Annual Technical Report on Trademark Information Activities in 2015 submitted by Rospatent

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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.

I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADEMARK INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of trademark information activities and expected time frames for their realization

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 IT up to 2020 are being undertaken:

- electronic record keeping;

- electronic interaction;

- development of decision support systems;

One of the trends is reduction in the cost of labor used in examining comparisons of lists of goods and services (hereinafter referred to as G/S), which includes:

- testing of procedures in 2013-2014 for automated comparison of claimed terms of G/S with ‘extended ICGS’, a lexical and semantic identifier of names of G/S taking into account all terms included in ICGS (10-2014), and distributed by specially designed, generic groups of names of G/S (LEXINTU-2014); automation of this process is based on adaptive automatic accumulation of matched terms and subsequent automatic matching thereof when they recur in lists of other trademarks;

- ‘matching’ of terms (i.e. standardization of claimed terms, in effect) may be applied to one of the terms by LEXINTU, or to the title of a generic group. Standardization of this nature enables the examination to compare automatically the lists of signs being analysed with lists of identical and similar signs, used by the examination for reference in making decisions, and to reduce labor costs for the analysis of lists of G/S.

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 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;

- work continued on populating the Electronic State Register for RF Trademarks and Service Marks, State Register for RF Appellations of Origin, and the Electronic List of Well-Known Trademarks in the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as EGR TZ) with entries signed electronically by the responsible person. As at the end of December, 2014, 142,153 new registrations had been entered into the EGR TZ, and 229,989 registrations had been transferred from the paper version of the State Register;

- In 2014, the electronic document flow system for trademarks and service marks, TM-ADMIN, operated reliably. The transition to using the .pdf format instead of .tif for storing documents occurred. Client workstation support for Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8.0 was provided. Software was developed enabling the user to eliminate use of the licensed product, InputAccel, used in the transfer of paper documents filed with FIPS, into electronic format.

- In 2014, applications to register trademarks continued to be received electronically using the electronic filing service. Users of the service are given the opportunity to file structured documents- amendments to applications- of lists of G/S, descriptions, and claimed trademark designations. It provides the ability to install components of the ActiveX electronic signature automatically when setting up the workstation, an additional level of protection against signing documents with an expired, private key, provides the ability to sign applications/application materials using only the key for the personal account holder’s electronic signature. For service users’ convenience, in a single session, it provides the opportunity to prepare an unlimited number of additional documents for subsequent registration, increases the size of the work area of all screen-based forms, provides automatic notification of receipt of the application (Form 940) to the email address specified by the applicant/applicant’s representative during the application process, and provides support for Georgian and Armenian characters in the preparation of applications, etc.   

Electronic documents must become as familiar in the workplace as paper documents were previously. Since January, 2014, electronic document flow has been provided for reviewing applications to register contracts in respect of industrial property subject matter.

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 system for the Chamber of Patent Disputes (PPS).  The system in operation provides the possibility of paperless prosecution during the consideration of objections and appeals filed with the PPS.  Information on the decisions of the PPS automated paperless prosecution system is posted on the FIPS website in the Decisions of the Chamber of Patent Disputes section.

Work is expected to continue in 2014 involving specialist departments based on LEXINTU-2015, using the terms of ICGS (10‑2015).

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

Electronic interaction with applicants on FIPS website.

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 trademark applications, inventions and utility models, as well as electronic correspondence through the ‘Personal Office’ service for applications for trademarks, inventions, utility models, and software filed previously in hard copy.  Approximately 6,900 trademark applications were filed electronically in 2014, which represented c.15.5 per cent of the total number of trademark applications. (Pursuant to RF Government Resolution No.634 of June 25, 2012, a reinforced certified electronic signature is required to file applications for inventions, trademarks, etc).  In 2014, 279 new users were registered in the Personal Office section on the FIPS website, and more than 1,400 new prosecution cases were added 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 jobs 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 registrations with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes

From Table 1, below, it is clear that the overall number of trademark registration applications filed in the Russian Federation in 2014 fell in comparison to 2013.  The decline was 5.76 per cent, due to a fall in applications received from all categories of applicant, both Russian and foreign.

Regarding the registration of trademarks, an increase of 11.86 per cent was seen. The increase in the number of registered trademarks in 2014 in comparison to 2013 occurred due to an increase in both Russian applicants (of 8.32 per cent), and foreign applicants (of 15.11 per cent).

Table 1

Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.

The following pages of the Office’s website contain:

• legal information- Regulation section: http://www.rupto.ru/docs/tz_nmpt;

• Office Annual Report – Rospatent Annual Reports section:

http://www.rupto.ru/about/reports;

• Links section: http://www.rupto.ru/links;

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/link_resources;

• Information notices in the Trademarks, Service Marks, and Appellations of Origin section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/brands_and_points/soob_tz.

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK 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

In 2014, the All-Russian Patent and Technical Library Division (hereinafter, ‘VPTB’) conducted consultations on carrying out trademark patent document searches in the computer room, and held two thematic meetings with senior FIPS specialists on filing applications electronically. These meetings were attended by 138 people, including eight people via video-conference with three regional Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC).

The web page addresses of Office websites providing information on filing applications are as follows:

• Rules for compiling, filing and considering trademark and service mark registration applications:

http://www.rupto.ru/docs/other/Pravila_podachi_zajavki_na_reg_TZ;

• Administrative regulations for the performance by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks of State functions relating to the organization of the receipt of applications for registration and grant of the right to use an appellation of origin, or an application for the grant of a right to use an already registered appellation of origin, consideration and examination thereof, and grant in accordance with established procedure of Russian Federation certificates:  

http://www.rupto.ru/docs/regulations/Priem_zajavok_na_naimenov_mesta_proish#1;

• Specimen Applications and Requests, and Completed Examples heading, in the Тrademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/brands_and_points/obr_zz

• Electronic Interaction with Applicants section/ Filing Applications for Trademark and Service Mark Registration section heading:

      http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/el_zayav/tm_ap_new;

• Fees section: http://www.rupto.ru/activities/dues;
• Patent and Other Fees subsection: http://www.rupto.ru/activities/dues/patduty/pat_poshl;
• 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(d).

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

In 2014, access was provided on the FIPS website to:

- the Register of Trademark Applications filed between 2005 and 2014, supplemented by information on the prosecution of applications filed between 2008 and 2014, updated daily.

- the Register of Applications for the Registration of Appellations of Origin of the Russian Federation filed between 2005 and 2014, supplemented by information on the prosecution of applications filed between 2008 and 2014, updated daily.

As part of the TM-ADMIN system for electronic document flow for trademarks and service marks, examiners are provided with access to documents on the electronic processing of applications, including primary application materials, documents related to application correspondence, and structured data.

Matters concerning classifying
(i) Classification and reclassification activities; classification systems used, e.g., International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification), International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification), other classification
(ii) Use of electronic classification systems and pre-defined terms of the classification applied

In 2014, work was done on the preparation of the amended 10th edition of the International Classification of Goods and Services ICGS (10-2015), coming into force as of January 1, 2015 in three languages: Russian, English and French. The translated materials and the edited form in which they are presented take into account the linguistic peculiarities of terms in Russian. Specifically, for certain goods and services (English and/or French names), where necessary, possible versions for interpretation of the terms are included, reflecting the cognitive essence of the goods and services in Russian.

In 2014, as part of the preparation of amendments to the 10^th edition of ICGS (10-2015), editing and additional translation of terms was carried out by LEXINTU. Work was likewise carried out to amend and correct generic groupings for the LEXINTU versions (languages: Russian, French, English and Spanish), designed for automated analysis in future of goods/ services submitted in applications to register trademarks and international registrations. LEXINTU is designed to work on the preparation of lists of goods and services for trademarks/service marks. The structure of LEXINTU assumes generic subordination of names of goods/services within a class in order to form groups of similar goods/services. This makes it possible to provide sets of goods/services within the class in a structured manner.

Editions of LEXINFORM include new names of goods and services, and also names that are not included in the ICGS, but are recommended by WIPO for familiarization. The LEXINFORM information block is in tabular form by ICGS class, indicating the generic group of the good or service. In 2014, LEXINFORM bulletins 10 and 11 were published.

In 2014, the Trademark Division continued to participate in activities to improve the International Classification of Goods and Services for the registration of marks (Nice Classification, hereinafter ‘ICGS’). In order to establish conditions for the use of the new WIPO standards in the Federal Service for Intellectual Property and improved international classifications for industrial property, on the basis of developing information technology, work progressed on: 

- preparing proposals, and formulating the position of the Russian delegation at the sessions of the Committee of Experts on the Nice Classification of Goods and Services for registering trademarks; a range of tasks relating to improving international classification of goods and services as part of participation in the 25^th session of the Committee of Experts of the Nice Union (April 25 to May 1, 2014 at WIPO, Geneva);

- participation in translating terms used in ICGS into Russian; and publication of a version of ICGS (10-2016) in three languages (French, English and Russian) on the Rospatent website;

- participation in translating terms for the WIPO auxiliary tool, Goods and Services Manager/ MGS Madrid Goods&Services Manager, into Russian.

Lists of goods and services of the retro collection of existing trademarks were selectively reclassified according to the ICGS editions applicable at the time of reclassification. (In 2014, according to ICGS edition (10-2014)).

A permanent automated classification of all claimed trademarks with a figurative component in the designation thereof was performed in accordance with the latest (seventh) edition of the Vienna Classification.

(ii) Use of electronic classification systems and pre-defined conditions of classification applied

Since 2011, a procedure of automatic electronic classification of the figurative elements of trademarks has been used. This was made possible in 2006 when the SILOIZ system of linguistic description and search for similarities in figurative elements was introduced, itself a sub-system of the automated system, Trademarks in force in the Russian Federation (АS TZ RF). By 2014, all marks valid on the territory of the RF with figurative elements had been described by SILOIZ.

By 2014, the text of the International Classification of Figurative Elements of Marks had been translated into Russian (seventh edition of the Vienna Classification). In 2014, a description was completed of the terms of the seventh edition of the Vienna Classification in the language of the description of the marks of the sub-system, SILOIZ. This enabled automatic reclassification of the entire array under the Vienna Classification of figurative elements registered under national and international procedures and valid on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Matters concerning processing of different types of non-traditional marks (e.g., three-dimensional, motion, hologram, color mark, etc.)

The Trademarks and Registration Division participates in the regulatory and method-related settlement of issues in the consideration of applications for registration of non-traditional trademarks, and the publication of corresponding information.  Moreover, information received through Rospatent’s involvement in the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications is widely used.

Other activities

III. SOURCES OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Main types of publications in the field of trademark information, outline of the content and medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)

Rospatent publications on trademarks are presented in Table 2.

                                                                                                       Тable 2

Since January, 2014, the Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazette has been posted on the website of the Federal State Budgetary Institution, the Federal Institute of Industrial Property, 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 2313-7452.

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 protected subject matter, and the official registration of intellectual property subject matter:
• Regulations on the Official Gazette of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_rospatent/pob;

• Official Publications section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/ofic_pub/;

• Daily Publication of Information on Registered Trademarks and Appellations of Origin section: http://www.fips.ru/el_bl/days_tm.htm;
• 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 trademarks published in the Rospatent Official Gazette, Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin, are listed below (national registration):

• extension of the term of validity of a trademark registration;
• change in the denomination, first name, surname or patronymic of a rights owner and/or place of business or residence;
• change of correspondence address;
• reduction of the list of goods and/or services for which a trademark is registered, for the information of the rights owner;
• change to the individual elements of a trademark, which do not alter its essential features;
• State registration of an agreement on alienation of the exclusive right in a trademark for all goods and/or services;
• State registration of an agreement on alienation of the exclusive right in a trademark for part of the goods and/or services;
• registration of a licensing agreement;
• changes (additions) to a licensing agreement;
• termination (premature) of a licensing agreement;
• registration of a sub-licensing agreement;
• changes (additions) to a sub-licensing agreement;
• termination (premature) of a sub-licensing agreement;
• registration of a commercial concession agreement;
• changes (additions) to a commercial concession agreement;
• termination (premature) of a commercial concession agreement;
• registration of a commercial sub-concession agreement;
• termination (premature) of a commercial sub-concession agreement;
• changes (additions) to a commercial sub-concession agreement;
• replacement of a national registration with an international registration;
• replacement of a national registration with an international registration for individual classes;
• recognition as completely invalid of the grant of legal protection for a trademark;
• recognition as partially invalid of the grant of legal protection for a trademark;
• premature termination of legal protection of a trademark, partially;
• premature termination of legal protection of a trademark, fully;
• cancellation of a decision to terminate legal protection of a trademark;
• recognition as invalid of a registration number;
• issue of a duplicate trademark certificate;
• division of an individual trademark registration;
• change to the list of persons having the right to use a collective mark;
• State registration of the transfer of the exclusive right in a trademark without agreement;
• State registration of a pledge (subsequent pledge) agreement;
• State registration of changes entered into a registered agreement;
• State registration of termination of a registered agreement;
• other changes relating to a trademark registration;
• correction of obvious and technical errors in Gazette publications.

In 2014, publication continued of notifications concerning trademarks protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration.

Forms of notification on international registrations:

• State registration of an agreement on the grant of a right to use a trademark protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration;
• State registration of amendments to a registered agreement on the grant of a right to use a trademark protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration;
• State registration of termination of a registered agreement on the grant of a right to use a trademark protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration;
• State registration of a pledge agreement (subsequent pledge) of the exclusive right in a trademark protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration;
• Correction of obvious and technical errors in Gazette publications relating to notifications concerning trademarks protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration;
• Other changes relating to registered trademarks protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration.

The addresses of web pages of the Office’s site providing access to online publications:

• Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin in the Official Publications section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/ofic_pub/ofic_bul/tz_zo_nmpt;

• In the Information Resources section, International Classification for Goods and Services subsection:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/international_classification/trade_marks/;

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 Trademarks and Service Marks of the Russian Federation

Register of Appellations of Origin of the Russian Federation

Register of Trademarks Well Known in the Russian Federation

Register of International Trademarks

Register of Russian Federation Trademark and Service Mark Registration Applications

Register of Applications for the Registration of Appellations of Origin of the Russian Federation

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

When examining the claimed designation as part of the process of forming an expert opinion, examiners use the TZ RF automated system sub-system, enabling them to analyze and select search results by similarity of verbal and figurative elements of marks, and prepare reports on the results. The search results are generated automatically thanks to intelligent indexing, and search instructions prepared by a group of search-engine specialists using the QSS sub-system of the RF TZ automated system which was introduced in 1989 to search for similar verbal elements of marks, and using the SILOIZ sub-system of the RF TZ automated system which was introduced in 2006 to search for similarities in the figurative elements of marks.

In addition, to examine trademarks an opportunity is provided to analyse information on the figurative elements of marks, both under the codes of the Vienna Classification, searching for data under the classifier’s headings, and also by the results of a search for similarity in figurative elements of marks in the sub-system of linguistic description and search for similarity in mark images, SILOIZ, search result volumes of which are orders of magnitude smaller.

In the course of work relating to the processing of applications and examination of designations claimed for registration as a trademark, examiners use the following databases and auxiliary tools available from external sources:

- ROMARIN (WIPO)

- Manager of Goods and Services/MGS (WIPO)

- Madrid Real-Time Status/MRS (WIPO)

- Madrid Portal for National Offices/MOP (WIPO)

- TMVIEW, TMCLASS (OHIM)

In 2014, Internet access was provided to the texts of international and national classifications:

- International Classification for Goods and Services (10^th edition of ICGS, version 10-2014) in three languages, including Russian, as well as the seventh, eighth and ninth editions.

- International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification), seventh edition, in Russian.

- Lexical and Semantic Identifier of Goods and Services (LEXINTU), fifth edition, in Russian.

- Lexicographical Information Gazette of Goods and Services (LEXINFORM) for 2014, in Russian.

In 2014, new 2015 editions of these publications were prepared for use from January 1, 2015.

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

In 2014, subscribers were provided with the Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Gazette based on official Rospatent information on CD/DVD, with a frequency of 24 issues per year. 

For new subscribers, and also for the purposes of keeping patent collections up to date, the series of the Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Gazette published in previous years (2011-2013) were offered on CD/DVD.

In addition, in 2014, users were offered sets of information on trademarks for 2005 to 2013 on one DVD for each year, as well as an array of retrospective information on trademarks for 1991 to 2004 on one DVD.

Users were also offered the new version of International Classification for Goods and Services, 10th edition, 2014 version (ICGS 10-2014) on CD, in hard-copy, as well as hard-copy and online versions of the 2013 and 2014 editions of Additions and Amendments to ICGS-10.

All products on optical disks were distributed along with MIMOSA information-search system software, which provides searching of bibliographic data, ICGS indexes, the verbal elements of marks, and also combinations thereof.

In 2014, users were offered free online access to information publications facilitating trademark classification and searching: International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks, seventh edition; Lexical and Semantic Identifier of Goods and Services (sixth edition) reference publication, which supplements The Lexicographical Information Gazette of Goods and Services periodical.

The Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazette was published on the FIPS Internet site, and registers were maintained of Russian trademarks and service marks, appellations of origin, trademarks well known in Russia, applications for Russian trademarks and service marks, and international trademarks with the indication Russia and an indication of their legal status. 

Aside from that, users are provided with free access to information on applications to register Russian Federation trademarks and service marks received after January 1, 2005.

Thematic databases based on official trademark information are prepared for users on special request.

Third party users have the opportunity, on submission of a verbal designation, to place orders and obtain reports on the results of searches for trademark similarities in the automated verbal search system RF TZ. 

Third party users have the opportunity, on submission of an image, to place orders and obtain reports on the results of searches for similarities in trademarks using the SILOIZ system of linguistic descriptions of figurative elements.

In 2014, third-party users were presented with the results of automated searches for similar:

- verbal elements of marks         7,024

- figurative elements                  1,177

In accordance with existing regulations for a number of organizations, such work was carried out free of charge.

In 2014, the Rospatent website provided online access to:

- registers of Russian trademarks;

- registers of appellations of origin;

- registers of trademarks well known in Russia;

- registers of trademark applications filed between 2005 and 2014;

- registers of applications to register appellations of origin from 2005 to 2014;

- registers of international trademarks with the indication Russia from 1980 to 2014;

- Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazettes published in the last month.

Rospatent registers of Russian patent documents contain the following databases:

- a database of Russian trademarks (contains information on 455,000 Russian trademark certificates from 1925 to 2014 inclusive, updated daily);

- a database of appellations of origin (contains information on 138 appellations of origin, and 329 certificates for the right to use thereof from 1992 to 2014 inclusive, updated daily);

- a database of trademarks well known in Russia (contains information on 143 marks from 2001 to 2014, updated daily);

- a database of international trademarks with the indication Russia (contains information on 275,000 international trademarks with the indication Russia from 1980 to 2014, updated daily);

- a database of trademark applications (contains information on 414,000 applications from 2005 to 2014, updated daily);

- a database of applications to register appellations of origin (contains information on 337,000 applications from 2005 to 2014, updated daily).

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

-  the information-search system (IPS).

-  registers of Russian trademarks;

-  registers of appellations of origin;

-  registers of trademarks well known in Russia;

-  registers of trademark applications filed between 2005 and 2014;

-  registers of applications to register appellations of origin from 2005 to 2014;

-  registers of international trademarks with the indication Russia from 1980 to 2014;

-  Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazettes published in the last month.

Users’ work with the information-search system

Examiners are able to work with all databases: trademarks, appellations of origin, trademarks well known in Russia, and international trademarks with the indication Russia.

Third-party users’ access to the full-text databases of inventions, utility models, trademarks, and industrial designs is provided on a contractual basis.

As part of the cooperation agreements between Rospatent and relevant organizations, in 2014 free access was granted to:

trademark databases:

- 9 organizations of the Federal Customs Service

- 3 users of the Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation, Rosalkogolregulirovanie

all FIPS databases:

- 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

Third party users are free to enjoy the following trademark databases:

- a database containing documents published in the two most recent Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Gazettes,

- the ICGS database.

The addresses of web pages of the Office’s site containing information on information products and services provided by the Office:

• 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, Databases subsection:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_2/;

Open Registers subsection: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/;

• Тrademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazette in the Official Publications section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/ofic_pub/ofic_bul/tz_zo_nmpt;

• patent databases – in the Information-Search System section, Databases subsection:

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:

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.)

On the Federal State Budgetary Institution FIPS website, users can access information about the legal status of trademarks that is updated daily.

Moreover, in the open registers of trademark registration applications, information on the stage of prosecution of applications is provided, which is updated daily.  Data on statuses are generated on the basis of RF TZ automated prosecution system data.

Information on the legal status of trademarks is published in Rospatent’s Official Gazette, Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin, posted on the FIPS and Rospatent websites, and also in the FIPS Gazette, Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin, on CD/DVD:

- information on the State registration of trademarks;

- information on amendments to the entries of the State Register of Russian Federation Trademarks (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 TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements

In 2014, an automated paperless prosecution system was put into operation 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).

The Agreements automated system is designed to support the prosecution of agreements on transferring rights in intellectual property subject matter, providing for the entire cycle of work: registration, categorizing incoming correspondence, storing the current status of applications, revisers’ corrections, preparing and dispatching outgoing correspondence, bookkeeping, integration with other systems and entry of information on the registration of agreements in EGR (Trademarks).

In 2013 the new version of the Madrid automated system was introduced, providing paperless processing and electronic State services for international applications and international registrations, as well as support for the entire cycle of work for registration: classification of incoming correspondence on international applications and registrations, storing the current status of international applications and registrations, bookkeeping and integration with other systems.

Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

PrimePower 1500 server

(RAM – 32GB, processors –10, external memory – 14 TB)

HP DL380 server – 24 units

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

HP DL580 server – 8 units

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

HP, Fujitsu-Siemens workstations - 580 units

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

The Rospatent in-house trademark databases are as follows:

- a database of Russian trademarks (contains information on 455,000 Russian trademark certificates from 1925 to 2014 inclusive, updated daily);

- a database of international trademarks with the indication Russia for subscribers to the trademarks database (contains information on 275,000 international trademarks with the indication Russia from 1980 to 2014, updated weekly);

- a database of appellations of origin for subscribers to the trademarks database (contains information on 138 appellations of origin and 329 certificates for the right to the use thereof from 1992 to 2014, updated daily);

- a database of trademarks well known in Russia (contains information on 143 well-known marks from 2001 to 2014, updated daily);

- the ICGS database.

In 2013, internal and external users made more than 2,151,000 requests through the information-search system available on the FIPS website.

In 2013, internal and external users of the registers on the Rospatent website made approximately 23,732,000 requests; 51 per cent of the overall number of requests related to the registers of trademarks and appellations of origin:

• more than 303,000 were made by internal users of the registers;
• approximately 23,429,000 were made by third-party users of the registers.

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

For searches of verbal and figurative elements of trademarks, an automated search subsystem of the Automated System, Russian Federation Trademarks, is used (RF TZ). A search takes place in three stages (i.e. offline): preparation of the trademark search model and search instruction; launch of the search instructions on the server; and review of the search results by an examiner.

Special search images are intelligently prepared, and automatically indexed by algorithms. In order to examine a claimed designation, intelligently-prepared, special search instructions are generated to search for similar verbal and figurative elements of marks, packaged by date of completion of the formal examination. The search instructions are run on the server, and the examiners are provided with the search results for analysis and selection in a special interface of reference documents.

The search file is divided into groups, the size of which by number of processed trademarks as at the end of 2014 is in parentheses:

• with verbal elements (988,124 marks);
• with figurative elements (277,358 marks);
• with Vienna Classification codes (277,724 marks);
• with names of goods and services (588,171 marks).

The search file is updated on a daily basis as incoming applications and constituent elements of marks are processed. Verbal and figurative search elements to be searched are stored on separate servers.

In Rospatent, a database of published trademarks is used – Trademarks of Russia – on CD-ROM optical disks with MIMOSA V6 information-search system.

In 2007, work was completed on the development of new software for working with the tenth edition of ICGS, which is integrated into the automated trademark search system, TM-EXAM-SEARCH (TMES) – part of TM-ADMIN, the electronic trademark document flow system.  The software allows lists of goods and services to be processed in two ways: collectively and individually.  This links goods and services in trademark applications/ registrations with ICGS terminology, thereby allowing future searches to produce more accurate results.

At the end of 2013, the search array used to search for trademarks with similar verbal and figurative elements contained all marks that had been registered or filed for registration under national or international procedures in the Russian Federation, as well as all the applications and registrations for all appellations of origin received by Rospatent.

The search databases are supplemented, renewed and updated with all marks received by Rospatent.

The verbal elements of each designation are transliterated and indexed for the occurrence of marks that have phonetic, semantic and visual similarities.  On the basis of the reviewed RF TZ automated system database, information is provided for both examination and external users.

Formalized linguistic descriptions of figurative elements for all figurative marks received by Rospatent are in SILOIZ, in a form that allows automated searching for similar figurative elements of marks.  On the basis of the reviewed SILOIZ database, information is provided for both examination and external users.

Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)

At the Office, the following document prosecution systems are used for information on trademarks:

• RF TZ automated system for prosecuting applications for trademarks and appellations of origin.
• the Agreements automated system for paperless prosecution of agreements on forms of intellectual property subject matter that come under the Office’s mandate, including trademarks;
• the Amendments to Trademark Registrations automated system for the prosecution of requests received following registration of a trademark (e.g. extension, change of owner or termination of validity).
• the Madrid Paperless Prosecutions of International Registrations automated system.
• TM-ADMIN, the electronic document flow system for registering and handling documents, including scanning, recognition and data entry procedures, document consideration processes, and preparing and sending outgoing correspondence.
• the electronic trademark application filing service, KPS RTZ, is intended for the filing of trademark applications and for electronic correspondence with applicants from the applicant’s personal area, and to provide the processes for exchanging electronic documents between applicants and the Office.  It functions using a means of cryptography and electronic signatures, and is integrated into the hardware and software environment of the automated system for paperless prosecution of trademark applications, TM-ADMIN.
• the ‘Personal Office’ service on the FIPS website is intended for electronic correspondence relating to paper applications, and for a number of documents submitted electronically which require original documents to be submitted with hard-copy signatures.
• electronic exchange of data with WIPO on the international registration of trademarks is carried out using MECA technology and WIPO Standard ST.66. Decisions on preliminary and final refusal are sent to WIPO electronically.
• the Electronic State Register of RF Trademarks and Service Marks, the State Register of RF Appellations of Origin, and the electronic list of trademarks well known in the Russian Federation (EGR).  Each entry in EGR is signed with the electronic signature of the inputter, which allows the signatory to be identified and his/her authority to be verified at the time of signing.
• the integrated Fees accounting system, establishing the use of electronic payment documents received from the Russian Treasury, and allowing the recording of fees for legally significant acts relating to applications for trademarks and appellations of origin.

Other matters

V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION

Office's library (if deals with trademark information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries

The trademarks collection is intended for examiners and other categories of users.  Trademark information is provided on a fee-free basis to third-party users at VPTB.

The trademark collection is available at VPTB both on paper and electronically, and includes:

- Rospatent Official Gazettes;

- pаtent gazettes from foreign countries and international organizations, both special gazettes and ordinary gazettes on industrial property with sections dedicated to trademarks;

- databases containing information on trademarks of Russia, foreign countries and international organizations.

In 2014, over 3,100 trademark gazettes from all countries were published on paper, while users viewed over 14,700 electronically.

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

The VPTB patent law collection includes books and periodicals on a broad range of issues of legal protection and use of trademarks and service marks in Russia and overseas.  The collection is available electronically and in hard-copy, and also includes publications found on official websites, and contains different types of information sources: national and international law, commentaries and reviews, guidelines, training aids, standards, patent office reports, conference and seminar materials, compilations of court decisions and collections of statistics, etc.

In the Daily Publications section of the FIPS website, information is posted on a daily basis on current registrations of trademarks, service marks, appellations of origin, well-known trademarks, as well as notifications regarding amendments to the State Register of Trademarks prior to publication thereof in the Official Gazette, Trademarks, Service Marks, and Appellations of Origin: http://www.fips.ru/el_bl/days_tm.htm.

In the Rospatent and Regions section, the following is published:

Recommendations on the list of essential methodology, legal and patent literature and documentation for the provision of documents for the patent subdivisions and services of the State science and education sector and organizations forming the national nanotechnology network: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/regions/recomend

In the Regulatory Documents section, the following guidelines can be found on various examination and prosecution issues:

• Recommendations on the application of provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation relating to a patent owner's consent to registration of a similar trademark, approved by Order of Rospatent No. 190 of December 30, 2009: http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/nfile/5d4359ee-3074-11e1-351c-9c8e9921fb2c/rec_gk4.pdf;
• Guidelines on determining the similarity of goods and services when examining applications for the State registration of trademarks and service marks, approved by Order of Rospatent No. 198 of December 31, 2009: http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/nfile/6b1ee5c0-3071-11e1-351c-9c8e9921fb2c/met_rec_tm.pdf;
• Recommendations on individual matters concerning examination of designations representing labels and polygraphic packaging, approved by Order of Rospatent No. 170 of November 30, 2009: http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/nfile/882e4a98-3074-11e1-351c-9c8e9921fb2c/rec_poligraf.pdf;
• Guidelines on verification of claimed designations for identity and similarity, approved by Order of Rospatent No. 197 of December 31, 2009: http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/nfile/41661713-3072-11e1-351c-9c8e9921fb2c/metod_rec_tojd.pdf.
• Internet publications from the All-Russian Patent Technology Library Division are available on the FIPS website in the State Patent Collection and VPTB Information Products sections at: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/fonds/.
• For novice users of patent information, links can be found to WIPO publications in Russian under the What is Intellectual Property? heading in the For Beginners section: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/about/ip.

Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.

In 2014, more than 1,100 optical disks of national trademarks were provided free of charge to regional libraries, RF higher education institutions and information centers.

In case of interest, third-party users were offered consultations on various aspects of activity.

In 2014, as part of the Program for Regional Information Support, Rospatent provided 24 new business entities with free access to FIPS’ full-text databases.

The opportunity to access databases on the FIPS website free of charge via the Internet was provided to 299 organizations in nine federal districts of the Russian Federation as at December 31, 2014. Access was provided to: 48 support organizations; eight science cities; 41 State scientific centers (SSC), 35 scientific centers of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SC RAS), 40 organizations as part of the Federal Target Program, Development of Nano-industry Infrastructure in the Russian Federation for 2008–2011 (FTP), 109 TISC and 18 other organizations.

Issues concerning electronic filing of trademark applications at FIPS were addressed at 10 conferences, seminars and round tables organized and held by Rospatent in 2014 in nine regions of the Russian Federation. Details of these events can be found in Part 5(d).

Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.

At FIPS, professional development for employees is organized under the Common Training System (ESO), according to the principle of continuous training from the time of hiring, as provided for under the FIPS Charter.

Organization of FIPS employee training using in-house training methods

In 2014, in accordance with the Combined Plans for In-House Training of Employees, as approved by the Director of FIPS, the following were held: 

- 33 centralized sessions, for the managers of the structural subdivisions, their deputies, and senior FIPS employees, covering issues relevant to the practice of activities, and targeted at various categories of employee;

- 546 sessions directly in the FIPS subdivisions in accordance with the quarterly in-house training plans. These focused principally on studying newly released regulatory documents, issues in the performance of examinations, as well as analyzing the results of internal and external examination quality control in specific subdivisions, and were conducted by senior staff of the subdivisions in question.

In the second half of 2014, the sessions focused on preparing senior staff and examiners for work under the conditions of the amended Civil Code of the Russian Federation (No.35-FZ of March 12, 2014).

As part of the process of exchanging experience with foreign patent offices, four training seminars were held at Rospatent for staff examiners and administrative and managerial staff from FIPS as an introduction to the law enforcement practices of other patent offices (EPO, OHIM, SIPO, IPOM).  The seminars were attended by approximately 240 specialists.

Professional Development of Newly-Recruited FIPS Examiners

In 2014, based on the results of an open tender for the professional development of newly-recruited FIPS examiners of inventions and utility models, a civil contract was concluded with RGAIS, in accordance with which training was organized and conducted of the 12th stream of newly-recruited FIPS examiners, consisting of 28 people. The training was carried out in accordance with the thematic curriculum, and was 220 academic hours in duration.

Training under higher professional education programs

In 2014, 11 FIPS employees continued training under the higher professional education program at RGAIS, three of whom were funded by FIPS (first degree).  One person gained a degree, while two others are continuing their studies. Eight employees studied at their own expense, of whom two gained a degree.

21 FIPS employees enrolled at their own expense to study on the RGAIS graduate program (course 40.04.01, Law).

RGAIS post-graduate studies

Three FIPS employees continued their studies as post-graduates at RGAIS on their own initiative.

In 2014, 11 conferences, seminars and round tables organized and held by Rospatent in nine regions of the Russian Federation addressed issues relating to trademark protection in Russia, and international registration of marks:

• April 9- seminar on ‘Examining Industrial Property Applications at the Federal Institute of Industrial Property’ (Perm Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Perm);
• April 22-23- Second Forum on ‘Innovation Potential of Russia’, organized in conjunction with WIPO (Rospatent, Moscow)
• April 23- round table on ‘Electronic Interaction of Applicants with FIPS’, as part of the city festival, ‘Intellectual Property Days’ (Institute of International Business and Law, National Research University of Information Technology, Mechanics and Optics, St. Petersburg);
• May 21-22- 12^th Volga Practical Research Conference on ‘Current Intellectual Property Protection Issues’ (State Budgetary Institution of Further Professional Education, Nizhegorodsky Scientific and Information Center, Nizhny Novgorod);
• May 28-29- regional practical research conference for specialists of the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation on ‘Current Issues in Legal Protection and Use of the Results of  Intellectual Activity and Means of Individualization’ (Federal State Independent Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education, Belgorod State National Research University);
• June 24-25- national seminar organized in conjunction with WIPO on ‘Promoting Efficient Use of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks, and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs’ (A.M. Gorky State Budgetary Institution of Culture, Tver’ Order Badge of Honor Regional Universal Scientific Library, Tver’);
• October 22- round table on ‘Soviet Trademarks; Balancing the Interests of Rights Holders and Actual Users’, as part of the international practical research conference, the Ninth Annual Scientific Readings in Memory of Professor S.N.Bratus’ on the Theme ‘State and Business in a System of Legal Reference’ (Federal State Research Institution, Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow);
• October 8-9- 18^th Rospatent practical research conference, ‘Part Four of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation: Innovations in Intellectual Property’ (Rospatent, Moscow);
• October 28-29- national seminar organized in conjunction with WIPO on ‘Promoting Efficient Use of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks, and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs’ (V.Ya. Shishkov Regional State Budgetary Institution, Altai Region Universal Scientific Library, Barnaul).
• November 11-12- regional practical research conference for specialists of the Southern Federal District of the Russian Federation on ‘Current Issues in Legal Protection and Use of the Results of  Intellectual Activity and Means of Individualization’ (Federal State Budgetary Institution of Higher Professional Education, Kuban State Technological University, Krasnodar);
• November 20- practical research conference on ‘Current Issues in Legal Protection and Use of the Results of Intellectual Activity’ (State Cultural Institution, Tula Regional Universal Scientific Library, Tula).

Other activities

VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION

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

Since January, 2014, in order to fulfill its obligations in relation to exchange of patent information, FIPS has posted electronic Gazettes, including trademark information, on the Institute’s FTP server, instead of sending information on disks.

In 2014, as part of this international exchange, data access was granted via the FTP server to the patent offices of 45 foreign countries and three international organizations.

The VPTB Division received trademark information from 43 countries and one international organization.

In 2014, 2,128 copies of industrial design gazettes were received from 44 countries and one international organization on all kinds of carriers: 24 paper copies; 391 copies on optical disks, and 1,713 copies downloaded from office websites or Internet resources.

In 2014, 2,220 copies of Gazettes featuring trademarks were received from the United States of America, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Germany and other countries on all kinds of carriers: 24 hard copies; 258 copies on optical disks; 1,938 copies downloaded from office websites or Internet resources.

Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to trademark information

In 2014, as part of its participation in regional projects relating to trademark information,

Rospatent organized and held two national seminars in conjunction with WIPO on ‘Promoting Efficient Use of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks, and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs’ in two regions of the Russian Federation, at which two FIPS and two WIPO employees delivered addresses:

• June 24-25, at the A.M. Gorky State Budgetary Institution of Culture, Tver’ Order Badge of Honor Regional Universal Scientific Library, Tver’;
• October 28-29, at the V.Ya. Shishkov Regional State Budgetary Institution, Altai Region Universal Scientific Library, Barnaul.

From April 1-4, 2014, at the 17th Moscow International Exhibition of Inventions and Innovation Technologies, Archimedes 2014, which was organized with Rospatent’s support, and attended by 529 representatives from 17 countries, including representatives of 42 regions of the Russian Federation, the traditional International Exhibition competition for trademarks and brand names, ‘Trademark- LEADER’, was included in the competition program. 

Under the framework of participation in international activities and projects related to trademark information, employees of the trademarks division participated in the following events:

- 31^st session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications (WIPO headquarters in Geneva, March 17-21, 2014);

- 32^nd session of the WIPO Standing Committee on the Law of trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications (WIPO headquarters in Geneva, March 24-26, 2014);

- Ninth session of the Working Group on the Development of the Lisbon System for the International Registration of Appellations of Origin (WIPO headquarters in Geneva, June 23-27, 2014, RF Delegation participated as an observer);

- 12^th session of the Working Group on the Legal Development of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks (WIPO headquarters in Geneva, October 20-24, 2014);

- participation in the Seminar on Trademarks, dedicated to the exchange of ideas and intellectual property practices from March 10-14, 2014 at the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM, Alicante, Spain);

- participation of a Trademark Division representative from April 1, 2014, to April 1, 2015, in the WIPO program for exchanging specialists under the Madrid System (secondment to WIPO headquarters in Geneva for one year);

- participation in a Seminar to discuss the results of a comparative analysis of the legislative provisions of the EU and Civil Code of the Russian Federation in the field of trademarks and industrial designs, held at Rospatent on December 11, 2014.

In order to foster cooperation with the EU Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), Division 4 took part in video conferences of working meetings of specialists from OHIM and FIPS to discuss issues relating to the development of guidelines for the examination of trademarks.

These activities were intended to harmonize legislation in the field of trademarks, appellations of origin, and geographical indications; improve mutual understanding of the procedures and practices for performing examinations in national and regional intellectual property offices, and internationally; studying the use of tools and means of performing examinations; increasing mutual confidence in the results of the offices’ work, and increasing the mutual use of search results and examination in the field of trademarks, appellations of origin, and geographical indications.

Assistance to developing countries

Rospatent has no special programs to help developing countries.  Assistance is provided in response to individual requests from the Offices of developing countries.

Other activities

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS