Annual Technical Report on Trademark Information Activities in 2020 submitted by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property of the Russian Federation (ROSPATENT)
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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
Among the activities specified under the Digital Economy program development of the State Information System entitled Smart Examination System of Means of Individualization (SIS MI Examination) continues. The System follows one of the national economic development tasks, namely improvement of quality of the State services, namely speeding up the processing of applications for registration of trademarks and industrial designs.
SIS MI Examination will allow fully automated searches for trademarks, well-known trademarks and appellations of origin and industrial designs both in the course of examination of these IP rights carried out by the Office’s experts and to enable external users (applicants, representatives of the business community, federal executive entities and other interested persons) to get such information.
The System being developed will be made publicly available to a wide range of users, allowing citizens and business organizations to independently find information on registered trademarks and industrial designs. Up to now, due to some technical limitations, users have not had access to the search engine for the means of individualization as it is used by experts. There is such a need, especially in the case of the professional community, particularly patent attorneys. The new System will meet this challenge and provide external users with a modern and flexible tool to obtain information on existing means of individualization, search for applications and registrations within national data sets consisting of about 1’000’000 trademarks and about 360’000 industrial designs.
External users can be divided into 5 categories depending on the search purpose.
1) Creators of such IP rights objects who need to verify that what objects are already registered before coming up with their own;
2) Potential applicants and their representatives who wish to ensure that the objects that they have created do not overlap in characteristics and features with those already registered;
3) Rights holders who wish to make any changes to previously registered IP rights;
4) Representatives of the business community interested in dealing with rights holders, for example in concluding a license contract for the use of the IP rights;
5) Other stakeholders.
Thus, the introduction of an Information System will not only facilitate the work of the Office’s experts and help applicants better prepare for the creation and registration of unique and distinct IPR objects but could also indirectly influence the revival of the IPR market turnover, as additional participants could be attracted by providing them with information on potentially interesting IPR objects.
The key feature of the SIS MI Examination is the use of deep learning of neural network. The network will make it possible to check for identity or confusing similarity of a claimed trademark or industrial design with the symbols entered in the registers of registered individualization means of the Russian Federation, foreign registrations and applications. In addition, the functionality of the new system provides extensive search capabilities for the verbal elements of the declared designations and full-text bibliographic data searches.
Furthermore, the functional features of the new System provide an extensive search for verbal elements of the claimed designations and full-text bibliographic data search.
Automatization of these processes using the new technologies will improve the quality of examination and speed up the issuance of trademark certificates and patents for industrial designs, which in turn will have a positive impact on the development of the entire area of intellectual property in the Russian Federation, making the procedure transparent and more understandable for citizens.
In 2020, along with activities within the Federal project “Information infrastructure”, there were conducted activities aimed at reducing the time for the provision of public services on state registration of objects for IPRs protection; activities aimed at increasing the indicator, reflecting “a share of citizens, using the digital mechanism of public services”. Further work on optimization of the Office workflows and the development of electronic services will allow achieving significant results.
As a result of technological processes automatization in 2020 the system of digital document management for trademarks became capable of providing examination and state registration of applications for geographical indications, granting an exclusive right to such GI, as well as for previously registered GIs. Examination decision support is ensured for new types of non-traditional trademarks, including INID codes 521 and 523. The new search engine of the SIS for means of individualization examination and its new features for automatic report drafting on the information search via TM-ADIMN (in combination with search results from “Trademarks of the Russian Federation” automatic system) is now available to the experts.
The development of an open API in 2020 for the establishment of the digital communication of FIPS with the stakeholders of electronic filing service “Registrar” allows upgrading to the interaction of stakeholders’ subsystems with FIPS, which will significantly enhance the quality of interaction and examination procedures.
Furthermore, work continued to secure a reduction in labor costs for expertise in comparing the names of goods and services.
In 2020, the work aimed at increasing the indicator, reflecting “a share of citizens, using the digital mechanism of public services” was continued. The conducted activities were focused on the improvement of the functional range of personal accounts for electronic services and information user support, including answers for questions, incoming through the technical support service. There were conducted relevant regular meetings on how to work with digital services, to update the information, published within the “Filing Application” section at FIPS webpage https://new.fips.ru/ podacha-zayavki.
The above-mentioned activities allowed to achieve in 2020 that 87% of all national applications for trademarks were filed electronically.
On the site of Rospatent the goals, objectives and plans of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property are published in the section "Plans" (https://rospatent.gov.ru/ru/about/plans, available in Russian).
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
In 2020, it was planned to put the SIS (State Information System) “Smart examination system for means of individualization” into trial operation. The system has been developed and is ready for commissioning in the volume of the first and second stages. The new section was developed and introduced on the website: “Application Documents for Geographical Indications and Appellations of Origin”. In 2020, the following functions became available: electronic filing of an application for state registration of a geographical indication, as well as granting an exclusive right to such GI according to the application for the previously registered GI, conducting legally significant correspondence on applications filed via the Registrar service. Furthermore, the following electronic registers were filled with records: the State register of trademarks and service marks of the Russian Federation (ESR of TM), the State register of appellations of origin of the Russian Federation (ESR of AoO), the List of well-known trademarks in the Russian Federation (List of WTM). As of December 31, 2020, the digital registers contained: - ESR of TM
– 716784 registrations; - List of WTM
– 223 registrations;
– ESR of AoO – 255 Aos and GIs as well as 574 certificates.
Main areas of trademark information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
In 2020, the number of requests for the provision of public services (hereinafter referred to as requests) filed with Rospatent electronically increased by 8% compared to 2019.The list of measures aimed at increasing applicants’ interest in applying electronically for the provision of government services is as follows: 1. Expanding the functionality of electronic interaction services.In 2020, a new version has become available to users of the AWP "Registrar" service, which provides a comfortable environment for filing applications and maintaining office work. 2. Conducting monthly thematic meetings for FIPS specialists with users of electronic filing services for applications for inventions and utility models, applicants and representatives thereof, as well as all those wishing to participate in the process of electronic interaction with Rospatent and FIPS when submitting and reviewing applications. 3. Posting of educational video materials and programs on the FIPS website. Users become more interested in e-filing mechanisms and digital interaction, this brings the increased number of views under tutorial videos, posted within the “Application filing” section, which exceeded 45’000 views, this shows the triple boost in contrast to the last year. 4. The FIPS technical support service is conducting a review of requests from users of electronic services. In 2020, about 5’000 requests were considered. 5. Any interested person may obtain the necessary knowledge and practical experience in preparing documentation electronically for applications for the grant of a patent for an invention or utility model. One-to-one training is conducted in the computer room of the patent library and is free of charge.
In 2020, 68’479 applications for the State registration of trademarks and service marks were filed electronically.
In 2021 there are plans to continue work on the development of electronic filing services and promoting the use of electronic filing and electronic communications among applicants and patent attorneys. This will make it possible to expand the circle of users of electronic filing services and maintain growth in the number of filed applications .
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 2020 increased in comparison to 2019.
The growth is 7.33%, due to the increase in the number of applications from Russian applicants (by 14.98%). The receipt of applications from foreign applicants decreased (by 8.18%), as did the number of applications received under the international procedure (by 9.1%).
Regarding the registration of trademarks, an increase of 2.01% was shown.
The increase in the number of registered trademarks in 2020 compared to 2019 was due to an increase in this indicator for Russian applicants (by 3.81%), while there is a slight decline for foreign applicants (by 0.77%) due to national applications.
Table 1
| 2019 | 2020 | % 2020 to 2019 |
Total number of trademark and service mark applications filed, including: | 87509 | 93926 | 107,33 |
- by Russian applicants | 58616 | 67396 | 114,98 |
- by foreign applicants | 28893 | 26530 | 91,82 |
of which under international registration procedures | 18804 | 17092 | 90,90 |
Total number of trademarks and service marks registered, including: | 66707 | 68048 | 102,01 |
- in the name of Russian applicants | 40501 | 42043 | 103,81 |
- in the name of foreign applicants | 26206 | 26005 | 99,23 |
of which under international registration procedures | 17303 | 17944 | 103,70 |
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 in the Trademarks, Service Marks, and Appellations of Origin section -Regulation section:
- Office Annual Report – Rospatent Annual Reports section:
https://rospatent.gov.ru/ru/about/reports
- Rospatent: Transforming the IP Business Environment 2020
https://rospatent.gov.ru/content/uploadfiles/annual-report-2020-short-version-en.pd
https://rospatent.gov.ru/content/uploadfiles/annual-report-2020-short-version.pdf
Links section: http://www.rupto.ru/ru/sourses/links;
- Guide to the resources of the FIPS Library and its web resources:
- Information noticesin the Trademarks, Service Marks, Geographical indications and Appellations of Origin section:
http://fips.ru/to-applicants/trademarks/
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
Thematic meetings on electronic filing of trademark applications and maintaining electronic correspondence in the course of office work are held regularly.
In 2020, the All-Russian Patent and Technical Library Division (Library) of FIPS held 2 thematic meetings in webinar format on training to work with the electronic filing system for trademark applications, appellations of origin and geographical indications:
- "Using the functionality of the personal account of the AWP Registrar service during the consideration of applications for trademarks filed in electronic form";
- "Electronic filing of applications for geographical indications, appellations of origin of goods using the AWS Registrar".
700 views of video recordings of thematic webinars were registered.
Free, one-on-one training for users of electronic trademark application filing systems is held in the computer room of the Library.
The web page addresses of Office websites providing information on filing applications are as follows:
- Users of the FIPS website have access to user and technical documentation on setting up and operating an electronic application filing service for registering trademarks and service marks, and electronic correspondence:
http://new.fips.ru/podacha-zayavki/podacha-zayavki-na-tovarnyy-znak/
- State registration of trademarks, service marks, and collective marks, and the issuance of certificates for trademarks, service marks, and collective marks, and duplicates thereof:
- Recognition of a trademark, or a designation used as a trademark, as a well-known trademark in the Russian Federation:
- Access to documents of applications for State registration of trademarks, service marks, and collective marks, and issuance of copies of such documents:
- section "Forms of documents":
https://rospatent.gov.ru/ru/documentforms;
- Filing Applications section/ "Filing an application for an invention, utility model, GU, trademark, appellation of origin» rubric:
http://new.fips.ru/podacha-zayavki/
- Fees section: https://rospatent.gov.ru/ru/activities/dues;
- Fee calculator: https://www.fips.ru/podacha-zayavki/kalkulyator-poshlin/index.php;
- Frequently Asked Questions section:
https://rospatent.gov.ru/ru/faq/chto-takoe-tovarnyy-znak-i-znak-obsluzhivaniya
There is a section on the FIPS website that contains answers to frequently asked questions.
Service users may contact the Technical Support Service during working hours at "mailto:helpdesk@rupto.ru" to obtain professional help from technical specialists.
Details of these events can be found in Part 5(d).
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
Within the framework of the electronic document management system for trademarks, access is provided to the primary materials of applications received in paper and/or electronic form, lists of goods and/or services, designations applied for registration, bibliographic data on applications and versions of documents - incoming and outgoing correspondence signed with an electronic signature.
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
In 2020, the International Registration Systems Department participated in activities to improve the International Classification of Goods and Services for the registration of marks (Nice Classification, hereinafter ‘NCL’), intending 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:
- preparation of proposals concerning amendments to the 11th edition of the 2020 version of NCL, to the 31st session of the Committee of Experts on the Nice Classification of Goods and Services for Registration of Marks.
-preparation of the official translation into Russian of terms used in the 11th edition of the 2021 version of NCL, ‘NCL (11-2021)’;
-translation into Russian and formatting of terms used in NCL (11-2021) for the WIPO International Bureau support service, ‘Goods and Services Manager’/MGS Madrid Goods & Services Manager, and for the multi-lingual service of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) TM class, and transfer of formatted materials to the WIPO International Bureau and EUIPO;
- the terms of NCL (11-2021) and LEXINTU-13 (2021) have been prepared in Russian in a special format for downloading into a software package for electronic filing with Rospatent of trademark registration applications by applicants, as well as into a software package for electronic record-keeping when examining trademark registration applications at Rospatent.
(ii) Use of electronic classification systems and pre-defined terms of the classification applied
Since 2011, a procedure of automatic electronic classification of the figurative elements of the input stream of images of national trademark and Madrid registration applications submitted from the WIPO International Office, under the sixth edition of the International Classification of Figurative Elements (Vienna Classification) 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 TM RF).
The results of classification as an additional service are provided to experts when examining claimed trademark designations.
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
Publication Title | Form of Publication | Frequency of Publication |
Official publications of Rospatent on trademarks, service marks, appellations of origin and certificates for the right to use an appellation of origin | ||
Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazette, including the following sections: Trademarks and Service Marks applications | Bibliographic data; images (where available); list of goods and/or services (where available) | Twice per month |
Geographical indications and applications for the Appellations of Origin | Information on applications filed for the State registration of geographical indications; information on State registration of geographical indications and granting of the exclusive right to such geographical indications; information on appellations of origin, identification of the goods for which the appellations of origin are registered and/or the exclusive right is granted. | |
Trademarks and service marks | Bibliographical data, images, list of goods and/or services. | |
Appellations of origin | Bibliographic data, appellations of origin, indications of goods, and also indications of a place of origin (production) of a good (borders of the geographical subject). Information concerning certificates for the right to use an appellation of origin is also published. | |
Trademarks Well-Known in the Russian Federation | Information related to the granting of legal protection to well-known trademarks included in the List of well-known trademarks in the Russian Federation | |
Notifications | Information on the changes made to the Electronic State Registers of Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin and the List of Trademarks Well-Known in the Russian Federation is published. Information is supplied by the corresponding subdivisions of the Institute and Rospatent in the established form. In this section notifications concerning trademarks protected in Russian Federation due to international registration are also published. | |
Court decisions on the infringement of patent owners’ rights | Court decisions on infringement of patent owners’ rights (at the request of a patent owner) | |
Annual Rospatent Activity Report for 2020 (on the website) | Structure and composition of data determined by Rospatent | Once per year |
During 2020, 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.
Since January 10, 2017, the system of continuous publication of data on trademarks, service marks and appellations of origin in the official bulletins immediately after making entries in the relevant State Register is introduced.
All “Trademarks, service marks, appellations of origin” Official Gazette for 2005-2020 available at:
https://www1.fips.ru/publication-web/bulletins/UsrTM
The web page addresses of the Office’s websites providing information concerning Office publications are as follows:
- Regulations on the Official Gazette of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin:
https://www.fips.ru/documents/npa-rf/prikazy-rospatenta/Pologenie_TZ.pdf;
- Official Publications section:
https://www.fips.ru/publication-web/bulletins/UsrTM;
- Catalog of Publications and Databases in the Patent Information Products section:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/publishing_activities/
https://www.fips.ru/vse-uslugi/patentno-informatsionnye-produkty/
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online, URL), etc.
In 2020 the following types of notifications on national and international trademark registrations are published.
The forms of notifications on trademarks published in the Rospatent Official Gazette, Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin, are listed below (national 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;
- Segregation of the separate registration of the trademark
- Changing the range of persons having the collective sign right of use
- Acknowledgment of the trademarks being well-known in the Russian Federation
- Replacement the national registration with the international one
- Replacement the national registration with international one for separate classes
- Converting trademark to a collective mark
- Converting collective mark to a trademark
- Termination of the trademark legal protection due to the trademark exclusive right expiration
- Fully invalidated trademark protection
- Partially invalidated trademark protection
- Full early trademark protection termination
- Partial early trademark protection termination
- Trademark exclusive right term extension
- Granting trademark certificate copy
- State registration of trademark exclusive rights transfer without a contract
- State registration of trademark exclusive rights pledge (subsequent pledge) under contract
- State registration of trademark right of use granted under the contract
- State registration of changes concerning trademark exclusive rights under contract alienation
- State registration of changes concerning trademark right of use under contract granting
- State registration of changes in the contract
- State registration of changes concerning trademark exclusive rights pledge (subsequent pledge) under contract
- State registration of trademark right of use under contract termination
- State registration of the contract termination
- State registration of the trademark exclusive rights pledge (subsequent pledge) under contract termination
- Correcting the obvious and technical errors in the entries of the State Register of Trademarks and Service Marks of Russian Federation and/or in the bulletin publications
- Other changes related to registered trademarks
In 2018, the publication of notifications concerning trademarks protected in the Russian Federation by virtue of international registration continued.
Forms of notification on international registrations:
- State registration of granting trademark right of use protected in Russian Federation due to international registration, under contract
- State registration of pledge (subsequent pledge) of trademark exclusive rights protected in Russian Federation due to international registration, under contract
- State registration of changes concerning granting trademark right of use protected in Russian Federation due to international registration, under contract
- State registration of changes in the contract
- State registration of changes concerning pledge (subsequent pledge) of trademark exclusive rights protected in Russian Federation due to international registration, under contract
- State registration of termination the trademark right of use protected in Russian Federation due to international registration, under contract
- State registration of the contract termination
- State registration of termination of the pledge (subsequent pledge) of trademark exclusive rights protected in Russian Federation due to international registration, under contract
- 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 - Official Bulletins” in the “Official Publications” section::
https://www.fips.ru/publication-web/bulletins/UsrTM
- International Classification for Goods and Services:
https://www.fips.ru/publication-web/classification/mktu?view=index
- Open Registers of Russian Patent Documents:
https://www.fips.ru/registers-web/
From the above page, a user may refer to the following resources utilizing the appropriate link:
Register of Trademarks and Service Marks of the Russian Federation
Register of Trademarks Well Known in the Russian Federation
Register of geographical indications and Appellations of Origin of 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
In 2020, access was provided to the texts of international and domestic classifications via the Internet:
- International Classification of Goods and Services (NCL, 11th edition, version 11-2020) in three languages, including Russian.
- International Classification of Figurative Elements of Trademarks (Vienna Classification), seventh edition, in Russian.
- Lexical and semantic identifier of goods and services (LEXINTU - 2020), 12th edition, in Russian with changed and corrected names of subsumption groups.
- Lexicographical information gazette of goods and services (LEXINFORM №18), in Russian.
When examining the claimed designation as part of the process of forming an expert opinion, examiners use the trademarks, registered in the Russian Federation, automated system sub-system, enabling them to analyze and select search results by the 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 trademarks, registered in the Russian Federation, automated system which was introduced in 1989 to search for similar verbal elements of marks, and using the SILOIZ sub-system of the trademarks, registered in the Russian Federation, 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 analyze 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 (EUIPO)
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
In 2020, subscribers were provided with the Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Gazette based on official Rospatent information on CD/DVD, with a search system. Frequency of 24 issues (disks) per year.
For new subscribers and to keep patent collections up to date, the series of the Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Gazette published in previous years (2017-2019) were offered on CD/DVD.
In addition, users were offered sets of information on trademarks for 1991 to 2019 on DVD / USB Flash Drive (13 disks and 4 USB Flash Drive), as well as an array of retrospective information on trademarks for 1991 to 2019 by FTP.
All products on CD/DVD/ USB Flash Drive and by FTP were distributed along with MIMOSA information-search system software, which provides searching of bibliographic data, NCL indexes, the verbal elements of marks, and also combinations thereof.
In addition, the website offered users free access to the International Classification of Goods and Services (NCL 11-2020) and information publications facilitating the classification of, and search for, trademarks: International Classification of Graphic Elements of Trademarks (VCL 7th edition); the reference book, Lexical-Semantic Identifier of the Names of Goods and Services (11th edition 2020), which complements the periodical, Lexicographic Information Gazette of Goods and Services №17.
The Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazette was published on the FIPS website, and registers of Russian trademarks and service marks, appellations of origin, well-known Russian trademarks, applications for Russian trademarks and service marks, and international trademarks with the indication Russia and an indication of their legal status continued to maintain.
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 can be produced for special customer orders, based on official trademark information.
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 for the trademarks, registered in the Russian Federation.
Third-party users have the opportunity, on submission of a designation of a figurative element, 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.
Users’ work with the information-search system
Examiners can work with all databases: trademarks, service marks, and international trademarks with the indication Russia.
Third-party users’ access to the full-text databases of trademarks is provided on a contractual basis.
As part of the cooperation agreements between Rospatent and relevant organizations, in 2020 free access was granted to:
- for trademark databases:
- 252 organizations of the Federal Customs Service
- 3 users of the Federal Service for Alcohol Market Regulation, Rosalkogolregulirovanie
Third-party users are free to enjoy the following trademark databases:
- database containing information on trademarks, service marks of the Russian Federation, for the past 30 days;
- The NCL database.
In 2020, internal and external users made more than 3’863’000 requests through the information-search system, related to trademark databases.
Users’ Work with Rospatent Official Gazettes
Users are given free access to all documents contained in the "Open Registries".
In 2020, users made more than 131’503’000 page views of "Open Registries”.
Free access to all resources hosted on the FIPS website is available in the computer room of the FIPS Library.
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:
https://www.fips.ru/vse-uslugi/patentno-informatsionnye-produkty;
- Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Official Gazette in the Official Publications section:
https://www.fips.ru/publication-web/bulletins/UsrTM;
how to carry out a search – in the Search System section:
https://www.fips.ru/elektronnye-servisy/informatsionno-poiskovaya-sistema/index.php
Information on how to access and use resources – in the Search System section:
- Instructions for working with Internet resources FIPS:
https://www.fips.ru/iiss/Инструкция%20по%20работе%20с%20информационными%20ресурсами.doc
- Support:
Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
On the FIPS website, users can have access to information about the legal status of trademarks, which is updated daily.
Moreover, in the Оpen registers of trademark registration applications, information on the stage of prosecution of applications is provided, which is updated daily. Data on statuses are generated based on Russian trademarks’ 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 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 Search 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://new.fips.ru/registers-web/
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
Due to the restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection, the Office’s experts have been teleworking with the access to the FIPS automated systems.
The software and hardware suite allows the Patent Disputes Chamber to remotely review requests and objections submitted by regions residents. Participation in the hearings is provided through the browser and does not require the installation of additional software for external participants.
Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
Fujitsu M10-4S server
(RAM – 64GB, processors – 16, external memory – 20 TB)
HP DL380 server – 26 units
(RAM – 4GB, processors - 2, external memory – 200 GB)
Server HP DL580 – 8 units
(RAM – 16GB, processors - 4, external memory - 600 GB)
HP, IRBIS workstations - 585 units.
Software:
Solaris, Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008 Server, Windows 2012 Server operating systems.
Carriers used:
LTO-7 magnetic tapes.
Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
The search arrays of the AS "TZ RF" system include applications and registrations (national and international), well-known trademarks.
The Rospatent in-house trademark databases are as follows:
- database of Russian trademarks (contains information on 738,000 Russian trademark certificates from 1925 to 2020 inclusive, updated daily);
- database of trademark applications filed between 2005 and 2020 (contains information on 938 136 applications, updated daily);
- database of trademarks well known in Russia (contains information on 223 trademarks recognized by the Federal Institute of Industrial Property as well-known, updated daily);
- database “Appellations of Origin” (contains information on 829 appellations of origin and certificates of the right to use them from 1997 to 2020);
- NCL database.
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. Special search images are smartly prepared and automatically indexed by algorithms. 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.
Work is carried out daily on the upkeep of the search arrays in the search subsystems of the AS TM RF to search for similar verbal (QSS subsystem) and figurative elements (SILOIZ subsystem) of trademarks to examine the claimed designation.
At the end of 2020, the total number of indexed trademarks comprised 1,573,136 marks with verbal and figurative search elements used to search for similarities between marks. The search array contains all the marks received by Rospatent from 1924 to the present day, including ‘Madrid’ registrations. Searches of the complete array of marks are carried out. Marks are grouped by category in the list of search results.
The search file is updated daily incoming applications and constituent elements of marks are processed. Verbal and figurative search elements to be searched are stored on separate servers.
The documents of other Offices are not included in the search arrays.
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:
- AS (automated system) "TZ RF" - the prosecuting on applications for trademarks and appellations of origin.
- AS BBD "Prosecutions of TМ registrations" - 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, AWP Registrar, is intended for the filing of trademark applications and electronic correspondence with applicants from the applicant’s personal account, 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 account" 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, 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 in-putter, which allows the signatory to be identified and his/her authority to be verified at the time of signing.
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 the Library.
The trademark collection is available at the Library 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 the industrial property with sections dedicated to trademarks;
- databases containing information on trademarks of Russia, foreign countries and international organizations.
The collection of applications and contracts for the results of intellectual activity and means of individualization includes trademark, service mark and appellation of origin applications. As of December 2020, this part of the collection constitutes 429’610 documents in paper and electronic form.
Publications related to different business procedures and trademark information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
The Library collection of legal and patent literature 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 the official Rospatent and FIPS 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.
The Rospatent: Transforming the IP Business Environment 2020 booklet, which contains statistical and analytical materials reflecting the main outcomes of the activities of Rospatent and subsidiary organizations in 2020, as well as plans for the development of the intellectual property sphere, is published in the “Electronic Brochures” section.
https://rospatent.gov.ru/en/reports2020
In the "Electronic brochures" section you can download practical manuals on the protection and the use of trademarks and appellations of origin.
http://www.rupto.ru/ru/sourses/publications
Internet publications from the All-Russian Patent and Technical Library Division available on the FIPS website in the State Patent Collection and Library Information Products sections at:
https://new.fips.ru/about/vptb-otdelenie-vserossiyskaya-patentno-tekhnicheskaya-biblioteka/index.php
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://new.fips.ru/to-applicants/dlya-novichkov/chto-takoe-intellektualnaya-sobstvennost-.php.
In the Official 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:
https://new.fips.ru/publication-web/publications/UsrTM?inputSelectOIS=TM,CKTM,AOG,ERAOG,TMIR&tab=UsrTM&searchSortSelect=dtPublish&searchSortDirection=true
In the Trademarks, service marks, appellations of origin section, the following guidelines can be found on various examination and prosecution issues:
http://new.fips.ru/to-applicants/trademarks/metodicheskie-rekomendatsii.php
Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
In 2020, under the Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) project, the branch of FIPS (the Library) was organized on the basis of the TISC Regional Universal Scientific Library named after. A.M. Gorky of the Tver region the online meeting with representatives of the Tver Oblast Executive Authority, research institutions, All-Russian Society of Inventors and Innovators and the public to discuss the “Legal Protection of Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications in the Russian Federation”.
Especially for the users (schoolchildren) of the St. Petersburg level-3 TISC, a tutorial online webinar entitled “What is IP? What is Counterfeit and How to Distinguish Fake Goods from Original Brand Products” was held with the participation of the Library specialist and representatives of the Russian State Academy of the Intellectual Property (RSAIP).
Also in 2020, an online webinar was held for representatives of the TISC network with the participation of FIPS experts on the topic "Means of individualization: trademarks and appellations of origin of goods."
Information on seminars and other similar events held in 2020 at universities, TISCs, etc., at which issues relating to trademark protection were considered, is included in Part 5 (d).
Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
Further professional training for FIPS specialists
Traditionally, one of the key objectives of the Federal Institute of Industrial Property development is a continuous improvement of the professional skills of FIPS employees as a part of a Unified Education System based on the continuity principle, starting from the first day of employment. The FIPS Regulations contain the provision for continuous training for employees.
The main tool for this task in 2020 was a system of studies for various categories of FIPS employees following the introduction of new legal acts regulating rules and procedures for the provision of public services.
The courses were conducted in accordance with the plans of internal education directly in the FIPS departments and in centralized sessions. Despite the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, department training continued through videoconferencing.
In accordance with the Consolidated Plans for Internal Training of Employees approved by the Director of FIPS, 5 centralized training sessions were held in 2020, in which 506 FIPS specialists participated. 146 sessions were held directly in FIPS departments. In 2020, the focus of the training was put on the new provisions of the legal acts concerning the provision of public services, amendments to the Patent and Other Fees Regulations.
For the first time, State experts have been trained in a specialized advanced training program on acquiring competencies in teaching intellectual property and public speaking. Besides, 188 FIPS staff members completed distance learning programs of advanced professional training.
The Federal Institute of Industrial Property, by implementing a balanced human resource policy, draws particular attention to the training of the employee pool of state intellectual property experts.
In total, the newly recruited FIPS employees within the framework of the expert trainee program were trained:
Professional development of experts who review applications for inventions and utility models - 21 people.
Professional development of experts who review applications for trademarks - 69 people.
Organization of supplementary vocational training at FIPS for specialists of organizations
To satisfy the national economy’s need for specialists with a high level of professional competence in the intellectual property field, the Administration of Rospatent and FIPS decided to enhance the educational activities of the Federal Institute of the Industrial Property, taking into account the high professional competence of the expert staff of FIPS.
Activity on realizing the additional educational pro‑ grams is based under license series 77L01 No. 0008944 (registration No. 038110), issued 19 December 2016 by the Moscow Department of Education, and educational activity is carried out since 2017.
During this period during its sessions, the Scientific and Technological Council of FIPS developed and approved 28 advanced training programs and 3 professional retraining programs, all aimed at improving the level of the professional competence of employees in the intellectual property field. Leading FIPS state experts in the intellectual property field, as well as external specialists and practitioners, are invited to teach.
To coordinate the educational activity of FIPS, a Scientific Educational Center was created.
In 2020, FIPS was a key figure in implementing a large-scale project to upgrade the skills of specialists in the field of intellectual property, carried out within the framework of the federal project “Personnel for the digital economy”. Within the framework of the contracts with Autonomous Nonprofit Organization University 2035, the operator of the project, under the training program “Intellectual Property in Digital Economy: from the Application to the Introduction” 4’586 people were trained in four federal districts.
In total in 2020 the FIPS Scientific Educational Center trained 5’908 specialists, with 5’894 of them under advanced training programs (206 specialists through distance learning); 14 specialists under the professional retraining program “Legal Protection of the Results of Intellectual Activity and Their Rights Management”.
The global trend of 2020 is the limitations associated with the COVID‑19 pandemic. In response to this situation, FIPS introduced distance learning. A professional education platform has been developed, and on its basis students have been trained since April. In the future, taking into account the positive aspects of distance learning as easier access to knowledge for the representatives of the Russian regions, FIPS plans to integrate face-to-face and distance learning programs harmoniously in terms of teaching.
The addresses of web pages of the Office’s site containing information about training, seminars and conferences:
- the "Training" section
https://www.fips.ru/about/deyatelnost/obuchenie/index.php
- a plan of thematic meetings of the employees of Rospatent and FIPS with representatives of the business community dedicated to acquaintance with the new by-laws for 2020:
- conferences and seminars in the regions of the Russian Federation in 2020:
A training video: https://rospatent.gov.ru/ru/sourses/multimedia/video#training-video.
- Training video, Preparing an application for registration of an AO:
- Training video, Preparing an application for registration of a verbal trademark:
- Training video "Example of filing an application for a Geographical Indication (GI)":
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)
In order to fulfill its obligations in relation to the exchange of patent information, FIPS posts electronic Gazettes, including trademark information, on the Institute’s FTP server, and has granted log-in and password access to documentation to the offices of 45 foreign countries and three international organizations.
In 2020, the FIPS Library received trademark information from 38 countries and one international organization.
1’730 copies of Gazettes containing trademarks were received from the United States of America, Australia, Canada, Germany and other countries on all kinds of carriers: 11 copies on the paper carrier; 12 copies on optical disks; 1’707 copies downloaded from Office’s websites or Internet resources.
Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to trademark information
As part of its participation in international and regional activities and projects relating to trademark information, representatives of the International Registration Systems Department took part in the following events:
- 30 session of the WIPO Nice Union - Committee of Experts (WIPO headquarters in Geneva, April 27 to May 1, 2020);
- 18th session of the Working Group on the Legal Development of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks (WIPO headquarters in Geneva, October 12-16, 2020.
At 8 conferences, seminars and round tables organized and conducted by Rospatent in 2 regions of the Russian Federation in 2020, issues related to the protection of trademarks in Russia and the international registration of marks were considered
The competitive program of the 23rd Moscow International Salon of Inventions and Innovative Technologies, Archimedes-2020, which was organized with the support of Rospatent from March 24-27, 2020, and attended by representatives of 314 participants from 24 states and 35 regions of the Russian Federation took part, included the now-customary International Exhibition-Competition of Trademarks and Appellations of Origin, Trademark LEADER.
The FIPS Library holds thematic meetings with heads and lead specialists of Rospatent and FIPS for applicants, right holders, patent attorneys, specialists in the field of intellectual property, representatives of the business community and other stakeholders.
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
Section "International Cooperation" on the website of the Office:
https://rospatent.gov.ru/ru/international-cooperation
https://rospatent.gov.ru/en/activities/international_cooperation
Subsection "Madrid System of International Registration of Marks":
https://rospatent.gov.ru/ru/activities/inter/coop/wipo/madrid_system
https://rospatent.gov.ru/en/activities/international_cooperation/madrid