Where URLs are requested below, it is preferred that either URLs which are likely to remain stable over time (three years or more) are provided, or home (main) page URLs are provided with a short explanation of how to access the corresponding information.
In terms of IT changes, during 2011 trademark on-line filings served applicants. The facility is available under the Polish Patent Office's Online Services Portal (http://ipu.uprp.pl)
In 2011, the Polish Patent Office received in total 15,049 trademark applications under national procedure (increase of 1.1% in comparison with 2010) and 10 applications under international procedure.
In 2011, the Patent Office received from domestic applicants:
- 360 applications for international registration of Polish trademarks under the Madrid Agreement and the Protocol to that Agreement.
- 8 applications for Community trademark, which were transmitted to the OHIM.
After completing formal examinations the Office issued 10,558 positive decisions concerning the grant of trademark protection rights under national procedure. The PPO experts made 1,812 search reports for OHIM and and 10 search reports in the framework of CETMOS programme.
The number of trademark registration rights in force on 31 December 2011 was 238,053 (125,193 under national procedure and 112,860 under international procedure).
Statistics are accessed at the following URLs:
- http://www.uprp.pl (Annual Reports’ box)
- Detailed statistics may be bespoke provided (write to: http://ipu.uprp.pl/portal/web/guest/kontakt)
Pending and registered trademarks (national and international designating Poland) are published in the Office's Official Gazettes on paper carrier and in PDF format on the PPO's Online Services Portal.
Both parts of the Polish Patent Office's Official Gazettes ("Biuletyn Urzedu Patentowego": national trade mark applications and "Wiadomosci Urzedu Patentowego": registered national trademarks and international registrations of trademarks approved in Poland) containing announcements regarding trademarks are forthwith available free of charge in PDF format on the PPO's Online Services Portal (http://ipu.uprp.pl/portal/web/guest/publikacje).
In 2011, there were 14,660 announcements on trademark applications and 9,200 announcements on registered trademarks.
Announcements regarding non-procedural matters, but coupled with the Office's activity like: general information on the PPO's tasks, references, organizational structure, HR matters are published on the Internet version of "Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej" which falls under the official PPO's web site. Many non-regular, important announcements are immediately published within the content of the website.
Online filled trademark applications are immediately directed to the electronic treatment and dissemination. Paper cases are turned into electronic files. Although paper has a gradual decrease as a carrier, paper files are also kept for each application
Word processing is carried out using MS 2007 Office and the MS Windows XP is commonly used.
All examiners have access to the internal and external on-line databases.
All staff has access to the Internet and Intranet and enjoys the MS 2007 Outlook variety of facilities through the networked PCs which are connected to a local area network.
The public reading-room is equipped with terminals and 24-inch monitors, and the Office's conference and training rooms is furnished with modern audiovisual means.
The online filings in the online system effectively works, enabling the electronic trademark filings under the national procedure.
The constantly modernized publication system enables production of the Office's publications on its own. The publishing process is based on the DTP system and covers preparation of data contained in the Office's databases, text editing in MS Word programme and picture processing in Adobe Photoshop CS3. Final typesetting is made in InDesign CS3 programme. Printing is performed on the offset machine and digital reproducer. The text of patent specifications is scanned in OCR technique and pictures are scanned in Adobe Photoshop CS3 programme. Then, the text is combined with the pictures and the first page with bibliographic data. Finally, the patent specification is proof-read and printed in Ms Word programme. Printing is performed on the digital reproducer.
- Online Services Portal with access to official gazettes, classifications (Nice, Vienna), e-filings, IP information on trademarks and patent attorney's directory: http://ipu.uprp.pl
The Polish Patent Office uses the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification) 9th edition as well as International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification) 5th edition.
During the procedure, the Office's staff amends the goods and services classes.
Checking the classification symbols is possible through the Online Services Portal of the PPO and also through the OHIM's EUROCLASS resources.
Applicants should classify the goods and services properly, but there is no obligation for
applicants to use pre-defined terms.
For figurative marks the PPO uses the Vienna Classification system.
The trademark bibliographic data is processed within procedural tasks and obligations and is afterwards utilized in many PPO's activities including the in-house searches, decision makings, exchange and dissemination, among others.
A paper file is kept for each trademark application. Information is stored on our internal databases and within the file.
• Published trade mark applications on search systems are updated fortnightly (applications are disclosed after 3 month-period following the date of filing).
• Registered trade marks on search systems are updated monthly.
The Office uses mass storage media: hard disks, disk arrays, CD-ROMs, DVDs, paper (until complete replacement by the electronic storage).
Community Trade Marks and WIPO resources are considered, thus the CTM-Online system and the ROMARIN system are respectively consulted.
The Office uses ACSEPTO - the primary search and examination system for trademarks - a tool that integrates many types of IT resources to conduct searches of trademarks.
The Office has its own internal search and retrieval systems: MARPOL, MARMAD, CTM SEARCH REPORTS and TULIPAN with access restricted exclusively to examiners. The systems offer procedural data concerning national trademarks (MARPOL), regional trademarks (CTM SEARCH REPORTS) and international trademarks (MARMAD) in the course of the whole procedure.
Both the Office's website and the Online Services Portal offer facilities for accessing Polish trademarks and designations to Poland made through the Madrid Protocol. Functionality is offered to customers to receive periodic information, information on procedure and fees and procedural information from the PPO's databases. Links to statutory searches within procedure databases including ROMARIN (WIPO), MADRID EXPRESS (WIPO), CTM Online (OHIM), EUROCLASS (OHIM), TMVIEW (OHIM) and the INN (WHO) among others are provided.
Commercial search services are offered by Austrian Patent Office and Hungarian Patent Office through the CETMOS Project (details at http://www.cetmos.eu), for which our Office prepares search reports, and for OHIM through the CTM Search Report System.
The Office's website is linked to WIPO trademark and OHIM trademark online search facilities (www.uprp.pl).
- Workstations run under Windows XP environments, and server's operational systems are Microsoft Windows Server 2003, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 and Debian 5 GNU/Linux. The SAN mass storage network was configured in order to make disk-arrays available to the computing systems. All of workstations are secured by McAfee antivirus and antispam system. All network connections are based on CISCO and Alcatel equipment with 50 Mb access to the Internet.
Server infrastructure for the Online Portal includes 9 application servers; 5 database servers; 10 TB build-up array; back-ups for Tivoli Storage Management, Fujitsu FI-5900C scanner, 125 packages for the purposes of qualified signatures. On-Line Portal servers are supported by local UPSs and they are also hooked to Main power supply unit for the PPO.
- Back office hardware located in secured/zoned Data Centre with fire alarm and CTV system, redundant air-conditioning and technical floor.
- Modernization of the software edge firewall.
The PPO's registry extracts are available to every person who applies for such a registry and pays the required fee.
As for the official publications containing trademark information, they are available at the Office's library and on the Internet through the Online Services Portal of the PPO:
- in "Biuletyn Urzedu Patentowego" (first level Official Gazette),
- in "Wiadomosci Urzedu Patentowego" (second level Official Gazette).
The PPO database was rendered accessible for the outside users from many workstations installed in the Office's library to perform retrievals. This database is accessible from the user's computer via the Internet.
Trademark information services for users were performed by the Information Unit of the Office and at the library where customers may obtain assistance within procedural information and the retrieval and searching techniques.
Excerpts, duplicates and certificates officially confirming the specified entries in the trademark register were delivered under payment on user's demand.
Applications for trademarks registration can be made electronically, by post, by fax or in person at the Office's premises.
Both paper and electronic collections are located in our main building and are therefore secure.
Collections are regularly fed in a persisting and electronic mode, and preserved accordingly.
- The Office continues to offer its services on trademarks via Online Services Portal at: http://ipu.uprp.pl
- Data bases: http://www.uprp.pl/English/PPOs+databases
- Nice and Vienna classifications are continually offered at: http://ipu.uprp.pl/
http://ipu.uprp.pl
Information on filings, post-registration procedure, opposition and appeal procedures, etc. are in detail described within specific sections of our web site which is also linked to our search services and databases.
http://www.uprp.pl
A variety of guides and other information materials are offered in PDF format through the Office website.
Description of information products and services is announced in relevant parts of our website, and users are then directed to our services where the description continues, either in editorial part, or in help files. See also information directly above.
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Community Trademark information is downloaded using the XML data which is then passed to our search systems.
XML trademark files are downloaded from WIPO and are also passed to our search systems.
In 2011, within industrial property protection the PPO organised or participated in the following events, to name a few:
- Conference on World Intellectual Property Day "Heritage and Modernity. Protection of Traditional Knowledge in Poland and in the World" organised in Warsaw in cooperation with WIPO.
- Conference "Remarkable Discoveries as Inspiration for Inventors - on the 100th anniversary of the Second Nobel Prize for Maria Sklodowska-Curie, held in Warsaw.
- 7th International Symposium "Intellectual Property in Innovative Economy. Priorities in Intellectual Property Protection" held in Krakow in cooperation with inter alia EPO and WIPO.
- 30th Jubilee Seminar for patent attorneys from universities and academies, Cedzyna near Kielce.
- Annual "Scientific Picnic" of the Bis Radio and Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw.
- International Fairs in Poznan.
- Exhibition of Innovation " WIPRO 2011" Knowledge - Innovation - Development in Bydgoszcz.
- Fairs of Industrial Technology, Science and Innovation "Technicon Innovations 2011" in Gdansk.
- Ceremony of prize award in the 9th edition of the competition for the best artistic poster as well as post-doctoral, doctoral, master's and student's theses on the subject of industrial property organized by the Patent Office.
- International Fairs iENA in Nuremberg.
Within the scope of promotional activities the Polish Patent Office continued participation in the IPeuropAware project which is part of the EU Framework Programme "Competitiveness and Innovation - 2007-2013". The Office participated in the following work packages to name a few:
- creation and maintenance of the English version of the website: www.innovaccess.eu
- development and implementation of professional helpdesk services in the European National Offices.
- analysis and development awareness raising strategies in IP protection and enforcement.
- services in IP enforcement
- activities addressed at SMEs to help them use and enforce IP rights
- awareness raising activities addressed at IP rights and their enforcement
- development, promotion and distribution of IP guides for SMEs
In the framework of promotional activities the Office published:
Patent Office Quarterly (3 issues and special edition)- 6432 copies
Booklet No. 7 and 8 "Industrial Property Protection" - 1400 copies
Booklet "What is intellectual property" - 9500 copies
In 2011, after completing two-year training, 22 Office's employees obtained examiner's qualifications and 10 employees, who completed their training and passed the qualifying examinations, obtained assistant examiner's qualifications.
Additionally, language courses for PPO employees (languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian) were organised.
Within the framework of the training program for the PPO employees and patent attorneys 9 open lectures for 827 participants in total were given by external experts in innovation and industrial property.
Moreover, 133 staff members benefited from many specialist training courses organised by professional educational centres such as: National School of Public Administration, Institute of Accountancy and Taxes, Mazovian Voivodeship Centre for Personnel Training to name a few. The subject matter of the trainings included the issues of public procurement, administrative proceedings management, finances, information technologies and labour law.
Legislation: http://www.uprp.pl/
Annual Reports’ box (the content has both EN and PL versions): http://www.uprp.pl/
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http://www.uprp.pl (News)
In 2011, the incident and assistance managing system to users of our IT system was effectively carried out by the ServiceDesk solution - consistent with the ITIL practice.