Annual Technical Report 2004 on Trademark Information Activities submitted by Republic of Moldova (SCIT/ATR/TM/2004/MD)
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I. Evolution of registration activities
During the year 2004, the AGEPI received 5089 applications for registration of trade and/or service marks, which constitutes 105,9% in comparison with the previous year.
Of the total number of applications 2246 (44,1%) were filed under the national procedure and 2843 (55,9%) under the international one (Madrid Agreement). The majority of applications filed under the national procedure – 1851 (82,4%) proceed from national applicants. They filed with 292 (18,7%) applications more than in 2003.
Among foreign applicants who filed applications under the national procedure, the most active were the residents from United States of America, Russian Federation, and Great Britain.
The largest number of applications under the Madrid System came from applicants from Germany, Italy, Russian Federation, France, Switzerland, Hungary, and the United States of America.
In the applications filed under the national procedure, the most frequent were designated the following classes of the International Classification of Goods and Services (ICGS): 33 – 1108 applications; 32-275 applications; 39 – 247 applications; 30 – 197 applications; 16 – 194 applications etc.
In the applications filed under the international procedure, the most preferable classes of the ICGS were: 05 – 374 applications; 03 – 149 applications; 25 – applications etc.
In 2004 there were examined 1736 trademarks filed under the national procedure and 2943 international trademarks (filed under the Madrid Agreement). As a result of the examination of trademark applications, there were accepted 68,3% of the applications filed under the national procedure and 89,0% of those filed under the Madrid System. In the previous year these numbers constituted 77,8% and 90,6%, respectively.
64,7% of rejections referring to the applications filed under the national procedure and 82,2% of those referring to the applications filed under the Madrid Agreement were emitted on the ground of Art. 7(4)a) of the Law No. 588/1995 on Trademarks and Appellations of Origin (identical or similar signs, to the point of misleading with the trademarks protected on behalf of other persons). 19,3% and, respectively, 8,9% of rejections were emitted on the ground of Art. 7(2)(false and misleading signs etc.).
On the ground of non possession of a distinctive character of signs (Art. 7(1)2)), 14,5% and 4,4% of rejections were remitted. As in 2003, the grounds for refusal as well as their weight in taking decisions for refusal maintained in the year under review.
In 2004, the national applicants filed 60 trademark applications under the Madrid Agreement, with 8 (15,4%) more than in the previous year. These 60 applications were filed by 35 applicants. Among the most frequent designated countries are Ukraine (in 44 applications), Russian Federation (39), Belarus (39), Latvia (38), Lithuania (37), Romania (35), Kazakhstan (31), Uzbekistan (27), and Germany (26).
Trends or areas experiencing rapid changes with respect to the previous year
The year 2004 is highlighted by a record-number of applications for renewal of registration of trade and/or service marks – 2649, 3,7 times more than in 2003. The majority of applications – 2185 (82,5%) were filed under the national procedure by foreign applicants and only 37 (1,4%) – by national applicants.
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, and distribution of secondary sources of trademark information, i.e., trademark gazettes
The main types of announcements of the Office in the field of trademark information are:
- The Official Bulletin of Industrial Property Protection (BOPI);
- The Trademark Register;
- The Appellations of Origin Register.
- National Register of Applications for the Registration of Trademarks
- National Register of Applications for the Registration of Appellations of Origin
BOPI including Sections IV and V with information on trademarks and appellations of origin, from January 2000 onwards is available online via our AGEPI web site at www.agepi.md in portable document format (PDF).
Section IV of BOPI contains:
- Examined applications for trademark registration;
- List of registered trademarks;
- List of renewed trademarks.
Section V contains:
- Examined applications for appellations of origin of goods;
- List of registered appellations of origin.
Section VII contains various types of notices referring to all amendments occurred to the legal status of the protected industrial property objects (List of amendments, List of assignment agreements, Errata, etc), the half-yearly subject indexes of registered trademarks.
The AGEPI maintains a complete history of its national trademark files in paper form.
In 2003 began the creation of the electronic archive, 9700 paper files have been already scanned.
III. Matters concerning classifying, reclassifying and indexing of trademark information
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 (please indicate whether goods and services for the registration of marks and whether the figurative elements of marks are classified by your Office and, if so, which classification(s) is (are) used)
During 2004 the AGEPI applied:
•International Classification of Goods and Services (Nice Classification), the eighth edition; (as from 01.01.2002)
•International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification), fourth edition;
•three - digit INID codes in accordance with the WIPO Standard ST.60.
Use of electronic classification systems to check the classification symbols furnished by an applicant and which are contained in the lists of goods and/or services
To check the conformity of goods and services to the Nice Classification and of the figurative elements to the Vienna Classification the AGEPI uses the electronic classification system on the CD ROMARIN and electronic version of classification translated into Romanian.
Obligation for applicants to use pre-defined terms of the classification applied
It is obligatory for applicants to use pre-defined terms of the classification applied.
Bibliographic data and processing for search purposes
Data included in the WIPO Standard ST.60.
IV. Trademark manual search file establishment and upkeep
The examiner’s search files are the following:
• paper-case with the list of signs protected under Article 6 ter of the Paris Convention not included in the “Article 6 ter CD”;
• list of geographical indications which are protected under a bilateral or regional agreement in respect of the protection of geographical indications;
• list of names of plant varieties registered in the Republic of Moldova.
The following e-cardfiles are used:
• card - file of word trademarks grouped in alphabetic order;
• card - file of combined trademarks grouped by categories of the Nice Classification;
• card - file of combined trademarks grouped in alphabetic order of the words;
• card - file of figurative marks grouped by categories of the Vienna Classification;
• card - file of appellations of origin grouped in numerical order;.
At the disposal of examiners, there are three foreign databases on CD-ROM (Romarin, USAMark, and Community Trade Mark Bulletin), Trademark Gazettes of different countries and via the Internet the Madrid Express Database – data collection hosted by WIPO. From October 10, 2002, the AGEPI has at its disposal the CD-ROM with INN from OMS, which is used for search purposes. The examiners also use different browsers for search in Internet, dictionaries, atlases and electronic encyclopedias.
Moreover, the manual paper search files consist of encyclopedias, dictionaries, special books, periodicals, and a number of other lists and sources.
Both the examiner’s search files and documentation at the library are updated on a regular basis.
V. Activities in the field of computerized trademark search systems
The management of the trademark applications is based on the “National Trademarks” search database procedure program, developed by the AGEPI skilled persons. The database thereof is used in conducting the examination process, publication and dissemination of information. Database is based on “Interbase Server” platform. In 2004 has been completed and handed over in operation program “Statistics” for “National Trademarks” database.
Several work stations were modernized, offering thus, from the technical point of view, sufficient possibilities of homogenizing the working environment, the operation and application soft used within the Agency, namely the installation of the Microsoft Windows 2000/XP and the Microsoft Office 2000/XP. All examiners have access to the Internet at their desks.
Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), carriers used
The internal network uses a client-server arrangement on an Ethernet LAN running Microsoft Active Directory Domain. The platform used by the Trademarks Department uses a database server, for Interbase applications. Client PCs are used by all staff and are Pentium III or Pentium IV machines with a mixture of 15"/17" CRT or 15” LCD screens. Client PCs operating systems is Microsoft Windows 2000/XP. The Software specific of the CD-ROM collections is ROMARIN.
VI. Administration of trademark services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, registering trademarks, assisting clients with search procedures, obtaining official publications and registry extracts)
Planning, administration, automation, security
The office library functions simultaneously as an in-house and public library, open to a wide range of IP users of the Republic of Moldova.
The AGEPI Library is available to the public during 6 days (except Sunday) from 9:00 to 16:00.
Collection management, preservation
The main information sources of the IP Collection are the official publications of the AGEPI, official gazettes and trademark literature received through international exchange with Patent Offices worldwide and other information centers, purchase or subscription. All the received documents are registered, classified and grouped for storage purpose.
On December 31, 2004, the Library collection included 18.858 thousand of documents (both on paper and e-support). In 2004 the total number of acquisitions made through bilateral exchange, subscription, publication etc., was 2274103 documents, of which 2270287 documents on electronic support, 569 official bulletins, 1494 books, 925 periodicals, 520 AGEPI publications and 308 other documents.
Information services available to the public (including computerized services and search files contained in libraries remote from your Office and trademark information posted by your Office on the World Wide Web)
The AGEPI Library has a general and a specialized reading room.
Visits to the IP Library and services offered to all categories of readers are free of charge.
The Library also provides paid services, such as: copying the documents from CD-ROM/DVD-ROM on paper or on CD / DVD-ROM (in 2004– 6090 documents), copying the documents form the Library paper Collection; selling the AGEPI editions.
The main features regarding the library-information services rendered in 2004 are the following: readers- 790; visits – 6114; borrowed documents – 47218.
During the year 2004, the AGEPI has rendered to the economic agents over 622 consultations on how to access and use IP information, organized many visits to enterprises, universities.
Information about the new acquisitions in the library collection is systematically offered on the AGEPI web site. The information provided on the AGEPI web site – www.agepi.md – covers all general topics concerning the industrial property objects (national and international legislation, office procedures, application forms).
VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of trademark documentation and information
The AGEPI exchanges documents with the National Library and the National Technical Scientific Literature Library, which have a complete collection of the official bulletins and relevant literature in the field published by the AGEPI; the Agency also exchanges documents with other national offices and regional organizations.
The AGEPI Library cooperates intensively with 22 territorial Libraries to which the IP information and other literature in the field is furnished regularly for further dissemination in the territory.
In 2004, the AGEPI Library offered to the public Libraries methodical assistance concerning the organization and utilization of IP document collections, by organizing 61 events for promoting the library services, including a national seminar ”The Public Library and the Intellectual Property” and the competition ”Public Library-A Partner in the Promotion of Intellectual Property”.
International or regional cooperation in the exchange of trademark information, e.g., in the form of official gazettes
In the year 2004, the process for completion and development of the literature and document collection in the industrial property protection field continued on the basis of a bilateral exchange with foreign patent and trademark offices.
In The Official Bulletin (BOPI) was received in 2004 by bilateral exchange from 22 countries in paper form and from 8 countries on CD-ROM (in total 569 Official Bulletins); 1173 CD-ROMs have been acquired in 2004 by bilateral exchange, as well as, 647 books and 2487 periodicals.
The AGEPI has sent the Official Bulletin to 36 national offices and 4 international organizations.
As from 2004, the BOPI is accessible on-line, due to this change, some offices, from the bilateral exchange list, refused to the paper version of the gazette preferring the on-line access.
Exchange of machine-readable information
As from the 2005 the AGEPI intends to publish the BOPI on CD-ROM.
VIII. Matters concerning education and training including technical assistance to developing countries
During the year 2004, the AGEPI organized on industrial property protection matters 20 national seminars, including 4 national seminars with international participation and one regional seminar organized in cooperation with the WIPO and WTO.
Among the most important national events, relevant to the trademark system development, the following should be mentioned:
- The training-seminar on Enforcement Issues of Intellectual Property Rights “Ways for the Repression of Counterfeiting Phenomena”, organized in cooperation with REACT Network;
- Joint WIPO-WTO–AGEPI Regional Workshop on Certain Topical Issues Concerning Intellectual Property;
- AGEPI International Conference “Theoretical and Practical Issues of Intellectual Property Economy”
- The Annual Scientific-Practical Symposium “AGEPI Readings”
- The Republican Competition “The Best Trademark of the Year”, organized in cooperation with the Moldovan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The AGEPI staff participated in 52 international events such as trainings, meetings, seminars, symposia, consultations, official visits etc., among which the most relevant are:
- National Symposium “Protection of Industrial Property under the New Regulations”, organized by OSIM and the National Association of Industrial Property Protection of Romania (ANPPI)
- WIPO Seminar on the Madrid System of International Registration of Marks
- Training course on industrial property, organized by the WIPO at the Center for International Industrial Property Studies (CEIPI)
- Training course at the Federal Institute on Industrial Property, Russian Agency for Patents and Trademarks;
- Exchange of experience in the field of trademarks and industrial designs within the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (OSIM), Romania
- The participation in the works of the WIPO Committees and Working Groups on trademark issues.
During the year 2003, the Office participated in 22 national exhibitions and granted logistical and financial assistance for the participation of Moldovan inventors in 4 international exhibitions.
More than 400 communications, interviews, reports were delivered to the republican mass-media and 5 press conferences were organized on the occasion of the most important IP events.