifying
(i) 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
(ii) Use of electronic classification systems and pre-defined terms of the classification applied

The Polish Patent Office uses the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification) 11th 2018 edition as well as International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification) 8th edition. 

During the procedure, the Office's employees amend the classes of goods and services.

As regards electronic classification systems, the Polish Patent Office uses the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification) which is available on the Polish Patent Office website as well as “tmclass” classification available on https://www.tmdn.org/tmview/welcome.

Matters concerning processing of different types of non-traditional marks (e.g., three-dimensional, motion, hologram, color mark, etc.)

n/a

Other activities

III. SOURCES OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Main types of publications in the field of trademark information, outline of the content and medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)

In 2018, the following publications (periodicals) were issued:

- “Biuletyn Urzędu Patentowego. Znaki towarowe” (Bulletin of the Patent Office. Trademarks) – biweekly (available only in electronic form on the Office’s website), 52 numbers;

- "Wiadomości Urzędu Patentowego" (Communications of the Patent Office) – monthly, 12 numbers, i.e. 725 copies;

- 2017 Annual Report of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland – 1,368 copies.

Most publications are available on the PPO's website: http://uprp.pl - and continue at http://portal.uprp.pl/wydawnictwa.html (Online Services Portal).

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

Both Polish Patent Office's Official Gazettes ("Biuletyn Urzędu Patentowego. Znaki towarowe" (Bulletin of the Patent Office. Trademarks) with national trademark applications and "Wiadomosci Urzędu Patentowego" (Communications of the Patent Office) with registered national trademarks and international registrations of trademarks approved in Poland, containing announcements regarding trademarks are forthwith available free of charge in PDF format on the PPO's Online Services Portal (http://portal.uprp.gov.pl/wydawnictwa.html). 

In 2018, there were 12,310 announcements on trademark applications published in “Bulletin of the Patent Office. Trademarks” and 13,517 announcements on registered trademarks published in “Communications of the Patent Office”.

Announcements regarding non-procedural matters, but related to the Office's activity, such as general information on the PPO's tasks, references, organizational structure, HR matters are published on the Internet version of "Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej" on the official PPO's web site. Many non-regular, important announcements are immediately published on the website.

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

In 2018 the following information products were available to examiners:

- Online Services Portal with: IP information on trademarks, access to classifications, e-filings and patent attorneys’ list: http://portal.uprp.pl

- Register Plus for trademarks (free of charge) available at: http://regservtd.uprp.pl/register/regviewer

- Search System of Industrial Properties – trademarks: https://grab.uprp.pl/PrzedmiotyChronione/Strony%20witryny/Wyszukiwanie%20proste.aspx (user interface in Polish and English)

- Separate Internet applications allow to present Nice and Vienna classifications in Polish version and are available at: https://grab.uprp.pl/Klasyfikacje/Strony%20witryny/Klasyfikacje.aspx.

The examiners in the Polish Patent Office use also external legal databases, such as:

The Office has an internal retrieval system with access restricted to examiners, namely: MARPOL, MADRAS, MARMAD (systems now available in read-only mode), ACSEPTO, EZD, BACK OFFICE containing procedural information on newly filled trademarks, pending trademarks and registrations. The statutory searches cover Polish national marks, designations to Poland made through the Madrid Protocol, EUIPO marks and designations to EUIPO  made through the Madrid Protocol. Data is stored in XML format. The access is carried out via browsers.

The Polish Patent Office uses external databases, such as: 

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

- Online Services Portal with: IP information on trademarks, access to classifications, e-filings and patent attorneys’ list: http://portal.uprp.pl

- Register Plus for trademarks (free of charge) available at: http://regservtd.uprp.pl/register/regviewer

- Search System of Industrial Properties – trademarks: https://grab.uprp.pl/PrzedmiotyChronione/Strony%20witryny/Wyszukiwanie%20proste.aspx (user interface in Polish and English)

The Office's website offers facilities for accessing Polish trademarks and designations to Poland made through the Madrid Protocol. The functionality is offered to customers to receive periodic information, information on procedure and fees and procedural information from the PPO's data bases. Links to statutory searches within procedural data bases including MADRID MONITOR (WIPO), EUTM Online (EUIPO), TMclass, Register Plus for trademarks, Tulipan and the INN - WHO among others are provided.

The PPO provides access to trademark data also in the reading room where external users can also search free of charge in online databases and databases on CD and DVD. 

Information provided upon payment includes: 

- bibliographic data of trademark applications and registered trademarks.

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

In order to make entries on the legal status of exclusive rights protected on the territory of Poland, the trademark register is held. The register includes information necessary to establish the subject and scope of protection (f. ex. date of filing, title), entity (or entities) entitled to rights concerning a given subject of protection (f. ex. holders, licensees, securities, seizure) and other useful information (f. ex. applications for revocation). Every person who submits a relevant application and pays a fee to the account of the Office can obtain excerpts from the register.

Legal status information is also available in Register Plus at:

http://regservtd.uprp.pl/register/regviewer

Other sources

IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements

ACSEPTO is a primary search and examination system for trademarks, a tool that integrates many types of IT resources to enable searching trademarks registered through the national route, international registrations, Community Trademarks, appellations of origin, pharmaceutical names, materials under Article 6ter of the Paris Convention.

BackOffice is the main system for managing the procedures for granting and maintaining the rights for trademarks and industrial designs in the Polish Patent Office. BackOffice is the source system for many databases (search engines) and is linked to other systems in PPO.

Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

The PPO uses thin clients, workstations and notebooks with Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows 7 Professional, Microsoft Windows 10; multimedia tablets with Apple iOS, Google Android and Microsoft Windows 10 Pro; physical and virtual servers with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard & Enterprise, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard & Enterprise, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard & Enterprise, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard & Enterprise, Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10/11/12, CentOS Linux 5/6/7, Oracle Linux 5/6/7, Debian GNU/Linux 6/7/8 and Ubuntu Server LTS; hypervisor servers with VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 R2.

All of thin clients, workstations, notebooks and servers are secured by Symantec antivirus and Forcepoint antispam system.

All network connections are based on Cisco, Forcepoint and Extreme Networks equipment with 300 Mb/s access to the Internet. The availability of services published to the Internet is supported by the Barracuda Load Balancer cluster.

The server infrastructure for the Online Portal includes 9 application servers; 5 database servers; 15 storage spaces. TB build-up array; back-ups for HP Data Protector, Fujitsu FI-5900C scanner, 125 packages for the purposes of qualified signatures. On-Line Portal servers are supported by local UPSs and they are also hooked to the main power supply unit for the PPO.

The main IT infrastructure units are located in a secure server room equipped with a fire alarm, a CCTV system, redundant air-conditioning and a technical floor.

Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources

Trademark data are stored in specialized, regularly updated internal databases, where image information and bibliographic details are held, for example:

- BackOffice

- databases supporting the process of publication of trademarks.

Most production databases are hosted by Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Enterprise and MySQL Server 4/5/, PostgreSQL 9.

Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file

EUTM, IR (designated to EM and PL) and 6ter data are stored and accessed via Acsepto search system, IR (designated to PL) are stored and accessed via BackOffice system.

Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)

BackOffice is a workflow-based system for dealing with trademarks and designs throughout the entire lifecycle of the process, from application to registration and publication. It also streamlines the working process by enabling users to create and monitor correspondence with clients. It is adapted to work together with Electronic Document Management System (EZD) which facilitates the processing of incoming and outgoing correspondence. External users have access to register and legal status information via Register Plus system. Settlement Module (MR) is used as a supplementary system for managing fees and payments.

Other matters

The PPO has maintained a professional call centre service based on Unify OpenScape Contact Centre Enterprise software and a new system of customer relationship management based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 365 software.

EZD system was integrated with BackOffice in the field of exchanging correspondence and information about entities.

The PPO launched the registers containing lists of requests about public information and public information provided.

The PPO has prepared a new version of the list of patent attorneys.

The leading office software used for word processing and spreadsheet was: Microsoft Office 2007 Standard, Microsoft Office 2010 Standard & Professional Plus, Microsoft Office 2013 Standard & Professional Plus, Microsoft Office 2016 Standard & Professional Plus and Apache OpenOffice 4.

In 2018, a new project of migration from all Microsoft Office licences to the new Microsoft Office 2016 standard was continued at PPO. The new licences are to be implemented on all computers and laptops. The new standardization will allow to implement automatic mechanisms for operation of all workstations in place at the Office.

In 2018, the PPO maintained a Data Protection System for protection and control of patent data to avoid uncontrolled outflow or unwanted access. The upgrade of anti-virus system Symantec End Point Protection to the level 14 MP2 was also performed. 

V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION

Office's library (if deals with trademark information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries

n/a

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

Within promotion of knowledge on industrial property the Patent Office issues various publications such as guides, informational-promotional brochures addressed to wide audience, among others to entrepreneurs, students, school youth. Those publications are available free of charge both in electronic version and PDF format as well as on paper on the premises of the Office.

The titles of publications include: Protection of Utility Models in Poland, Protection of Inventions in Poland, Your World of Intellectual Property, What Is Intellectual Property, Graphic Presentation of Industrial Designs, Industrial Property Protection in a Nutshell, Service Manual for Intellectual Property, Inventions in Your House, Copyright (comic book), Patents/Trademarks (comic book).

Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.

The Patent Office cooperates with various institutions in the scope of promotion of knowledge on intellectual property (organisation of conferences, workshops, trainings, granting patronage of the PPO President over numerous initiatives etc.).

In 2018, the Office cooperated with the following entities, to name a few:

- universities, such as Jagiellonian University in Kraków, University of Warsaw, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, University of Łódź, Łódź University of Technology, Kielce University of Technology, Kraków University of Technology, Warsaw University of Technology, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, etc.;

- science and business related institutions, including Association of Polish Inventors and Rationalisers, Polish Federation of Engineering Associations (NOT), Polish Chamber of Patent Attorneys; National Information Processing Institute, National Chamber of Commerce, Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Institute of Industrial Design, Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan, Kielce Technology Park, Agency for Industrial Development S.A., Institute of Aviation, Staropolska Chamber of Business and Commerce in Kielce, Institute of Industrial Design, Council of Patent Attorneys of Universities and Academies;

- government administration institutions: Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.

In 2018, in the scope of industrial property protection, the PPO organised or participated in the following events:

-          Conference “100 years of industrial property protection in Poland” organised on the occasion of the World Intellectual Property Day

-          Scientific Symposium “Intellectual property in the digital world”

-          11th International Conference “Innovation and Creativity for Economy – Sustainable Design in Innovation-Driven Business”

-          14th International Symposium – “Intellectual Property in Innovative Economy – IP in the Innovation Ecosystem – strategies for protection, management and commercialization” in Kraków

-          International Conference “Rethinking Patent Law as an incentive to innovation”

-         A series of International Expert “Roving Seminars” entitled “Interested in protecting your IP overseas?”

-         Seminar “Brand protection strategy – national, international and regional system”

-         A series of 16 regional seminars “Patent for success – intellectual property management strategy”

-         Seminar “Patentability issues in the fields of pharmacy and biotechnology”

-          37th Seminar for Patent Attorneys of Schools of Higher Education held in Cedzyna

-          Open information and consultation meetings on industrial property protection

-          “Ambassador of School Innovation 2018” Competition

-          8th edition of the annual “Student-Inventor” competition

-          22nd Science Picnic of the Polish Radio and Copernicus Science Centre

-          “Patent by Night 2018” – Night of Museums in the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland

-         “PolandIn.” Exhibition of Polish inventions and industrial designs at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) headquarters in Geneva

-          16th edition of the annual competition of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland for the best postdoctoral, doctoral, master’s and student’s theses and for an artistic poster, as well as the 6th edition of the competition for a short film and press release on the subject of industrial property protection.

In 2018, PPO maintained the Internet Educational Platform (http://ipe.uprp.gov.pl) which constitutes the compendium of knowledge on intellectual property issues. The target group includes enterprises (especially MSEs) and businesses related to public institutions (including higher education institutions) and other entities.

  • Knowledge Zone includes information, publications and other materials addressed both to entities with advanced knowledge on IP issues and those looking for basic information on IP protection, procedures and management.
  • Training Zone includes a 10-module e-learning course on intellectual property protection. Each module ends with a test to verify the acquired knowledge.

PPO has also maintained an e-learning platform, IPPanorama, dedicated to broadening and promoting the knowledge about the protection of intellectual property. It is available at http://ippanorama.uprp.pl.

The Patent Information Centre Forum has been prepared, which is a platform for exchanging experience, knowledge, comments and opinions between Patent Information Centres and the Office.

Other activities

VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION

International exchange of trademark information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)

Information on Community Trademarks is downloaded using the XML data which is then transferred to PPO's search systems. 

XML trademark files are downloaded from WIPO and are also transferred to PPO's search systems.

PPO maintains its own service to collect the Nice classification data from the WIPO web service. All changes in Polish version of the Nice classification are implemented in the WIPO system and then copied to a special dedicated application to be presented to Polish users.

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

Assistance to developing countries

n/a

Other activities

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS