Annual Technical Report on Patent Information Activities in 2019 submitted by Cyprus Intellectual Property Department
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
Reduction of backlog
Education of personnel
Introduction of a new website
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
Education of personnel through courses in the Academy of Public Administration
Improvement in the reduction of backlog by weekly submissions of work completed and work pending
Introduction of a new website
Main areas of patent information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and grants with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
Number of national patent applications 2018 and 2019 (4 applications in 2018 and 5 applications in 2019)
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
Our new website is www.intellectualproperty.gov.cy
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
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
Classification1, preclassification2 (if applicable), reclassification3 activities; classification systems used (e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC)); matters concerning indexing of patent information
Abstracting, reviewing, and translation of the information contained in patent documents
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)
Official Gazette of the Cyprus Government (bibliographic data of the patent, abstract and figures-if available, international classification, inventor and proprietor names, name of agent) on paper and online at the Cyprus Government Printing Office page.
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.
The Official Gazette is published approximately once a month via the web on https://www.mof.gov.cy/mof/gpo/gpo.nsf/dmlindex_en/dmlindex_en?OpenDocument
Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external collections and databases
Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to external users, conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
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
The main back-office system is based on the PTOLEMY system created by SWORD. Examiners perform their day-to-day operations here.
Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
The database technology is MICROSOFT SQL Server 2005 SE.
Hardware used is for:
Database server: Intel Xeon CPU 5130 2.00GHz 2.00GHz, 4GB RAM, 600 GB HD
Application server: Intel Xeon CPU 5130 2.00Ghz 2.00GHz, 4GB RAM, 600 GB HD
Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
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
We took part in the PATLIB Submit in Porto 2019 and we are planning to start a PATLIB center with the assistance of the European Patent Office.
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.