Recommended Contents of Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities

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.  The Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities should cover the following items:¹

1. General overview of recent developments in industrial design information activities carried out by the Office

• Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of industrial design information activities and expected time frames for their realization
• New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies(plans) mentioned above, short description:  aims, partners, tasks
• Main areas of industrial design 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 (registrations) with respect to previous year;  trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
• Other matters and useful links (URLs):  annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.

2. Services and activities related to industrial design information carried out by the Office

• Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) – URLs
• Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
• Classification and reclassification activities;  classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification
• Other activities

3. Sources of industrial design information provided by the Office

• Main types of publications in the field of industrial design information, outline of the content (industrial design applications, design patents, registrations, etc.) and medium (on paper, on CDs, online – URLs)
• Official Gazettes:  main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online – (URL), etc.
• Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
• Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services 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 

4. ICT support to services and activities related to industrial design information carried out by the Office

• Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office:  general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements
• Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
• 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 

5. Promotion activities aimed to support users in access and efficient use of industrial design information

• Office’s library (if deals with industrial design information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
• Publications related to different business procedures and industrial design information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
• Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
• Education and training:  training courses, e learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
• Other activities 

6. International cooperation activities in the field of industrial design information

• International exchange of industrial design information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)
• Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to industrial design information
• Assistance to developing countries
• Other activities 

7. Other related matters