Annual Technical Report on Patent Information Activities in 2015 submitted by Rospatent

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

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

Development of information technology (hereinafter referred to as ‘IT’) is being carried out in five main areas:

- electronic record keeping;

- optimization of record-keeping processes;

- development of decision-support systems;

- development of hardware and software infrastructure;

- inter-departmental electronic interaction.

The following have been published on the Rospatent website:

• Public declaration of the aims and objectives of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property for 2015: http://www.rupto.ru/about/opengov/publ_dec-2015.pdf;
• Informatization Plan for the 2015 fiscal year and 2016 and 2017 planning period: http://www.rupto.ru/docs/orders_rospatent/prikaz_rosp_25_01_2016_7.pdf;
• Rospatent Plan to implement the concept of openness of federal executive authorities for 2015, taking into account the ‘planning horizon’ to 2018:

http://www.rupto.ru/about/opengov/plan_otk_2015.pdf.

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

In order to enable electronic record-keeping during the provision of State services, the following work was undertaken at the Federal Institute of Industrial Property (hereinafter referred to as FIPS) in 2015:

-   operability and fitness for purpose of FIPS information systems and resources was ensured, including the Electronic State Registers for Inventions and Utility Models (hereinafter referred to as EGR).

-   a system for official Internet publication of information on intellectual property subject matter from the EGR was implemented and trialed.

-   expert departments were re-deployed to the preparation of electronic correspondence and electronic signing thereof in the automated information system of paperless prosecution of invention examinations.

-   the automated paperless prosecution system of electronic document flow of the FIPS Chamber of Patent Disputes (PPS) for court decision record-keeping was improved.

-   Operation continued of the PCT Electronic Applications Library automated system.

-   Operation continued of the system for filing and receiving electronic invention applications. The electronic invention application filing service has been integrated with the automated information system of paperless prosecution of invention examinations.

-   Operation continued of an automated paperless prosecution system for examining applications to amend entries in the registers for inventions and utility models (including extending and renewing the validity of a patent) (Patent Prosecution).

-   The transition to paperless prosecution has had a positive influence on the work of expert staff and interaction between subdivisions involved in registration activities. The transition to electronic prosecution has seen a gradual decline in the use of paper-based information, a reduction in the time taken to process documents and search for required information, thereby leading ultimately to increased productivity and better public awareness of patent rights and amendments thereto, as well as the status of patent documents.

In 2015, the State Register of Russian Federation Inventions (EGR IZ) and the State Register of Russian Federation Utility Models (EGR PM) records continued to be completed. As of the end of 2015, the registers contained:

- EGR IZ: 125,517 patents;

- EGR PM: 41,010 patents.

In order to ensure the completeness of foreign documentation submitted and uploaded onto the PatSearch system, incoming documentation is constantly monitored. As gaps are detected in the arrays of documentation, a request is sent promptly to the relevant foreign patent office; receipt of data is constantly being monitored.

During 2015, work was carried out on populating data; after formal verification fitness for purpose, completeness, and compliance with specifications on the website, some errors were identified. After verifying downloaded data during 2015, errors were detected in the arrays of Germany, Canada, China, Republic of Korea, and CIS (74,587 documents). All errors were corrected by re-uploading the data. As part of the previously signed agreements with foreign offices on data exchange and other written agreements, work is ongoing to ensure the quality and completeness of the upload onto the system.  

In 2015, the Rospatent and FIPS websites provided access to a wide range of databases, including official electronic publications.

The content and structure of the website, representing Rospatent’s activity within its terms of reference (www.rupto.ru) reflect the most important issues in relation to the functioning of the system of intellectual property protection in Russia. Regulations and press releases are regularly posted on events relating to Rospatent activity and events in the system of intellectual property protection. In order to increase usage of electronic services, a new section, Leaders of Electronic Filing of Applications, has been opened. A new heading, Traditional and Regional Foreign Patenting Procedures, has been created. The headings, Small and Medium-Sized Businesses on Protection and Use of the Results of Intellectual Activity (RIA), and Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH), were developed further. In accordance with the principles of openness, the sections on Public Procurement, Fees, Anti-Corruption, Rospatent Commission for Compliance with Requirements for Official Conduct of Civil Servants and Regulating Conflicts of Interest, and Monitoring and Supervision in Legal Protection and Use of RIA were updated. In the Open Data section, 10 sets of data have been posted in a format that ensures automated processing thereof for the purposes of re-use thereof without prior amendment by a person (machine-readable format), and on the terms of its open (free) use.

Along with the Rospatent website, the FIPS website (www.fips.ru) likewise developed rapidly in 2015, focusing on comprehensive support for users at various stages of legal protection and intellectual property protection. The Personal Area service of the FIPS Internet portal has been updated in terms of integration with the Unified System of Identification and Authentication. Materials have been posted in the Patent Information Products section, to help focus users on effective use of information products offered for searching and analysing patent information.

In the All-Russian Patent and Technical Library Division (hereinafter, ‘VPTB’) section of the FIPS website, the following headings are regularly updated: Thematic meetings, Internet navigator for patent information resources, Guide to VPTB collections and Internet resources, Bibliographical indexes and lists, Recommendations on the list of essential methodology, legal and patent literature and documentation for the provision of documents for the patent subdivisions and services of the State science and education sector and organizations forming the national nanotechnology network, and translations into Russian of the EPO publication, Patent Information News.

The Directory of Technology and Innovation Support Centers as at November 30, 2015, which includes a list of services provided by these centers, is published in the Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC) section.

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

At present, applicants and representatives thereof may interact with FIPS electronically using services provided on the FIPS website (www.fips.ru) and on the State Services Portal. (www.gosuslugi.ru).

The FIPS website enables electronic filing of applications for inventions and utility models, as well as electronic correspondence through the ‘Personal Office’ service for applications for inventions and utility models filed previously. 

Approximately 11,868 trademark applications were filed electronically in 2015 (c.27 per cent of the total number of trademark applications).  In addition, in the Personal Office section on the FIPS website, approximately 2,000 prosecution cases were opened for electronic correspondence.

In 2015, the following measures were taken to increase the number of applications filed electronically:

-   reliability of the electronic filing system and ease of use thereof were increased;

-   use of electronic filing software services was enabled;

-   use of electronic filing of applications was promoted;

-   newsletters were sent to organizations proposing the use of electronic services for filing applications;

-   thematic meetings were held and advisory user support systems for electronic filing were offered;

-   electronic filing through TISC was organized.

Much attention was paid to Rospatent’s participation in the programs initiated by the RF Government:

-   Unified State and Municipal Services (Functions) Portal (hereinafter, ‘EPGU’);

-   inter-agency electronic interaction system (hereinafter, ‘SMEV’), including the transition to electronic interaction with the Treasury;

-   creating a basic State information resource (hereinafter, ‘BGIR’);

-   participating in the establishment of unified electronic government infrastructure by connecting Rospatent’s automated systems to the Unified System of Identification and Authentication (hereinafter, ‘ESIA’).

As at January 1, 2015, descriptions of 13 State services provided by Rospatent had been posted on EPGU. All services offer the required forms for applications, and information on how to access services, as well as offering the option to file applications electronically for all of Rospatent’s State services. 

As a result of changes in the List of State services (functions) and updating of legal acts regulating the provision of Rospatent’s State services, work was carried out in 2015 to make the relevant amendments to the Federal Register of State and Municipal Services (hereinafter, ‘FRGU’).  

Interaction with the federal executive authorities is provided using the inter-agency electronic interaction system. Version 2.4.4 of the SMEV web-service was developed and registered in a production environment in compliance with methodological guidelines for the development of eleсtronic services and use of electronic signature technology in the course of inter-agency electronic interaction.

In February 2015, the web-service was transferred to a new software and hardware platform using virtualization technology, enabling the operational capacity of the web-service to be increased, and the requirements of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation on ensuring accessibility thereof.

In 2015, work was carried out to update the ‘Personal Office’ service of the FIPS internet portal in respect of integration with the Unified System of Identification and Authentication (hereinafter, ‘ESIA’) in order to comply with the Guidelines on the use of ESIA version 2.5.

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

Inventions

Data relating to the filing of applications and the grant of Russian Federation invention patents for 2014-2015 are presented in Table 1.

Table 1

From Table 1, above, it can be seen that 2015 saw growth in both the number of applications filed (12.92%), and in invention patents granted (2.23%) in comparison to 2014.

The invention patents granted in 2015 were distributed according to the IPC sections as follows:

Table 2

The largest number of patents for inventions granted in 2015 was, as in 2014, to Russian applicants for Section A of the International Patent Classification (IPC) – Human Necessities; this year, this section was the most popular for both foreign and Russian applicants.

The least popular Section among Russian and foreign applicants alike remains Section D – Textiles and Paper.  The number of patents granted for this Section in 2015 comprised only 0.8 per cent of the overall number of patents granted for inventions.

Utility models

Тable 3

In 2015, the number of applications received for utility models fell.  The number of applications received decreased by 14.66 per cent, and this decline was seen both in applications filed by domestic applicants (12.28 per cent), and, to a significant extent, by foreigners (almost halved). However, the proportion of the overall number of applications filed by foreign applicants is insignificant, at approximately 4 per cent. The total number of patents granted likewise declined, by 31.13 per cent.

Data on the distribution of patents for utility models by IPC Section are presented below.

Table 4

The leading IPC Section in 2015 remained Section B – Performing Operations and Transporting – while second place was taken by Section A – Human Necessities. As in 2014, Section D – Textiles and Paper – continued to be the least in demand, with the lowest number of certificates granted.

Over 3,000 applications for inventions and utility models were filed electronically during 2015; for inventions- 2,694 (over 6 per cent of the total number of invention applications), and for utility models- 629 (approximately 5.5 per cent of the total number of utility-model applications).

2,215 new prosecution cases were opened through the Personal Office service of the FIPS website, in order to conduct correspondence electronically, while 350 new users accessed the service. The growth in electronic filing of applications for inventions and utility models is presented in the diagram below:

The main factors influencing the substantial growth in electronic filing of applications in 2015 were the promotion of electronic interaction with Rospatent, and the implementation of a number of projects to integrate electronic filing systems with the prosecution systems of applicants and representatives thereof.

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

The following pages of the Office’s websites contain:

• Information on patent legislation- Regulation section: http://www.rupto.ru/docs;

• Office Annual Report- Rospatent Annual Reports section: http://www.rupto.ru/about/reports;

• Statistical information- Statistical Data section: http://www.rupto.ru/about/stat;

• Monitoring of the quantitative and qualitative indicators for the main activities of FIPS in 2015 is provided on the FIPS website in the FIPS Main Activities section: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/about/osn_deyat;

• Links section: http://www.rupto.ru/links;

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/link_resources;

• Rospatent News: http://www.rupto.ru/press/news;
• FIPS News:http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/news/.

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT 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

One of the most important tasks of a patent office, including Rospatent, is to provide an environment conducive with filing patent applications for industrial property subject matter, thereby promoting inventive activity in the country.

The main measures aimed at addressing this issue include:

• posting instructional materials necessary for preparing and filing applications for all types of industrial property on the Rospatent website;
• providing advice on matters relating to the registration and filing of applications;
• providing opportunities for all categories of users to work with the GPF and other patent information products available in the Library free-of-charge;
• holding thematic meetings on topical IP issues (including Rospatent systems for receipt of applications for industrial property, including how to submit applications electronically);
• conducting internships and training for work with patent documentation, etc.

Users of the FIPS website have access to user and technical documentation on setting up and operating an electronic application filing service for the grant of patents for inventions and utility models, and corresponding electronically using the ‘Personal Office’ service: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/el_zayav/

Answers to frequently asked questions are posted on a section of the FIPS website.

Service users may contact the Technical Support Service during working hours at helpdesk@rupto.ru to obtain professional help from technical specialists.

The web page addresses of Office websites providing information on filing applications are as follows:

• Administrative regulations for the performance by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks of State functions in relation to organizing receipt of invention applications, and review and examination thereof, and grant in the established manner of Russian Federation invention patents:  

http://www.rupto.ru/docs/regulations/Pritm_zajavok_na_izobretenie#1;

• Administrative regulations for the provision by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property of State services relating to the State registration of utility models, and grant of patents in respect of utility models, and duplicates thereof:  

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_mert/prik_mert_702_30092015#adm;

• Rules for compiling, filing and reviewing documents which constitute the basis for performing legally significant acts concerning the State registration of utility models, and the form thereof:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_mert/prikmert_701_30092015#adm;

• Requirements relating to documents included in the application for grant of a utility-model patent:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_mert/prik_mert_701_30092015#4;

• Information on the grant of a utility-model patent published in the Office Gazette of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_mert/prik_mert_701_30092015#11

Administrative regulations for the provision by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property of the State service relating to access to application documents for grant of a patent for an invention, utility model, or industrial design, and issuance of copies of said documents: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_mert/prik_mert_615_28_08_2015#adm_regl_oz

• Procedure for accessing application documents relating to applications for grant of a patent for an invention, utility model, or industrial design, and issuance of copies of said documents:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_mert/prik_mert_614_28082015#poryadok    

• Guidelines on issues concerning examination of applications for inventions and utility models:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inventions_utility_models/rec_inv;

• Specimen Applications and Requests, and Completed Examples section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/file_library/obr_zaya/;

•  Electronic Interaction with Applicants section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/el_zayav/;

• The ‘Personal Office’ service facilitates correspondence on stage of prosecution for applications filed both in hard-copy, and using the electronic application filing services:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/el_zayav/pers_kab;

• Fees section: http://www.rupto.ru/activities/dues/;
• Fee calculator: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/poshl_s/k_phttp://www.rupto.ru/activities/dues/patduty/pat_poshl;
• Patent Law subject matter section: http://www.rupto.ru/activities/objects;
• For Beginners section: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/about/new
• Frequently Asked Questions section: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/about/right_vopr.

Details of seminars and other similar events held in 2015 can be found in Part 5(e).

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

Access is provided on the Rospatent and FIPS websites to the following resources:

-   A database of invention applications filed between 2007 and 2015 (containing a brief summary of the prosecution of 381,000 applications, and updated daily).

-   A database of applications for industrial designs filed between 2007 and 2015 (containing a brief summary of the prosecution of 115,000 applications, and updated daily).

As part of the automated paperless prosecution information system for examining inventions, access is provided to primary materials for applications for inventions and utility models, versions of the application components (invention claims, descriptions), bibliographic data and versions of documents sent to applicants, images of incoming correspondence, and outgoing correspondence, signed electronically.

Classification¹, preclassification² (if applicable), reclassification³ activities; classification systems used (e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC)); matters concerning indexing of patent information

With regard to improvement of International Patent Classification (IPC), in 2015 Rospatent prepared a new, complete version of IPC 2016.01, and published it electronically in Russian for in-house use, and produced an online publication for external users of patent information. For that purpose, Rospatent specialists processed a total of 1,424 corrections to the previous edition of IPC-2015:

- New headings incorporated: 1039                           

- Old headings deleted:175

- Headings amended, with subsequent reclassification of documents contained therein: 70

- Headings amended, without subsequent reclassification of documents contained therein: 130.

In accordance with the newly created IPC classification scheme definitions, informative links have been removed from these schemes.

In 2015, as part of the work conducted by WIPO to improve IPC, Rospatent prepared comments and proposals on the following projects: M760 (for the entire text), M757 (sub-class A61F), F027 (sub-class A23P), F032 (sub-class G06F), F008 (group A61B19/00), C466 (sub-class A61B), and F026 (sub-class A23K).

Reclassification of the retrospective part of the national collection of patent documents for the new edition of IPC 2016.01 is in the process of completion.

In 2015, training of FIPS examiners continued in the classification rules of current patent documents using the Joint Patent Classification (JPC). Checkboxes for JPC headings are planned to begin in 2016 in parallel with the IPC headings, on all current applications for inventions and utility models.

In 2015, as in previous years, FIPS examiners used indexing codes for classifying additional information on national patent documents.

In 2015, the preliminary assignment of an IPC classification to applications for inventions and utility models received by FIPS was continued, in order to send them to the appropriate examination division for substantive examination of applications for inventions and the examination of utility models.

In 2015, 38,875 applications for inventions and 11,193 applications for utility models were assigned a preliminary classification index before being forwarded to the appropriate examination divisions.

International applications received by the International Patent Cooperation Division of Rospatent in its role as an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examining Authority are assigned a preliminary IPC index classification, which determines the appropriate examination division for each application.  In 2015, 2,345 international applications were assigned a preliminary classification index before being forwarded to the appropriate examination divisions for the purposes of conducting an international search.

Abstracting, reviewing, and translation of the information contained in patent documents

In 2015, abstracts continued to be published in Russian and English for RF patents granted for inventions as part of the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette. The Gazette is posted on the FIPS website. In addition, abstracts in Russian are published as part of the publication Descriptions of Inventions for RF Patents on paper (identical to publications in the Gazette posted on the website).

With the aim of providing examiners and other categories of users with comfortable conditions when working with foreign patent documentation, immediate translation assistance is provided for patent documentation, both from Russian into other languages and from other languages into Russian, in both written and oral form.

In connection with carrying out significant work to translate foreign documents on all issues related to intellectual property, the All-Russian Patent and Technical Library Division (hereinafter, ‘VPTB’) VPTB works actively to supplement thematic dictionaries on the latest subjects. In 2015, approximately 3,500 dictionary entries were prepared that are used when working in the VPTB display room.

VPTB performs translation from foreign languages and prepares summaries of foreign legal and patent literature.  In 2015, the titles of articles, books and prepared summaries of 3,527 publications of interest to specialists in legal protection of intellectual property were translated into Russian.  The amount of legislation from foreign countries translated in 2015 was approximately 874 pages (Austria, Vietnam, Germany, Israel, Republic of Korea, USA, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland).

The results of this work are entered into an electronic catalog of legal and patent literature, ‘Legal Protection of Intellectual Property: National and Foreign Publications. The electronic version of the catalog, containing details of publications dating from 1992 to the present day, is available on the FIPS website in the VPTB Division section, and is accessible to remote users online. This catalog comprised 94,700 documents as of January 1, 2016.

Other activities

III. SOURCES OF PATENT INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Main types of publications of the Office (patent applications, full text, first pages, abstracts, bibliographic data, granted patents, etc.), medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)

Table 5 contains data on the main types of Office publications in the field of patent information, carriers and also the frequency of publications.

Тable 5

During 2015, the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette has been posted on the website of the Federal State Budgetary Institution, the Federal Institute of Industrial Property, which is subordinate to Rospatent, in the Official Publications section, and is freely available, constituting a functional and comprehensive information source. The ISSN number is 2313-7436.

Gazette documents are in PDF format. 

The web page addresses of the Office’s websites providing information concerning Office publications are as follows:

• Regulations on the official publications of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, in the Patent Information Products section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/publishing_activities/publication_act_new;

• Official Publications section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/ofic_pub/;

• Catalog of Publications and Databases in the Patent Information Products section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/publishing_activities/.

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

The Official Gazette, Inventions and Utility Models, is published three times per month.

The forms of notifications on inventions and utility models published in the Rospatent Official Gazette, Inventions and Utility Models, are presented in Table 6:

 Table 6

 The addresses of web pages of the Office’s site providing access to online publications:

• Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/ofic_pub/ofic_bul/iz_pm;

• In the Information Resources section, International Classifications subsection:
  http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/international_classification/;
• Open Registers of Russian Patent Documents: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/.

From the above page, a user may refer to the following resources by means of the appropriate link:

Register of Inventions of the Russian Federation

Register of Utility Models of the Russian Federation

Register of Applications for the Grant of a Russian Federation Invention Patent

Register of Applications for the Grant of a Russian Federation Utility Model Patent.

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

Examiners primarily gain access to patent information through the in-house search system, PatSearch. The search arrays of the PatSearch system include patent documents from Russia and the USSR going back to 1924, of the CIS countries, foreign countries in the PCT minimum documentation, as well as a DWPI array. If the information contained in the PatSearch system is insufficient, examiners may consult patent-office databases that are freely available on the Internet (mainly Espacenet, PATENTSCOPE, EAPATIS, and the databases of USPTO and the patent office of Japan). In order to view correspondence relating to applications in the patent offices of Japan and Korea, examiners can access the AIPN and K-PION databases, respectively.  Furthermore, in 2015, one FIPS workstation was connected to the EPO search system, EpoqueNet.

Where necessary, examiners perform searches in commercial databases.  These are mainly databases provided through the STN International platform.  These databases are generally consulted during searches on chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. In 2015, more than 800 searches of this type were carried out.

Examiners have access to the VINITI commercial abstracts database. It contains arrays of Russian abstracts of sources of domestic and foreign scientific and technical literature (periodicals and serial publications, books, dissertations, conference materials, theses, patents, legal documents, and deposited scientific work), of which Russian sources comprise 30%.

In addition, examiners may perform information searches in any source freely available on the Internet.

Electronic resources of non-patent literature, including those acquired on a commercial basis, are available to Office experts via the inter-library subscription service, and electronic document delivery systems.

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

VPTB users have access to Rospatent’s automated information-search system, PatSearch, and the Eurasian Patent Office’s EAPATIS search systems, the European Patent Office’s Global Patent Index, etc. 

In 2015, patent information subscribers were presented with the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette, based on official Rospatent information, with full descriptions of inventions for RF patents on electronic CD/DVD carrier with search system. They are distributed with a frequency of 36 issues (disks) per year. 

For new subscribers, and also for the purposes of keeping patent collections up to date, the series of the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette with full descriptions of inventions for RF patents published in previous years (2012-2014) were offered on CD/DVD.

In addition, in the interests of users, the following information products were distributed:

• Annual retrospective sets of invention descriptions for USSR authors certificates and RF patents, from 1924 to 2012, on DVD (a total of 112 disks);
• An information-search system for invention descriptions for RF patents in Russian and English, from 1994 to 2015, on DVD - quarterly and cumulative;
• Title pages of utility model descriptions for RF documents providing protection, from 1994 to 2015, on DVD - quarterly and cumulative;
• Descriptions of utility models for RF documents providing protection from 1994 to 2014 on DVD- quarterly and cumulative (14 disks);
• Patent invention descriptions on paper – 34,865 units;
• Title pages of utility model descriptions on paper - 9,014 units;
• Rospatent Annual Report for 2012 on CD (on paper for international exchange).

In addition, the International Patent Classification, edition 2015.01 (IPC-2015.01), alphabetical subject indexes on CD, and the Rospatent Annual Report on CD (on paper for international exchange) were published.

Most products on CD and DVD were distributed with MIMOSA software, allowing all forms of patent searches to be carried out.

On the basis of official information relating to inventions and utility models, thematic databases are produced for users on CD on special request.

In 2015, access to the electronic version of the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette was provided on the FIPS website, while the registers of Russian inventions and utility models continued to be updated, and details of the legal status thereof were provided.

Also on the Internet, users are granted free access to information on applications for the grant of Russian Federation invention and utility model patents.  Information on the prosecution of applications is available for applications received after January 1, 2007.

In 2015, the FIPS website provided access to:

1)      the information-search system (IPS) for domestic patent documentation;

2)      the Open Registers information resource, an information reference source which can be used by any person to search for information concerning a patent granted, or the stage of prosecution for applications filed at Rospatent. Reference information is structured by patent number, or application registration number by:    

-  registers of Russian patent documents relating to inventions and utility models;

-  registers containing information on the prosecution of applications filed in 2007-2015 for the grant of invention and utility model patents;

3)    the Rospatent Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazettes.

Rospatent Internet resources are compiled in the following databases:

-  a full-text database of Russian inventions (contains information on 663,000 invention patents from 1994 to 2015 inclusive, updated three times per month);

-  a retrospective database of Russian patent documents in facsimile form (contains information on 1,433,000 patent documents for inventions from 1924 to 1993 inclusive);

-  an abstracts database for Russian inventions (contains information on 663,000 patents for inventions from 1994 to 2015 inclusive, updated three times per month);

-  a database of published applications for inventions (contains information on 476,000 applications for inventions from 1994 to 2015 inclusive, updated three times per month);

-  an abstracts database for Russian inventions in English (contains information on 603,000 invention patents from 1994 to 2015 inclusive, updated three times per month);

-  a full-text database of Russian utility models (contains information on 158,000 Russian utility model certificates and patents from 1996 to 2015 inclusive, updated quarterly);

-  an abstracts database for Russian utility models (contains information on 158,000 Russian utility model certificates and patents from 1996 to 2015 inclusive, updated three times per month);

-  a future-oriented inventions database (contains information on 1,530 patents for inventions that are recognized by FIPS as promising, updated once per quarter);

-  a database of invention applications filed from 2007 to 2015 (contains information on the prosecution of 381,000 applications, updated daily);

-  a database of utility model applications filed from 2007 to 2015 (contains information on the prosecution of 115,000 applications, updated daily).

Users’ work with the information-search system

Office examiners are given the possibility to work with all inventions and utility models databases. 

Access for external users to full-text inventions and utility models databases is granted on a contractual basis.

In 2015, as part of the cooperation agreements between Rospatent and relevant organizations, access was granted:

in relation to full-text inventions and utility models databases, to:

• ­   152 organizations, as part of the Rospatent Program of Cooperation with regions of the Russian Federation
• ­   36 organizations participating in the implementation of the State project to develop nanotechnologies
• ­   126 Technology and Innovation Support Centers
• ­   2 organizations of Rostekhnologiya

in relation to all FIPS databases, to:

• ­   101 organizations of the Federal Service of Court Bailiffs
• ­   223 organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
• ­   11 organizations of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service
• ­   16 organizations of the Ministry of Defense
• ­   95 organizations of the taxation service
• ­   44 users of the Court for Intellectual Property Rights
• ­   2 users of the Federal Agency for the Supply of Arms, Military and Special Equipment and Supplies, RosOboronPostavka
• ­   2 organizations of the Federal Customs Service
• ­   4 users of the Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations

External users are provided free of charge with the following databases:

in relation to inventions:

• ­  abstracts databases in Russian and English,
• ­  a database of published invention applications,
• ­  a future-oriented inventions database,
• ­  a full-text database containing information on RF invention patents No.2503161, published in the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette;
• ­  the IPC database

in relation to utility models:

• ­  a database containing information on RF utility model patents No.136275, published in the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette;
• ­  an abstracts database;
• ­  the IPC database.

In 2015, internal and external users made more than 5,833,000 requests to the IPC, of which:

• ­   Approximately 122,000 by internal database users;
• ­   more than 5,711,000 by external database users

Users’ Work with Registers of Russian Patent Documents

Users of registers are provided with free access to all patent documents of Rospatent’s Internet resources.

In 2015, internal and external users of registers made 40% of the overall number of requests (more than 40,628,000 requests).

Users’ Work with Rospatent Official Gazettes

Users are provided with free access to Rospatent’s Inventions and Utility Designs Gazettes.

Access is provided to all Gazettes published since January, 2014.

In 2015, users accessed Rospatent Gazettes on more than 4,023,000 occasions.

The addresses of web pages of the Office’s site containing information on information products and services provided by the Office:

• Rospatent Patent and Information Resources section:

http://www.rupto.ru/about/resources?inf_res;

• Information on subscribing to patent information products – in the Patent Information Products section: Catalog of Publications and Databases:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/publishing_activities/;

How to Access Publications and Databases subsection :

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/publishing_activities/porayad_pr/;

• How to carry out a search – in the Information Resources section, Information-Search System sub-section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system;

Open Registers: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/;

Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette, in the Official Publications section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/ofic_pub/ofic_bul/iz_pm;

• Patent databases- Databases subsection in the Information-Search System section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_2/;

Information on how to access and use resources – in the Information-Search System section,
Services:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/article_6/;

Support:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_4/;

Instructions for Using an Information-Search System sub-sections:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_1a/.

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

All patent documents in Russian databases contain information on current legal status that is updated three times a month.

The Automated Database (ADB) subsystems to determine legal status use the given official publications containing information on new registrations of protection titles and changes.  Following publication of each Gazette, data on legal status are displayed on the Rospatent site in the Information Resources section.  For inventions and utility models patent status may be “valid”, “may terminate validity”, “validity terminated, but may be restored”, and “validity terminated”.

Information on the legal status of inventions and utility models is published in Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazettes (on CD/DVD), in the paper Gazette and on the Rospatent site:

- information on the grant of RF patents for inventions and utility models;

- information on amendments to the published information on applications for inventions and to entries in the State Registers of Inventions and Utility Models (Notifications section of the Gazette).

Information is provided in the Information Resources section of the Office’s website on registrations with an indication of the legal status or stage of prosecution of the registered subject matter in the Open Registers: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/.

Other sources

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

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

In order to support the computer network’s system software at the required level, work was carried out in 2015 to transfer a number of domain controllers to the new versions of the server operating systems, thereby enhancing the level of IT security.

In 2015, work continued on developing hardware and software to ensure industry experts and employees of functional departments could work securely in a remote location. The number of FIPS employees working remotely increased from 132 in 2014, to 178 in 2015.

In 2015, in order to improve the accessibility of State services provided by Rospatent, a hardware and software system was installed and configured which enables remote examination of claims and objections in the Chamber for Patent Disputes for inhabitants of the regions. Participation in the hearing is provided through a browser, and no additional software installation is required for external participants. Implementation of the system received a favourable response among patent attorneys.

In 2015, Rospatent examiners used the Information-Search System, PatSearch, for invention and utility model examinations. The PatSearch system is a professional search system for patent office examiners to perform searches when examining inventions and utility models. As a result, a wide range of functions and services has been introduced into the system.

Below is a list of the main functions of the system:

- Search in selected arrays

- Index browsing when preparing a request

- Sample analysis (statistics on search results)

- Document viewer (with highlighting of search terms)

- Two-window document viewing

- Print documents

- Export documents

- Consideration of IPC reform and subsequent reclassification

- Search based on the IPC and SPS, as well as the Thomson Reuters (Derwent) classification.

- Multilingual machine translation (including translation of a selection of the document or the whole document, and separate translation of query)

- Analysis of search results (including cluster analysis and construction of semantic networks)

- Espacenet search

- E-Library search

- Amino acid and nucleotide sequence search in the European data bank, EMBL.

In 2015, additional tools were developed in the PatSearch system to search by number range in text boxes.  This includes the PatSearch system providing a number range search in the form of an error message.

The PatSearch system also supports searches of non-patent literature in external sources, including searches of genetic sequences on the European Bioinformatics Institute website. In addition to PatSearch, all examiners enjoy free access to all foreign patent office search databases, and to several databases of non-patent literature.

Extensive use has been made of the opportunity to document search histories, including an indication of search arrays, search query transcripts, and the number of documents located and viewed, as well as a list of documents included in the examiner’s final selection.

Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

Equipment used:

Fujitsu M10-4S server

(RAM – 64GB, processors – 20, external memory – 24 TB)

HP DL380 server – 42 units

(RAM – 4GB, processors - 2, external memory – 200 GB)

HP DL580 server – 18 units

(RAM – 16GB, processors - 4, external memory - 600 GB)

HP, Fujitsu-Siemens workstations – 1,105 units.

Switching equipment:

Cisco 6503, Cisco 4507

Software:

Solaris, Windows XP, Windows 7,

Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008 Server, Windows 2012 Server operating systems.

Carriers used:

Ultrium magnetic tapes.

Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources

In 2015, the main search tool was Rospatent’s in-house search system, PatSearch, which is available at each examiner’s workstation.  The search array of PatSearch includes patent documentation from Russia, the USSR, and CIS countries, and countries included in PCT minimum documentation, as well as an array from DWPI. A total of 70 million original patent documents have been uploaded onto PatSearch. Full descriptions of patent documents not yet loaded onto the system may be viewed via integrated online referral to EPO arrays.

The PatSearch system supports searches of non-patent literature in external sources: searches of genetic sequences on the European Bioinformatics Institute website, and searches of scientific and technical literature on the website of the Electronic Scientific Library of the Russian Foundation of Basic Research, eLIBRARY.RU.

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

The main source of information for the principal functions of Rospatent is the State Patent Collection (GPF).

The main source for establishing the State Patent Collection (GPF), including its electronic PatSearch system content, is the international exchange of patent documentation. At present, international exchange continues to exist and evolve in a new format using new information technology based on PatSearch requirements, and ensures the GPF is updated free of charge.  

Foreign patent documentation obtained using FTP may be loaded onto the PatSearch system from the websites or specialist Internet resources of foreign patent offices or organizations.

In 2015, information was uploaded onto the PatSearch system from all arrays of patent documentation from PCT minimum countries, as well as an update of the DWPI array.  Arrays of patent documentation have been uploaded onto the system from the USSR and Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), PCT, the European Patent Office (EPO), the United States of America, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Australia, ARIPO, OAPI, and the Republic of Korea, and English-language abstracts and patent documents from Japan and other countries. 

System search arrays

• DWPI array
• Descriptions of USSR inventions from 1924 to 1993
• Descriptions of RF inventions from 1994 to date
• Claims of RF utility models from 1994 (No. 1) to date
• Claims of Russian invention applications
• Unpublished Russian invention applications
• Abstracts of patent documents from the world’s leading countries in English (DWPI)
• Descriptions of inventions from PCT minimum countries, including:
• PCT applications
• EPO
• United States of America
• Japan
• Germany
• United Kingdom
• Canada
• France
• Austria
• Australia
• Switzerland
• Republic of Korea
• China
• ARIPO
• OAPI

Descriptions of inventions from CIS countries with abstracts in Russian (CISPATENT)

A total of more than 113 million patent documents.

VPTB users also enjoy access to the GPI EPO system, and electronic non-patent literature resources: Kluwer IP Law, Elsevier, etc.

The GPF is one of the most accessible and highest-quality patent collections in the world.  The patent documentation of GPF is provided on all carrier types – optical disks, local networks, paper, and micro-carriers.

A significant part of the GPF is available on optical disks (58,800 optical disks as at January 1, 2016) and the collection is formed, mainly, from traditional international exchange of patent documentation with foreign patent offices. The patent collection on optical disks contains patent documentation from Russia, the PCT minimum countries, CIS, the international organizations, WIPO, EPO, and EAPO, as well as Denmark, Spain, Serbia, Slovenia, and Finland, etc.; patent documentation is made available to all categories of users in the VPTB display class.

The collection of optical disks is stored in metal cupboards.  Information on disk locations (cupboard number, shelf number, etc.), their usage history, possible exchanges and so on are available in a special technology database.  Work with this collection is free of charge for all categories of users in the VPTB display class.

Information downloaded from the FTP servers is temporarily stored on the local network before being subsequently uploaded onto PatSearch.

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 PATENT INFORMATION

Patent library: equipment, collection management, network of patent libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign patent libraries

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

Office's initiatives on providing foreign patent information in the local language(s) (e.g., machine translation tools, translation of abstracts)

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

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

Other activities

VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF PATENT INFORMATION

International exchange and sharing of patent information in machine-readable form, e.g., priority documents, bibliographic data, abstracts, search reports, full text information

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

Assistance to developing countries

Other activities

VII. OTHER RELATED 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.