Annual Technical Report on Industrial Design Information Activities in 2019 submitted by MINISTRY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMY, TRADE AND AGRICULTURE OF UKRAINE*

*According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of September 2, 2019 № 829 "Some Issues of Optimizing the System of Central Executive Bodies", in order to optimize the system of central executive bodies and in accordance with paragraphs 9 and 9-1 of Article 116 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine was renamed as the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine.

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

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

The main document that determined the directions for the development of industrial design information activities in 2019 was the Work Plan of the State Enterprise "Ukrainian Intellectual Property Institute" (Ukrpatent) which contained strategic directions "Patent information support in the sphere of intellectual property, provision of wide public with access to the information related to intellectual property rights acquisition" and "Implementation of modern information technology" which in particular include:

- comprehensive development of the main directions of information support in the sphere of intellectual property;

- implementation of series of actions aimed at ensuring a continued free-of-charge acquisition of patent information resources of Ukraine with the Bulletin "Industrial Property" on CD-ROM;

- unification and harmonization of the patent documentation of Ukraine, with due account of the global practice and in accordance with the international standards of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the current legislation of Ukraine.

The main actions in 2019 were aimed at automating the processes of record keeping on applications and titles of protection for industrial property (IP) rights:

- development of the technological automated system of document management for applications and titles of protection for IP rights;

- automation of the document workflow and provision of a comprehensive electronic information processing;

- development and implementation of freely accessible information resources for a wide range of public;

- development of the IT infrastructure;

- improving security of the information infrastructure;

- running on enhancing the software of the automated working station for the preparation and implementation of new versions and editions of the International Classification for Industrial Designs in Ukrainian translation (AWS LOC) in terms of optimizing the flow of technological processes in time, accuracy and correctness.

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

In 2019, according to the planned tasks the works were started on the following projects:


  1. Project for creation of a comprehensive automated record keeping system for applications for designations and industrial designs (CARKS ADID).

The main purpose of the project is to automate procedures and functions in information technology processes of document management on applications for registration of marks for goods and services, qualified indications of origin of goods, rights to use the registered qualified indications of origin of goods, industrial designs, and automation of procedures and functions in information and technological processes of document management, maintaining the relevant state registers in order to simplify and accelerate the process of acquiring respective IP rights, reducing the cost and time in the course of the processes of document management for IP rights in the CARKS ADID.

Work on the creation of the CARKS ADID will be continued in 2020.


2. Creation of the Online Customer Account for Services provided by Ukrpatent (OCAS).

The following functionality was implemented in the OCAS:

- placement of orders and payment for services through the Internet;

- transfer of orders from a personal account to Ukrpatent specialists;

- distribution of tasks for the provision of services between the relevant units for execution;

- receiving reporting materials from responsible specialists;

- keeping record of provided services;

- correspondence with customers of services via the Internet in order to simplify and increase efficiency of the procedures related to the acquisition and protection of IP rights.

Development of the OCAS software packages was completed at the end of 2019.


3. Creation of the specialized information system to provide access to the relevant data related to pendency of applications and maintenance of the state registers of IP rights titles of protection.

The Special Information System of Ukrpatent (SIS) ensures Internet access to information on any IP right in the close-to-real-time mode.  The system search tool which has a general purpose search interface provides open and authorized access (with the use of a qualified electronic signature) to any document of the electronic dossier of an IP right.  The SIS has two search engines – a simple and an advanced one.  There is a simplified search form for the simple search.  The advanced search has additional range of search tools which allows restricting the search by the type of IP right and by legal status.  According to the selected type and legal status it is possible to select any parameter for the search.

Development of the SIS software packages was completed in 2019.


4. The project on creation of the automated system for the Systemic Means of Creation and Use of the Information Registers of the Ukrpatent information system objects (SMCUIR).

The set of functions for maintenance and use of the classifiers and registers have been implemented within the framework of the development of this project, which provides unambiguous classification and record of objects in the Ukrpatent information system environment, creation of services for the use and identification of the Ukrpatent information system objects, creation of tools for the Ukrpatent organizational structure management, providing access to the system-wide classifications of any Ukrpatent information system components.

Development of the SMCUIR software packages is planned to be completed in 2020.


Implementation of the following project, which started in 2018, was in progress: the activities to improve the General Document Management Automated System (GDMAS) in accordance with the new regulations and in order to expand the service functions,

Results of the work on improvement and refinement of the GDMAS in 2019 are the following:

- increase of the speed of access to document files;

- simplification of the DB administration;

- capability to store files of very large-size documents in the database (>> 2 GB);

- reduction of time for procedures related to search of electronic documents in the collection;

- increase in productivity of mass technological operations (formation of object dossiers);

- increase of the convenience of use and simplification of information perceiving (new search tools);

- increase in productivity of the GDMAS, improvement of its ergonomics.

Works on the GDMAS improvement and refinement were completed in 2019.

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

The main types of industrial design information activities include support of examination of industrial design applications, the in-house database updating for the use in the examination body, publication of official information about registered industrial designs in the bulletin, creation and improvement of the interactive databases and information and reference systems for information support of a wide range of users via the Internet.  Information on industrial designs is also published on optical carriers.

The document management for industrial design applications is carried out by means of the Industrial Designs Automated System (IDAS) which has full functionality of the text processing and record keeping at all stages, from application filing to completing the examination and maintenance of the State Register of Patents of Ukraine for Industrial Designs.

An automated worksite of the Editorial Department is used to form the information arrays which are included to the publications in the Bulletin "Industrial Property".

In 2019, measures were taken to update computer and telecommunications equipment, software, as well as to update security hardware and software.  In particular, in 2019, local area switches were put into operation. The switches are designed to replace the core of the Ukrpatent local network to increase its capacity and bandwidth to 40 Gb, as well as to improve fault tolerance and high availability of network equipment.

Organizational and technical measures were taken to decommission obsolete equipment and for deployment of new computer equipment.

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

Applications filed:

in 2018 – 3,042,  in 2019 – 2,678 i.e. 11.7 % less than in the previous year.

Patents granted:

in 2018 – 2,297, in 2019 – 2,599 i.e. 13.1 % more with respect to the previous year.

Over the course of 2019, 771 applications for industrial designs were filed with the use of the electronic application filing system (28.7 % of the total amount of the industrial design applications filed) making it 58.3% more comparing to the previous year.

In comparison with the previous year, in 2019 the following areas experienced rapid changes: furniture and household goods (+57,1%), tools and machines (‑49,4%), transport (‑43,2%), construction (‑43,1%), not specified (+39,6%), agricultural products and food preparation (‑36,0%), electricity and lighting (‑34,7%), health, pharma and cosmetics (‑34,7%), information and communication technology, audio-visual technology (+27,6%), advertising (+23,1%).

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

Annual Reports, Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Activities, statistical information:

https://ukrpatent.org/uk/articles/statistics

News of the Office on the issues related to the industrial designs:

http://www.me.gov.ua/ (Intellectual Property section)

https://ukrpatent.org

Information on the legislation related to the industrial designs

http://www.me.gov.ua/ (Intellectual Property section)

https://ukrpatent.org

Information on Intellectual Property Representatives (Patent Attorneys) providing services in the field of intellectual property rights protection

http://www.me.gov.ua/ (Intellectual Property section)

Since 2017, the integrated state web portal of open datasets (https://data.gov.ua/) has been in operation for searching in the datasets of the state registers of industrial property rights and the State Register of Intellectual Property Representatives (Patent Attorneys).

For easy uploading of data on industrial property rights in JSON format and further formation of own databases, the SIS API based on the HTTP protocol has also been created. The SIS API is available at https://sis.ukrpatent.org/api/v1/open-data/.

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN 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

Information for users on different procedures and sources of information on industrial designs, in particular, information on the legislation in the sphere of industrial designs, services and Office activities related to the information on industrial designs, statistical information, etc. is published on the websites of the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine (http://www.me.gov.ua/) and Ukrpatent (https://ukrpatent.org/).

The list of patent information services, including paid services provided by Ukrpatent, in particular, by its Department of Patent Information Services, Consultations and Innovation Activity Promotion, is published on the websites of Ukrpatent and the said department (http://iii.ua/uk).

Information for applicants on filing applications is available on the websites of the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine (http://www.me.gov.ua/) and Ukrpatent (https://ukrpatent.org/).

For filing industrial design electronic applications the EAFS-2 electronic applications filing system (http://efiling.uipv.org) and the Electronic Interaction System of the Examining Authority (https://sev.ukrpatent.org/) are used. In addition to applications filing, the systems provide an opportunity for electronic exchange through personal accounts.

To work with the systems there is the Electronic Filing System User Guide developed as well as the information is provided on how to get an electronic digital signature (receiving electronic trust services):

http://www.uipv.org/ua/ACSK.html

https://ukrpatent.org/uk/articles/acsk-dogovory.

Access to the electronic filing system for industrial designs is available at http://efiling.uipv.org/.

To provide services (placement of orders, payment for services, transfer of orders from the personal account to Ukrpatent specialists, correspondence with customers of services etc.) the Online Customer Account for Services provided by Ukrpatent (OCAS) has been created.

The OCAS was put into operation in 2019.

To ensure access of a wide range of users to the Ukrpatent information resources, the Special Information System (SIS) has been introduced.

The SIS was put into operation in 2019.

https://sis.ukrpatent.org/uk/search/simple/

Access to online publications containing information on industrial designs is provided through the websites of the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine (http://www.me.gov.ua/) and of Ukrpatent (https://ukrpatent.org/uk/articles/bases2).

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

All application materials for industrial designs irrespective of the way of their filing, namely in electronic form, on paper carriers, by e-mail, fax and other telecommunication networks, are entered automatically or after scanning and stored in the electronic document archive and used by technological systems in the processing of applications.  Further on, all the procedures within the pendency of an application are performed with electronic copies of documents.

Classification and reclassification activities; classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification

The International Classification for Industrial Designs, (Locarno Classification), Twelfth Edition (LOC (12)) translated into Ukrainian was used for classifying industrial designs.

For information support of the general public users the IRS "International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification)" for LOC (12) translated into Ukrainian was made accessible at the Ukrpatent website for free.  The form and contents of the system fully conform to the official online publication of the Locarno Classification by WIPO.

Other activities

III. SOURCES OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Main types of publications in the field of industrial design information, outline of the content (industrial design applications, design patents, registrations, etc.) and medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)

Information of the Office on industrial designs is provided by publication in printed sources of the intellectual property legal protection sphere, patent information products on optical carriers, free information and retrieval Internet resources of Ukrpatent – electronic databases (DB), information and reference systems (IRS) and the Special Information System of Ukrpatent (SIS):

Information concerning industrial designs is published in Book 2 of the Bulletin "Industrial Property" in the following sections: "Information on the Grant of Patents of Ukraine for Industrial Designs" (contains bibliographic data and images (set of images) of industrial designs (variants) in black-and-white), in the Indexes to this section and in the Notices section.  Color images of industrial designs (if any) are published in the appropriate section.

The Bulletin "Industrial Property" was issued twice a month – 24 issues of the bulletin were issued during 2019.  The Annual Index to the Bulletin for the previous 2018 year was also published.

Publications in electronic information resources:

- DB "Electronic Version of the Cumulative Official Bulletin "Industrial Property" – contains information on industrial designs in the same scope as the printed edition.  Moreover, information on the legal status of patents (as an extra operational element) is provided in the section "Information on the Grant of Patents of Ukraine for Industrial Designs";

- Interactive DB "Industrial Designs Registered in Ukraine" – includes bibliographic data and images (set of images) of the industrial designs (variants).


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

In the Notices section of the Bulletin "Industrial Property" (printed and electronic publication), with the periodicity of its release, announcements are published in respect of industrial designs (to the extent provided by the respective applicable Law of Ukraine) which include information on changes in the data entered into the State Register of Patents of Ukraine for Industrial Designs, information on issue of duplicates of patents of Ukraine for industrial designs, information on modifications due to the correction of errors and other information relating to the registration of patents of Ukraine for industrial designs.

The said information is available at http://www.me.gov.ua/ and http://base.uipv.org/searchBul/.

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

The list of information resources available to examiners is given in Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file.

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

For information support of a wide range of public, free access to the information concerning industrial designs is provided through the Ukpratent website: the list of databases and information and reference systems (IRS) is provided in the section "Main types of publications in the field of industrial design information, their content (industrial design applications, titles of protection, registrations, etc.) and medium (on paper, on CDs, online – URLs)".

Information about registered industrial designs is available as open data on the integrated state web portal of open datasets (https://data.gov.ua/).

The Bulletin "Industrial Property" on CD-ROM was distributed for free in the framework of updating patent collections of the specified organizations of Ukraine according to the approved registries of free-of-charge distribution.

External users can also purchase the Bulletin "Industrial Property" on CD-ROM equipped with a search system, the CD-ROM "Industrial Designs Registered in Ukraine" (current data) and the Cumulative Optical DVD "Industrial Designs Registered in Ukraine" containing information on all registered industrial designs in Ukraine from January 1993 to the date of the latest publication in the Bulletin "Industrial Property".

The access for external users to the Twelfth Edition of the International Classification of Industrial Designs (LOC (12)) translated into Ukrainian was provided through the website of Ukrpatent where the IRS "International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification)" for the Twelfth Edition of Locarno Classification is accessible free of charge.

Annual Reports of the Office (in Ukrainian and English), Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities (in Ukrainian), the quarterly statistical review "Industrial Property in Figures. Performance indicators in the industrial property sphere" (the Internet publication "Industrial Property in Figures") are also accessible for free on the Ukrpatent website.

Information on services available to external users is provided in the first part of section 5 Promotion activities aimed to support users in access and efficient use of industrial designs information.

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

Information concerning the legal status of the registered patents of Ukraine for industrial designs to the extent prescribed by the applicable Law of Ukraine is published in the Bulletin "Industrial Property" in Notices section both on paper and in electronic form (the CD-ROM "Bulletin ‘Industrial Property’" and the DB "Electronic Version of the Cumulative Official Bulletin ‘Industrial Property’").

In addition, such information is provided in the IRS "Information on Patents of Ukraine for Industrial Designs Deemed to be Invalid or Expired" and (as an extra operational component) in the relevant section of the DB "Electronic Version of the Cumulative Official Bulletin "Industrial Property".

Other sources

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

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

In 2019 works started on creation of the comprehensive automated record keeping system for applications for designations and industrial designs (CARKS ADID).  The CARKS ADID provides for the following procedures performance:

- receipt of application documents in accordance with the established procedure by Ukrpatent;

- examination of IP right applications and issuance of relevant examiner opinions on those applications;

- preparation of draft decisions on applications for the central executive body, which ensures the formation and implementation of the state policy in the field of intellectual property;

- preparation of information for the state registration of patents, certificates and for making changes to the relevant state registers;

- preparation of information on applications, issuance of patents and certificates, as well as other relevant information for publication in official bulletins;

- technical administration of relevant state registers.

While developing the CARKS ADID, the organization of electronic interaction with relevant parties at all stages of the life cycle of an IP right was provided for: from the application filing to the acquisition of legal protection and maintenance of rights.  The specified electronic interaction occurs:

- when an applicant forms application materials for an IP right;

- when sending those materials to Ukrpatent;

- within correspondence and exchange of documents between an applicant (his representative) and Ukrpatent, as well as between Ukrpatent and the IP right owner (his representative);

- in the processes that take place in the course of Ukrpatent's document management procedures for IP rights applications;

- in the process of preparing information for the state registration of titles of protection to IP rights;

- in the processes that provide technical administration of state registers of titles of protection to IP rights;

- in the processes that ensure preparation of information for the publication of official information on the issuance of relevant titles of protection.

In 2019, the subject of automation was researched, the concepts were developed for the state registers constituting a part of the CARKS ADID, development specifications for the CARKS ADID subsystems were drafted, the System settings were made, the "Users" and the "Application Filing" modules were developed.  The developed software testing took place.

Development and implementation of the CARKS ADID is planned for 2020.

Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

The server part is based on Hewlett-Packard (HP) server x86 platforms (DL380Gen10, DL380Gen8, DL380G7, DL380G5, DL360 Gen8).

Information storage models are HP (3Par StoreServ 7200, MSA2050, MSA2040, P2000, MSA2324fc).

The Storage Area Network (SAN) is based on the HP SN3000B, HP SAN Switch 8/24.

The general network infrastructure is based on:

- the cluster made of two Checkpoint NGTP 5600 devices which contains the VPN and Firewall modules for Internet connection and provides control of access to the Internet sites and security of the Ukrpatent IT infrastructure from complex threats and harmful attacks (botnets, targeted attacks, APT attacks and zero day attacks);

- the separate Checkpoint SandBlast Appliance TE100X.  Threat Emulation device, which further prevents infection of networks from unknown sources, protects against the zero-day vulnerability and targeted attacks;

- Barracuda Spam & Virus FireWall for mail server protection;

 - internal router (designed on the Unix server) to support the Ukrpatent local computer network.

The local computer network includes the set of HP Aruba 8320, HP Aruba 2930M, HP Procurve 2910al-24G, HP 2530-48, HP 2510-48 switches and is divided into fifty virtual networks (Vlan).

The server infrastructure is completely virtualized.  The Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2016 and VMware ESXi operating system is used on physical servers which allow to create and operate the productive virtual servers.  The servers of virtualization are grouped into Hyper-V clusters which allow to organize high availability of the productive servers with the Microsoft Windows Server 2019, Microsoft Windows Server 2016, Microsoft Windows Server 2012R2, Microsoft Windows Server 2012, Microsoft Windows Server 2008R2 and CentOS 7 operating systems.

The MS SQL Server 2017, MS SQL Server 2016, MS SQL Server 2014, MS SQL 2008R2, MS SQL 2005, PostgreSQL, MySQL are used as the databases management systems.

Domain structure of the Active Directory (AD) is designed to allow the centralized management of all formation resources, including users, computers, files, peripheral devices, access to the services, network resources, websites, databases, etc.

Multiple domain controllers are used to organize the fault-tolerant domain structure.

The WSUS server provides updating of the servers and client's computers operating systems.

The ESET anti-virus server provides centralized control of all anti-virus programs on the user computers, anti-virus databases updates, report generation on database updates and existing threats.

The Veeam company software product – Veeam Backup & Replication, which ensures continuous protection for reliable recovery of virtual and physical servers, is used for data backup.  The plan of upgrading all servers and services after a failure was adjusted.

Other Microsoft System Center 2019 products, namely Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM), System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), are also used for virtualization management and for installing operating systems and to configure programs, respectively.

The activities on the IT infrastructure development, carried out over the reporting period, were aimed at building the fail-safe core of the computer network, increasing its bandwidth, security and manageability, replacing the obsolete components of a hardware part of infrastructure, consolidation and virtualization of the servers.  The servers of virtualization are integrated into clusters, which ensure high availability of all systems.

In total, the corporate network consists of 650 personal computers, 24 physical and 76 virtual servers, 10 storages of information and various switching equipment.

For the information systems users the Internet connection is provided to search and browse information.

Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources

For examination of industrial design applications the following in-house and external information sources are used:

- the database of international registrations of industrial designs.  The information is downloaded to this database from the WIPO website.

- the Central Electronic Documents Archive database providing for storage of documents and their attributes in electronic form.

The in-house databases are updated in the course of processing applications and within maintenance of the respective State Register.

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

Information concerning international registrations of industrial designs is downloaded in batches once a day from the WIPO website and stored in the database of international registrations of industrial designs.

The Industrial Designs Automated System (IDAS) database is replenished and updated in the course of examination, managing the workflow on agreements on rights transfer and license issue and maintaining the State Register by the IDAS users.

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

Other matters

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

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

In order to satisfy public needs for patent information in Ukraine necessary for studying and analysis in the process of creating, legal protection and use of IP rights, the Public Patent Documentation Collection (PPDC) functions within the structure of the Department of Patent Information Services, Consultations and Innovation Activity Promotion of Ukrpatent.  The PPDC is the most comprehensive patent library in Ukraine available to the public (Intellectual Property Office Library).

International exchange, in particular, with foreign patent offices has long remained the main source of foreign industrial property documentation of the PPDC, including information on industrial designs.  Such international cooperation allowed to accumulate a considerable amount of current and retrospective foreign patent documentation, in particular, Official Bulletins of numerous countries, primarily on optical carriers, with information on industrial designs.  The PPDC also contains methodological, information and reference and periodical editions.

During 2019 the PPDC acquisition was in progress by current publications of the foreign offices official bulletins and the Bulletin "Industrial Property" on CD-ROM.

The PPDC visitors enjoy free access to its materials in the reading room.  In 2019 the PPDC was attended by 82 users, 5 % of which were legal entities and 95 % – individuals.

Information on the contents of the PPDC and its quarterly updates was published in the Patent Information Files section on the website of Ukrpatent and its Department of Patent Information Services, Consultations and Innovation Activity Promotion (http://iii.ua/uk).

Proper storage of the PPDC documents to meet applicable requirements and guarantee their safety was ensured during 2019.

The PPDC is located on the premises of the Department of Patent Information Services, Consultations and Innovation Activity Promotion of Ukrpatent in three specially adapted and equipped areas (two depositories with a total area of 81 sq. m. and a reading room of 40 sq. m.).  The PPDC is equipped with 10 up-to-date computers with appropriate licensed software, as well as scanners, printers and xerographic copying machines.

To enable users to access to the electronic patent information resources, such as the Digital Patent Library online, the Internet access based on Wi-Fi technology was provided for users’ convenience in addition to the traditional Internet access.

All necessary consultations and services, including on the PPDC basis, both on free-of-charge and commercial basis, as well as different types of information and documentation searches, were provided by the Department of Patent Information Services, Consultations and Innovation Activity Promotion of Ukrpatent.

In particular, the PPDC provided the following services in 2019 relating to industrial designs:

- 22 consultations on drafting application materials for applications for industrial design registration;

- about 300 consultations on the correctness of the application materials drafting, including 30 consultations on industrial designs patenting;

- 15 patent searches of industrial designs;

- 7,062 title (firm) searches as for information on IP rights, including industrial designs, were made upon requests by insolvency practitioners and liquidating agents for enterprises in default, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.

Free-of-charge consultations were provided on the most efficient ways to carry out information search, search on CD-ROMs and in the free remote databases of patent documentation via the Internet and consultations on the most common issues relating to the procedure of obtaining legal protection with further detection and cessation of unlawful use of industrial designs.

Since April 2017, the WIPO Depository Library has been functioning on the basis of the Department of Patent Information Services, Consultations and Innovation Activity Promotion of Ukrpatent with the free-of-charge access to the documents.

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

The Ukrpatent website provides free access to:

- information on industrial designs published in Annual Reports, Annual Technical Reports of the Office on Industrial Design Information Activities, quarterly issues of the Internet publication "Industrial Property in Figures" (statistical information);

- the Methodological Recommendations on Certain Matters Relating to Industrial Design Applications Examination;

- WIPO Standards translated into Ukrainian (with no official status) primarily those that have the most practical value and deal with different IP right types including industrial designs (the WIPO Standards section);

- the List of Addresses of Foreign Databases Accessible Free of Charge on the Internet and the List of Scientific and Technical Databases and Reference Resources Accessible Free of Charge which are quarterly updated in the Hyperlinks section.

Periodicals, e.g. the scientific and practical magazine "Intellectual Property in Ukraine", which is distributed as a paper and electronic edition over the territory of Ukraine by subscription, publish articles (including by the specialists of the state system of intellectual property legal protection) on various matters, in particular relating to legal protection of industrial designs.  The printed edition of the magazine is available for free at the PPDC of the Department of Patent Information Services, Consultations and Innovation Activity Promotion of Ukrpatent.

The list of articles, speeches, slide presentations, methodical recommendations and practical manuals on topical issues of intellectual property, prepared by specialists of Ukrpatent for the period from 2004 to 2019, is available on the website of Ukrpatent.  A certain part of the documents is available in electronic form.

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

Over the reporting year, with the purpose of updating patent collections of certain organizations of Ukraine (bodies of the national system of scientific and technical information, in particular the state and national libraries and universities, departments of which are entrusted with the appropriate patent information functions, including business innovative centers of universities) the Bulletin "Industrial Property" on CD-ROM was sent free of charge to the specified ones and some other organizations of Ukraine in accordance with the approved registries of free-of-charge distribution.

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

Significant attention was paid to the skills upgrading of experts of the state system of intellectual property legal protection.

Detailed information on activities of the state system of intellectual property legal protection is published on the Ukrpatent website, in particular, in the quarterly issues of the Internet publication "Industrial Property in Figures", in the 2019 Annual Report.

Other activities

In 2019 the Department of Patent Information Services, Consultations and Innovation Activity Promotion of Ukrpatent ensured functioning of the Industrial Property Internet Exchange which aims to promote domestic IP rights on the market, to encourage inventive and innovative activities, to increase the level of public awareness on the intellectual property significance, to inform the wide range of stakeholders.

The Industrial Property Internet Exchange is available at http://exchange.iii.ua/en.

VI.INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION

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

The functions of patent documentation international exchange are performed by Ukrpatent, recognized in 2003 by the law as the Centre of International Exchange of Publications according to the Convention on International Exchange of Publications, adopted on December 3, 1958 by the UN General Conference on the matters of education, science and culture.

In 2019, in the framework of international exchange of patent documentation, Ukrpatent:

- received official bulletins from foreign patent offices containing, in particular, information on industrial designs;

- sent the Bulletin "Industrial Property" on CD-ROM containing information concerning industrial designs to 6 foreign patent offices;

- provided access to the Bulletin "Industrial Property" via the FTP-server for the patent offices of Japan, Austria and for Rospatent.

Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to industrial design information

In 2019 the Ministry and Ukrpatent representatives took part in the work of the various WIPO decision-making bodies as well as sessions and meetings of Committees and Working Groups.

Within the framework of international cooperation, Ukrpatent specialists participated (online) in the activities of three Task Forces of the Committee on WIPO Standards (CWS) on the development of new WIPO Standards and other CWS projects:

- Legal Status Task Force;

- Part 7 Task Force (Handbook on Industrial Property Information and Documentation);

- Public Access to Patent Information Task Force.

Assistance to developing countries

Other activities

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS

One of the priority objectives of the examination body is to ensure effective functioning of the Quality Management System (QMS) of the examination procedure for industrial property rights applications introduced in 2012 at Ukrpatent.  Certificate No. 321012076/2 concerning the Ukrpatent QMS compliance with the requirements of the ISO 9001:2015 international standard is valid till September 14, 2021.

In August 2019, the independent certification organization carried out the inspection (supervisory audit) of the QMS compliance with the requirements of the ISO 9001: 2015 standard at Ukrpatent.  According to the results of the inspection, the QMS meets the requirements of the ISO 9001: 2015 standard.

In 2019, there were no significant changes in the functioning of the Ukrpatent QMS.