Annual Technical Report on Patent Information Activities in 2014 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

The main trends in the development of activities in the field of patent information are defined by the Comprehensive Plan for Development of the Rospatent System up to 2020, and the Rospatent Departmental Plan for 2014.

Development of information technology (hereinafter referred to as ‘IT’) is being carried out in three main areas, in which most of the measures for the development of information technology up to 2020 are being undertaken:

- electronic record keeping;

- electronic interaction;

- development of decision-support systems;

The Development Strategy of the Rospatent System up to 2015 has been published on the Rospatent website at the following address: http://www.rupto.ru/about/strategy/strategy_2015

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 2014:

• ­a system of paperless prosecution during the examination of applications for registration of agreements in respect of industrial property (Agreements) has been put into operation;
• ­a system of paperless prosecution for examining applications to enter changes into the registers of inventions, utility models, and industrial designs (including to extend and renew a patent) (Patent Prosecution) has been put into operation.
• ­automated systems for managing the State Register of Inventions of the Russian Federation, and State Register of Utility Models of the Russian Federation on electronic carriers has been put into operation;
• ­Work continued to redirect flows of paper documents for processing at the Data Preparation Center (TSPD), and in particular, the ability to highlight and recognize fragments of incoming correspondence relating to applications for inventions and utility models for the purpose of subsequent use during examinations.  The ability to manage languages recognized in the application processing flow has been introduced, as has a mechanism for updating software automatically at all TSPD users’ workplaces. TSPD administrators now have the option to design templates of screen-based forms using ‘drag and drop’.
• ­Work continued on improving the functions of the electronic system for prosecuting applications for inventions and utility models (AS EA).  The opportunity was provided to work with a new component of electronic applications, ‘Abstract in English’, and specifically, a work station was created to download abstracts in Russian for translation, and batch uploading of abstract translations onto the system with a view to subsequent downloading for publication. The ability has been provided to download data missing from the electronic State register (EGR) for publication- of IPC indexes, descriptions, drawings, etc., and additional classification possibilities have been provided under CPC indexes for departments of industry experts.
• ­In 2014, users of the Electronic Interaction with Applicants section of the FIPS website were given the opportunity to file utility model applications electronically. The service for electronic filing of utility model applications has been integrated with  the electronic prosecution system for examining inventions and utility models.

In 2014, operation continued of the Integrated Automated System for the Accounting of Fees (Fees), introducing the use of electronic payment documents received from the Russian Treasury, and the possibility of recording fees for legally significant acts in relation to applications for trademarks and appellations of origin.

In 2014, operation continued of the automated paperless prosecution systemof the Chamber of Patent Disputes (PPS). The system in operation provides paperless prosecution when considering objections and claims filed at the Chamber of Patent Disputes. Details on the PPS decisions are posted on the FIPS website in the Decisions of the Chamber of Patent Disputes section.

In 2014, electronic versions of the State Register of Inventions of the Russian Federation, and  the State Register of Utility Models of the Russian Federation were put into operation.

In 2014, operation continued of the PCT Electronic Applications Library automated system.

In 2014, operation continued of the system of filing and receipt of electronic invention applications. The electronic invention application filing service has been integrated with the system of electronic prosecution of examination of inventions and utility models.

With a view to the full functioning of the Patent-Information System, PatSearch, work was undertaken with patent offices whose patent documentation uploading technology is specific to those offices.  Particular attention is focused on providing high quality work from the system.  A key task is ensuring that the arrays uploaded to the patent documentation system (of Russia and other PCT minimum countries) are complete.

In 2014, agreements were prepared and signed with the Japanese patent office (JPO). As a result of this work, a document was signed on ‘Principles of the Use of Intellectual Property Information to be Exchanged Electronically between FIPS and JPO’, which governs the open approach of the two offices to the exchange of data without physical media, and provides for the possibility of supplying the data obtained both to third parties (including for commercial purposes), and to intellectual property offices of third countries on a reciprocal basis.

In order to ensure the completeness of foreign documentation submitted and newly 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 2014, work was carried out on populating data; after formal verification of fitness for purpose, completeness, and compliance with specifications on the website, some errors were identified. After verifying downloaded data during 2014, errors were detected in the arrays of Australia, Germany, China, and WIPO- overall, in 82 files. Information on defective data in specific documents from Australia, China and WIPO was likewise processed (1,640 documents). All errors were corrected by re-downloading 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 2014, the Rospatent and FIPS websites provided access to a wide range of databases, including official publications.

Since January, 2014, all Official Gazettes have been posted on the FIPS website in a new section, Official Publications, the Rospatent website was updated by adding this section, and a link was added to the FIPS website.

All Rospatent Official Gazettes for 2014 have been posted on the FIPS website in the Official Publications section and are freely available.

As of 2014, the release of FIPS publications on paper with information in the corresponding Official Gazettes was terminated. These were replaced by the Gazettes which have been issued since 2005 on CD/DVD disks and are well known to subscribers.

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. A new section, Foreign Patenting, was opened on the Rospatent website, containing reference information on the systems for granting legal protection abroad. In accordance with the principles of openness, the following sections were updated: Contacts, Contacting Rospatent, Federal State Information Systems, and State Services. A new form of service for Rospatent website visitors is presented in the Open Data section, where seven 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 2014, focusing on comprehensive support for users at various stages of legal protection and intellectual property protection.

In 2014, a new section structure, Electronic Interaction with Applicants, was created on the FIPS website, with the aim of making user access to the electronic services easier.

In order to promote knowledge of intellectual property and to help novice participants in the intellectual property system, a special section was opened on the FIPS website, For Beginners, providing details on protecting intellectual property, conducting patent searches, access to education in the field of intellectual property, etc. This section also includes a Glossary, with interpretations of terminology used in intellectual property. In the Patent Information Products section, materials have been posted to assist users in the effective use of information products offered for searching and analyzing patent information. As a result of the development of a range of electronic publications used in automated search, since 2014 FIPS has stopped issuing hard-copy publications on industrial property.

In 2014, a mini-website was created on the FIPS website, Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC), the content and structure of which reflects Rospatent’s systematic work in supporting organizations and enterprises engaged in innovative activity throughout the regions of Russia.

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. 

Over 1,000 invention and utility-model applications were filed electronically in 2014 (c.2 per cent of the total number). In addition, in the Personal Office section on the FIPS website, 4,300 prosecution cases were opened for electronic correspondence.

In order to achieve the target of 25 per cent of applications filed electronically by 2015,  measures were taken in 2014 to encourage applicants to use electronic filing through the development of service functionality, posting new versions on the FIPS website of user documentation for setting up work stations and exploiting the functionality of the electronic services, connecting Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC) to the electronic filing services, enabling integration of other organizations’ information systems with the FIPS electronic filing systems, and holding thematic meetings and seminars.

Descriptions of State services offered by Rospatent can be found on the Unified State and Municipal Services (Functions) Portal (hereinafter, ‘PGU’). All services offer the required forms for applications, and information on how to access services. Likewise, interactive forms for filing applications for all services may be found on PGU.

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 2013-2014 are presented in Table 1.

Table 1

From Table 1, it can be seen that 2014 saw a fall in the number of applications filed (by 10.26%), whereas in contrast, invention patents granted rose (by 7.31%).

The invention patents granted in 2014 were distributed according to the IPC sections as follows:

Table 2

The largest number of patents for inventions granted in 2014 was, as in 2013, to Russian applicants for Section A of the International Patent Classification (IPC) – Human Necessities. With regard to foreign applicants, the largest number of patents for inventions granted in 2014 was for Section B- Performing Operations and Transporting. The same section was the most popular among this group of applicants in 2013 as well.

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 2014 comprised only 0.9 per cent of the overall number of patents granted for inventions.

Utility models

Тable 3

In 2014, the number of applications received for utility models fell somewhat. The number of applications received decreased by 2.83 per cent, and this decline occurred due to applications filed by Russian applicants (fell by 4.33 per cent). Foreign applicants, in contrast, saw noticeable growth of 23.8%. However, the proportion of the overall number of applications filed by this group of applicants is insignificant, at less than 7 per cent. The total number of patents granted increased, by 3.37 per cent.

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

Table 4

The leading IPC Section in 2014 remained Section B – Performing Operations and Transporting – while second place was taken by Section F – Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating; Weapons; Blasting. As in 2013, Section D – Textiles and Paper – continued to be the least in demand, with the lowest number of patents granted.

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 2014 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://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_minobr/administrative_regulations/test_8

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

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_minobr/administrative_regulations/adm_regl_5;

• Announcement regarding the transition to electronic interagency interaction in the provision by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property of State services:

http://www.rupto.ru/press/news_archive/inform2011/smev_inf;

• 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/;

• Fees section: http://www.rupto.ru/activities/dues/;
• Patent and other fees subsection: http://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 2014 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 2014, containing information on the prosecution of 450,000 applications, and updated daily).

-   a database of applications for industrial designs filed between 2007 and 2014, containing information on the prosecution of 101,000 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 2014 Rospatent prepared a new, complete version of IPC 2015.01, 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 869 corrections to the previous edition of IPC:

- New headings incorporated: 345                             

- Old headings deleted: 39

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

- Headings amended, without subsequent reclassification of documents contained therein: 414

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

In 2014, as part of the work conducted by WIPO to improve IPC, Rospatent prepared comments and proposals on the following projects: M748 (Section C), F015 (sub-class A23L), F021 (sub-class B60J), F022 (sub-class F16J), F028 (sub-class G07D7/00), C466 (sub-class A61B), and F026 (sub-class A23K).

In 2014, FIPS examiners used indexing codes for classifying additional information on national patent documents.

In 2014, 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 2014, 41,572 applications for inventions and 13,728 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 2014, 2,794 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 2014, 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 addition, all categories of GPF users are provided with the automated translator, PROMT, the quality of translations of which are heavily dependent upon the specialized, thematic dictionaries uploaded onto it.

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’) works actively to supplement thematic dictionaries on the latest subjects. Approximately 55,900 dictionary entries have been prepared that are used by those working in the VPTB display room.

VPTB performs translation from foreign languages and prepares summaries of foreign legal and patent literature.  In 2014, the titles of articles, books and prepared summaries of 3,208 publications of interest to specialists in legal protection of intellectual property were translated into Russian.  The amount of legislation from foreign countries translated in 2014 was approximately 1,379 pages (United Kingdom, Hungary, Germany, Denmark, India, Canada, and United States of America).

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 89,000 documents as of January 1, 2015.

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

Since January 2014, 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 (FIPS), 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:

• The Administrative Regulations for performance by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks of State functions relating to the keeping of registers of registered intellectual property subject matter, publication of information on registered intellectual property subject matter, applications filed and patents and certificates granted therefor, on the validity, termination and renewal of validity of legal protection in relation to intellectual property subject matter, the transfer of rights in protectable subject matter, and the official registration of intellectual property subject matter: 

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_minobr/administrative_regulations/adm_regl_ved_reestr/

• 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 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

In 2014, examiners performed virtually all searches online. 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, 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.

Access to the STN database is provided to FIPS examiners in the online search and consultation room, where specially trained staff carry out searches jointly with examiners when necessary. Approximately 1,500 of these searches were carried out in the online search and consultation room in 2014; the bulk of these were performed in the REGISTRY, CA, CASREACT, and CHEMCATS databases.

In addition to carrying out searches jointly with examiners in the STN network, staff in the online search and consultation room offer consultations regarding online searches in other available databases. More than 300 of these consultations were provided during 2014.

In order to improve the examination information supply, staff in the online search and consultation room receive continuous training on the online databases that are useful for conducting information searches and prepare and update guidelines on their use for examiners. Staff in the online search and consultation room are also involved in training both new and experienced examiners on the skilled use of available search databases.

Office examiners have access to electronic resources of non-patent literature (FIZ electronic resource portals, the publisher, Elsevier, etc.) purchased commercially.

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 2014, 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 (2011-2013) 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 author’s certificates and RF patents, from 1924 to 2013, on DVD (a total of 110 disks);
• An information-search system for invention descriptions for RF patents in Russian and English, from 1994 to 2014, 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 (11 disks);
• Patent invention descriptions on paper – 34,105 units;
• Title pages of utility model descriptions on paper - 13,137 units;
• Rospatent Annual Report for 2014 on CD (on paper for international exchange).

The selection of information products also included the new version of the official publication of the International Patent Classification, edition 2014.01 (IPC-2014.01) and alphabetical subject indexes on CD.

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 2014, 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 2014, the Rospatent website provided access to:

• ­registers of Russian patent documents relating to inventions and utility models;
• registers containing information on published applications and the prosecution of applications filed in 2007-2014 for the grant of invention patents;
• registers containing information on the prosecution of applications filed in 2007-2014 for the                                                               grant of utility model patents;
• the Rospatent Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazettes published in the last month.

Rospatent Internet resources constitute the following databases:

-    a full-text database of Russian inventions (contains information on 545,000 invention patents from 1994 to 2014 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 561,000 patents for inventions from 1994 to 2014 inclusive, updated three times per month);

-    a database of published applications for inventions (contains information on 450,000 applications for inventions from 1994 to 2014 inclusive, updated three times per month);

-    an abstracts database for Russian inventions in English (contains information on 568,000 invention patents from 1994 to 2014 inclusive, updated three times per month);

-    a full-text database of Russian utility models (contains information on 149,000 Russian utility model certificates and patents from 1996 to 2014 inclusive, updated quarterly);

-    an abstracts database for Russian utility models (contains information on 149,000 Russian utility model certificates and patents from 1996 to 2014 inclusive, updated three times per month);

-    a future-oriented inventions database (contains information on 1,500 patents for inventions that are recognized by FIPS as promising, updated once per quarter);

-    a database of invention applications filed from 2007 to 2014 (contains information on the prosecution of 333,000 applications, updated daily);

-    a database of utility model applications filed from 2007 to 2013 (contains information on the prosecution of 101,000 applications, updated daily);

-    IPC database.

On the FGBU FIPS website, users are provided with access to:

-    an information-search system (ISS) on national patent documentation;

-    registers of Russian patent documents on all forms of industrial property;

-    registers containing information on the prosecution of applications filed from 2007 to 2014 for the grant of invention and utility model patents;

-    Rospatent Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazettes published in the last month.

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 2014, as part of the cooperation agreements between Rospatent and relevant organizations, access was granted free of charge:

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
• ­    107 Technology and Innovation Support Centers
• ­    2 organizations of Rostekhnologiya

in relation to all FIPS databases, to:

• ­    99 organizations of the Federal Service of Court Bailiffs
• ­    131 organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
• ­    11 organizations of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service
• ­    16 organizations of the Ministry of Defense
• ­    94 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

Users’ Work with Rospatent Official Gazettes

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 documents, published in the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette;
• ­  the IPC database

in relation to utility models:

• ­  a database containing documents published in the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette;
• ­  an abstracts database
• ­   the IPC database

Free access is provided to all Gazettes published since January, 2014.

In 2014, users accessed Rospatent Gazettes on more than 3,441,000 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 Rospatent’s Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette posted on the FIPS and Rospatent websites, as well as in the FIPS Gazette, Inventions and Utility Models (on CD/DVD):

- 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 2014, automated systems were put into operation for keeping the State Register of Russian Federation Inventions (EGR) and the State Register of Russian Federation Utility Models (EGR) on electronic carrier.

In 2014, an automated paperless prosecution system was introduced for examining applications for registration of industrial property agreements (Agreements), offering paperless prosecution, electronic State services (integrated into the State Services Portal), as well as integration into the Electronic State Registers (EGR).

In 2014, an automated paperless prosecution system was put into operation for reviewing applications to introduce amendments to the registers of inventions, utility models, and industrial designs (including extending the term of and restoring patents) (Patent Prosecution).

In 2014, 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 American patent classification, USPC, 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

- Scopus search

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

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:

PrimePower 1500 server

(RAM – 32 GB, processors – 14, external memory – 24 TB)

HP DL380 server – 42 units

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

HP DL580 server – 18 units

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

HP, Fujitsu-Siemens workstations – 1,160 units.

Switching equipment:

Cisco 6503, Cisco 4507

Software:

Solaris, Windows XP, Windows 7,

Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008 Server operating systems.

Carriers used:

Ultrium magnetic tapes.

Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources

In 2014, 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 the WPI database. The PatSearch system supports searches of non-patent literature in external sources: 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.

Rospatent’s in-house search system, PatSearch, enables examiners to perform searches for non-patent scientific and technical literature on the Russian Foundation of Basic Research (RFFI) Electronic Scientific Library website and in the SCOPUS abstracts database at their work stations. Library websites and websites of specialized databases, both national and foreign, in the fields of medicine, biology, biotechnology, chemistry, pharmaceuticals and technology, access to which is provided free of charge, may also be used by examiners from work stations, as well as Internet search engines Google, Rambler and Yandex.

In addition, examiners are provided with access in special search rooms to subject-specific databases on optical disks, national and foreign non-patent databases on the Internet that are freely accessible, as well as the commercial abstract database, VINITI. 

Examiners conduct basic searches at their workstations, and no statistics of examiners’ usage of non-patent databases are kept. When searching for non-patent literature in the Training and Computer Search room (i.e., in addition to work station access), the most popular database among examiners has traditionally been VINITI. This contains arrays of Russian-language abstracts from sources of national and foreign scientific and technical literature (material from periodical and serial publications, books, dissertations, conference materials, theses, patents, regulatory documents and deposited scientific work), 30 per cent of which is from Russian sources.

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).

At present, the modern automated patent information system, PatSearch, is in full operation at FIPS, and is the most important and rapidly developing part of the GPF.  The creation and development of this system, while maintaining the existing parts of the GPF on physical media (collections on paper, microcarrier, and optical disks), was determined by objective changes brought about by transferring the official publications of the leading patent offices onto websites or specialized resources instead of using a physical carrier (optical disks) in the international exchange of patent documentation.

The main source for establishing the State Patent Collection (GPF), including its electronic PatSearch system content, is the international exchange of patent documentation. Regardless of the transformation of the traditional system of data exchange, 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 in accordance with the latest global trends. 

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.

The functionality of this system is mainly intended for organizing examiners’ work.  However, the system is available to VPTB Division users (with certain limitations) for work in the display class.

In 2014, information was uploaded onto the PatSearch system from all arrays of patent documentation from PCT minimum countries, as well as an array of extended abstracts and bibliographies from Thomson Reuters DWPI, containing English-language abstracts of patent documents from over 50 countries. This array is the main source of the search index. 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 facsimiles of documents from Japan, China and other countries. The system is provided with a view of the full description of patent documents that have not yet been loaded onto the system but are found in DWPI through integrated online access to EPO arrays. Searches for non-patent literature are made through integrated access to the external digital library, E-Library, and the SCOPUS database of non-patent literature. The majority of the arrays were provided as facsimiles of patent descriptions and required huge amounts of memory to be accommodated – several tens of TB.

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 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 approximately 93 million patent documents.

In addition, Office examiners have been provided with the opportunity to work with the STN and EPOGUE systems, as well as the EPO’s GPI, on a commercial basis. VPTB users also enjoy access to electronic non-patent literature resources: Kluwer IP Law, Swets&Zeitlinger BV’s electronic resources portal, SwetsWise, 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, microcarriers, optical disks, and local networks.

A significant part of the GPF is available on optical disks (56,700 optical disks as at January 1, 2015) and the collection is formed, mainly, from traditional international exchange 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)

The Automated Databank (ABD), designed to prosecute applications and protection titles for inventions and utility models, has subsystems that manage the work of examiners and support staff, as well as capturing statistical information on various aspects of the activities of Rospatent subdivisions.

The subsystems for statistics allow the creation of over 300 different forms of reports on the activities of the Office’s subdivisions.

The electronic prosecution system for inventions and utility models (AS EA) supports functions to load and download electronic documents to Applications e-Work, plan examiners’ work, draft master plans and portfolios of examiners’ applications, list applications by applicant, capture statistics, provide access to Applications e-Work and application components, review bibliographical information, prepare outgoing correspondence, sign decisions on issuance of patents by electronic signature, introduce revisers’ corrections to the electronic packet of elements of an application for publication and has an application search function and a developed user administration system.  The AS EA system is integrated into ABD.

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

The main functions of the All-Russian Patent Technology Library (VPTB) is the establishment of the State Patent Collection (GPF), including patent documentation on all industrial property subject matter, scientific and technical and legal and patent literature on all carrier types, and also providing them to all categories of users. In so doing, VPTB fulfills the functions of a public library and the library of the Office at the same time. The main source for the GPF is international exchange, which ensures updating of patent documentation and Official Gazettes of foreign offices, while national and foreign scientific and technical, and legal and patent, literature is updated through subscription and obtaining books and periodicals.

As at January 1, 2015, the GPF comprised 120,629,700 documents overall. 

In order to assist VPTB readers, both general and specialized reading rooms are provided:

- computer room (for optical disks and remote databases);

- paper and microform patent documentation;

- information and bibliography services;

- etc.

VPTB provides free access to patent collections that are targeted at all categories of RF users, as well as those in neighboring and other foreign countries without any restrictions. Visits and services are free of charge for all categories of library users.

The VPTB patent collection is managed according to type of industrial property and information carrier.

The Library premises are equipped with an alarm system and an automatic fire-fighting system.

A total of 85,200 persons consulted GPF in 2014.

In 2014, users (including examiners) were issued with over 32.8 million copies of patent documents: approximately 2.5 million copies on paper; 3,800 copies on micro-carrier, and over 30.3 million copies on optical disks and from remote databases.

The patent information services of VPTB are provided to remote users on request, including performing patent information searches and factual references, and providing certified copies of documents of title. In 2014, most user requests involved searches for title documents of specific natural persons and legal entities.

Overall, during the course of the year, over 3,100 patent information services were provided at the request of remote users. 

The Russian patent office does not have a regional network of patent libraries, yet, through international exchange, it cooperates with a number of foreign patent libraries, including the Latvian Patent Technology Library, the Library of the Patent Office of Austria, the Central Patent Library of the Office of Bulgaria, the State Patent Technology Library of the Republic of Tajikistan, and other 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.