Annual Technical Report 2002 on Industrial Design Information Activities submitted by Latvia (SCIT/ATR/ID/2002/LV)
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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. Evolution of registration activities
The amount of filed industrial design (ID) applications in 2002 has again increased, in comparison with previous years: 2000 - 69 applications, 2001 - 88 applications, 2002 - 99 applications. Similar is the trend in the amount of granted ID patents: 2000 - 65 granted ID patents, 2001 - 70 ID patents, 2002 - 88 ID patents.
The share of domestic applications in 2002 was 51.5 %.
Total number of ID patents in force at the end of year 2002 reached 505.
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, and distribution of industrial design documents and of secondary sources of industrial design information, i.e., official gazettes
Publishing, including printing, copying techniques and electronic printing
The bibliographical data for the ID documents, as well for the Gazette, are semi-automatically extracted from the Latvian Patent Office (LPO) database and manually (on the PC screen) completed with - previously scanned - black & white or gray-scale images.
ID documents - ID patent certificates, official letters, etc. - are printed out by means of an electronic laser printer.
Each issue of the Official Gazette (PATENTI UN PREČU ZĪMES) contains publications on patents of inventions, trademarks and industrial designs. The layout of pages is being carried out and a camera-ready copy of each issue is being prepared by the LPO staff, using the desk-top publishing technology. The Gazette is printed in offset technique in multiple copies, by an external typographic company. It is issued once per month and is distributed on subscription, by sales, and on the basis of mutual exchange.
Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of industrial design information
(1) GRANTED ID PATENTS; -
the publication date is the same as the date of granting (= registration); with this announcement ID-patents come into force and are open for 6-months opposition period;
(2) ID INDEXES:
(a) Application Number Index;
(b) ID-Patents Listed by Locarno Classes;
(c) Name Index of Designers & ID-Patent Owners;
ID Indexes are published only once a year, in the last issue of the year;
(3) CHANGES IN THE ID REGISTER:
- renewals, transfers, changes in the names / addresses of ID-patent owners / representatives, license agreements registered, cancellations, etc.;
(4) INFORMATION ON THE DECISIONS OF THE APPEAL BOARD:
reduced versions of the decisions rendered by the LPO Board of Appeal.
Mass storage media and microforms used
With the exclusion of the LPO main database, the storage medium is paper; electronic media and microforms are not developed.
Databases and office automation
The LPO database is developed in FoxPro for Windows.
Word processing : MS WORD for Windows 95 / MS WORD 2000 / MS WORD XP.
Edition of images: CorelDraw 5.0; ZSoft PhotoFinish.
The database is being stored in the LPO local network hard drives.
The main operations produced by the assistance of the database (and the built-in FoxPro Report-Writer):
- keying-in of the application data;
- choice or keying-in of the applicant / representative data;
- scanning of images;
- semi-automatic compillation and printing of the main correspondence letters and ID-patent certificates;
- generation of the Gazette publications, etc.
Layout of the Gazette pages is being created by Aldus PageMaker 5.0 / Adobe PageMaker 6.5.
III. Matters concerning classifying, reclassifying and indexing of industrial design information according to the classification systems applied
Classification and reclassification activities; Classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification (please indicate whether industrial designs are classified by your Office and, if so, which classification is used)
The Locarno Classification (the Seventh Edition) is used for the ID classification purposes. The Locarno indexes are often given by applicants, although it is not required; - the classification is made ex officio. The reclassification problem seems to be not yet burning.
Bibliographic data and processing for search purposes
The bibliographic data fixed in the State ID Register are shown in the publications of the ID-patents granted. The data in the main publications and certificates are shortly named in Latvian and introduced by the corresponding INID-codes (WIPO St. 80).
Simplified computer searching possibility in the ID database is available.
IV. Search file establishment and upkeep
Folder files are used for:
- industrial designs applied for;
- ID applications withdrawn / abandoned / refused;
- ID-patents granted (the State Industrial Design Register;
- ID-patents invalidated / expired / cancelled.
These files are organized accordingly to the sequence of the application numbers / patent numbers, respectively, and are being updated continuously.
Computerised files contain the main data of ID applications, continuously updated.
Mass storage media and microforms are not used. ID documentation from several other Offices is available in the Latvian Patent and Technology Library. Since the Law does not provides for novelty examination, this information is mainly used by applicants and not by the LPO staff.
V. Activities in the field of computerized search systems for industrial designs
Due to a little amount of ID applications, only simplified searches are available: Searching for the applicant / owner, for the Locarno class, for the title (key words of title) of industrial design, etc., is being carried out by the staff of the LPO. Searches may be made also on third persons request, taking into account that until the publication the substantive content of any ID application is confidential.
External databases are not used during the examination procedures. INERNET access is available on each workstation.
Administrative management systems are not developed, although the main statistical data could be extracted from the database.
The LPO local network is built on ETHERNET principles, using Novell Netware Network. At present the LPO network includes:
- more than 30 IBM-compatible PCs (including 3 PCs of Pentium type which are used, inter alia, for the ID procedure purposes);
- several printers, including HP LaserJet 4M/4M Plus and HP LaserJet 8550 GN;
- a HP ScanJet IIp B-W scanner.
VI. Administration of industrial design services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, registering designs, assisting clients with search procedures, obtaining official publications and registry extracts
ID information services available to the public in the LPO premises:
- consultations on the filing of ID applications, on the administrative & legal matters of ID protection;
- sales of the Gazette;
- inspection of the ID application materials (after their publication), extracts from the Register - on request.
There is also ID documentation from several foreign countries available in the Latvian Patent and Technology Library.
At present the ID information is not distributed by means of electronic media and is not posted on INTERNET.
VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of industrial design documentation and information
Mutual exchange of the Gazettes is established with approx. 20 Offices. Machine readable information for mutual exchange is not available.
VIII. Matters concerning education and training including technical assistance to developing countries
During the year 2002, several representatives of the LPO staff have visited foreign Offices or exchanged their experience with foreign colleagues at different meetings on industrial property matters.