CWS.ATR.ID.2013.AP

Annual Technical Report 2013 on Industrial Design Information Activities submitted by ARIPO (CWS/ATR/ID/2013/AP)

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 expression "industrial designs" covers industrial designs and models. Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in this series of Annual Technical Reports.

I. 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

The ARIPO policies and plans are based on the Strategic Plan 2011-2015 adopted by the Administrative Council at its 34th Session held in Harare, Zimbabwe in 2010. The Strategic Plan is composed of six strategic goals, and each strategic goal is clustered under 19 programmes

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

-The ARIPO Office reviewed the Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs and its Implementing Regulations and made proposals for their amendment in order to improve and harmonize the Protocol with international treaties like the Paris Convention, Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) with the view to enable the ARIPO Office to better serve its users.
-There is also a process of having the Protocol linked to the Hague Agreement.
-During the year the ARIPO/WIPO/KOICA Project to Upgrade and Modernize the ICT Systems of the ARIPO Office and those of its Member States was launched on October 7 and the Project Implementation developed.

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

Applications from the ICT industry especially mobile phone designs

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

In 2013, compared with 2012 there was a 36% increase in the number of industrial designs lodged. The big increase in the number of industrial designs is due to the new designs of cellphones and other electronic gadgets.

II. 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

ARIPO undertook technical missions aimed at conducting onsite practical training on processing of ARIPO applications to Officers and Agents in the member states, namely;
-Zambian examiners, Harare, Zimbabwe from April 15 to 19
-Botswana Registrar of Companies & Intellectual Property Office (ROCIP) from May 20 to 24.
-IPAS Java Training Programme, for the Malawian IP Officials, Harare, Zimbabwe from June 3 to 7
-Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office (ZIPO), Harare Zimbabwe, June 17
-Ugandan parliamentarians and officials of the URSB, Harare, Zimbabwe from August 04 to 08
- United Republic of Tanzania’s Business Registration and Licensing Agency (BRELA) from August 12 to 16.
-During the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF 2013), Bulawayo, Zimbabwe from April 23 to 27
-During the 2013 edition of the Harare Agricultural Show, Harare, Zimbabwe from August 23 to 31
-National Intellectual Property Exhibition, Leribe, Lesotho on September 13

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

The Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs and the attendant forms are available on the Website: www.aripo.org

Classification and reclassification activities; classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification

ARIPO uses the Locarno Classification for examination activities.

III. 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)

Design applications and registrations are published monthly in the ARIPO Journal.

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

The ARIPO Journal with design applications and registrations is published monthly.

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

External online databases

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

ARIPO Journal is available to Patent Agencies through a paid subscription and free of charge to National Patent Offices of Member States and also to other non-member states and cooperating partners in a documentation exchange agreement with ARIPO.

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

Legal status information is made available through the ARIPO publication i.e. The ARIPO Journal which is a monthly publication.

IV. 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

-Software to support ARIPO’s business procedures such as search, examination, registration, and trial is the POLITE Database and Internal webmail system
-The POLITE database is being upgraded through a project of Systems Upgrade being implemented in partnership with WIPO and KOICA. The project, on completion, will see the Office being connected with the Member States and also providing e-services to the public
-Maintenance for system software mentioned above is managed by ARIPO Secretariat.

Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

Servers, Desktops, Laptops, Scanners, Printers and Photocopiers

Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources

The POLITE database is presently used for in-house administration of IP titles but it is being upgraded through a project of Systems Upgrade being implemented in partnership with WIPO and KOICA to have it linked to the Member States.

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

File building and updating
Search is done in the POLite system and other online services like espacenet. There is no single search file that is created for the purpose of search only. In the POLite system, data is updated regularly through normal system updates and also when new files are captured.

Foreign data included in the search system
- Publication data: China (2010-), Germany (1988-), Japan (1965-), OHIM (2003-),
US (1997- ), WIPO (1999- )
- Others: computer generated graphic designs (2003-), typeface (1999-), catalogues (1999-), two-dimensional designs (2013-)

V. 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

The Anderson Ray Zikonda Library is available and stocks patent and non-patent documentation by the Office and from cooperating partners like the WIPO, EPO, EAPO, UK-IPO, JPO, KIPO, ROSPATENT, SIPO
-ARIPO also purchased some non-patent titles for research work.
-Currently, officers can access the library’s online public access catalogue (OPAC) via the Office intranet
-The library management software is the Liberty3 software by Softlink Europe

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

-A brochure on “What is an Industrial Design”
-A brochure on Procedures for filing and processing of an Industrial Design application under the Harare Protocol

VI.INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION

International exchange of industrial design information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)

ARIPO continued to exchange industrial design information and documents with other IP organizations and all the National Patent Offices of the Member States of the Organization in electronic formats (CDs & DVDs).

Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to industrial design information

Took part in the 29th Session of the Standing Committee on the Laws of Trademarks, Industrial Designs & Geographical Indications, Geneva, Switzerland from 27 to 31 May;

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS

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