Annual Technical Report 2003 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Jordan (SCIT/ATR/PI/2003/JO)
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 term "patent" covers utility models and Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in their Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities.
I. Evolution of patent activities
Changes experienced in terms of application filings and grants with respect to the previous year
177 Patent applications (152 international, 25 domestic) were received in 2003 against 138 patent applications in 2002
47 patents were granted in 2003 against 29 in 2002
Trends or areas experiencing rapid changes with respect to the previous year
There is no remarkable change with respect to the previous year
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, distribution and use of primary and secondary sources of patent information
Publishing, printing, copying (main types of publications of the office in the field of patent information, etc.)
Official Gazette
Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of patent information
If the application meets the condition stipulated in the national patent law, the registrar declares his acceptance of it, then grants the applicant a preliminary acceptance; after that, he publishes a notice in the OG including the abstract of the invention
The OG also includes a list of expired patents and void patents.
Mass storage media used (paper, microforms, optical storage, etc.)
Patent applications and granted patents are entered in a computer database for storage and easy searching.
Word processing and office automation
Every member of the 4-member staff has an access to internet.
The main office productivity software is Microsoft Office 2000.
The patent databases were done by Oracle System and the automation features are accessible by members of staff but not the public as yet.
Most of the office reports, notices and letters are sent to applicants in paper form
All application forms are available on the Ministry of Industry and Trade web site. A Patents guide is also available on the web site.
III. Matters concerning abstracting, classifying, reclassifying and indexing of technical information contained in patent documents
Abstracting, reviewing, translating
Abstracts of accepted patent applications are published in the OG, in Arabic and English languages.
Classification and reclassification activities; Classification system used, e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC), other classification (please indicate whether or not patent documents are classified by your Office and, if so, which classification is used)
Not available.
IV. Search file establishment and upkeep
The national patent documents are maintained in paper format in our archives. Jordan Patent Section/ Industrial property protection directorate is using CD-ROM’s produced by EPO, JP and USPTO for searching purpose as well as Internet.
V. Activities in the field of computerized and other mechanized search systems
In-house systems (online/offline)
The patent databases were done by Oracle system and the automation features are accessible by members of staff but not the public as yet.
External databases
In the patent registration office we browse external data bases such as (EPO, USPTO) for more information about patents in the world.
Administrative management systems (e.g., register, legal status, statistics, administrative support, etc.)
Administrative support system has been established for renewals, publication fees, and preliminary acceptance fees, status of files and location of files
Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), carriers used
The JO Patent section uses an internal network system for communication pc's for the staff (Intel Pentium processor) win 2000.
VI. Administration of the industrial property office library and services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, for assisting clients on searching procedures, for obtaining official publications and registry extracts)
Planning, administration, automation, security, buildings
The Patent registration section is a part of the industrial property protection directorate in the ministry of industry and trade.
Information services available to the public (including computerized services and search files contained in libraries remote from your Office and patent information posted by your Office on the World Wide Web)
Information services are available to the public only on request.
VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of patent documentation and information
International or regional cooperation in the exchange of machine-readable information, e.g., bibliographic data, abstract and/or full text information
As for patent document exchange, JO Patent section received official gazettes, comprising publications on inventions from the USPTO and the EPO, as well as from the International Bureau of WIPO, which sent its official bulletin, “PCT Gazette”.
Medium used for exchange of priority documents
On paper only
Medium allowed for filing applications
Application filing was allowed only on paper.
VIII. Other relevant matters concerning education and training in, and promotion of, the use of patent information, including technical assistance to developing countries
In the scope of harmonization of our patent law with the International treaties, a working group is working on the project of “Renewal of national law. In this task, the views of other related governmental institutions and attorneys have been taken into consideration.
Training courses for national and foreign participants, use of audiovisual means
Our staff employees have attended many training courses at WIPO and EPO in 2003.
Promotional activities (seminars, exhibitions, visits, advertising, etc.)
IP week was held on August 2003 in Amman.
IX. Other relevant 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. |