CWS.ATR.PI.2012.CZ

Annual Technical Report 2012 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Czech Republic (CWS/ATR/PI/2012/CZ)

Where URLs are requested below, it is preferred that either URLs which are likely to remain stable over time (three years or more) are provided, or home (main) page URLs are provided with a short explanation of how to access the corresponding information.

The term "patent" covers utility models and Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in their Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities.

I. Evolution of patent activities

Changes experienced in terms of application filings and grants with respect to the previous year

In comparison with the year 2011, there were changes in patent and utility model activities as follows:

National patent applications 973 in 2012 + 10% compared to 2011 (880)
Utility model applications 1 857 in 2012 + 13% compared to 2011 (1 646)
PCT international applications 41 in 2012 - 7% compared to 2011 (44)
Grant national patent 670 in 2012 - 3% compared to 2011 (687)
Registrations utility model 1 609 in 2012 + 4% compared to 2011 (1 545)
Supplementary protection certificate, application 36 in 2012 + 56% compared to 2011 (23)
European Patent Office granted 48 421 in 2012 + 21% compared to 2011 (41 555)
IPO CZ received EP translations 4 660 in 2012 + 7% compared to 2011 (4 348)
EP patents valid in CZ 20 256 in 2012 + 19% compared to 2011 (17 022)
National patents valid in CZ 8 608 in 2012 - 5% compared to 2011 (9 059)
National utility models valid in CZ 7 765 in 2012 + 8% compared to 2011 (7 137)

Trends or areas experiencing rapid changes with respect to the previous year

As regards the representation of individual segments, most of patent applications concerned transporting, storing (11,51 %); measuring, optics, photography (8,53 %); health and amusement (6,78 %); building (6,47 %); organic chemistry (6,17 %); engines and pumps (6,06 %); inorganic chemistry (4,93 %) etc.

Regarding utility model applications, most of them came from the sectors of measuring, optics, photography (12,06 %); transporting, storing (11,36 %); building (9,26 %); health and amusement (5,87 %); horology, regulating, computing (5,55 %); lighting and heating (5,39 %); personal and domestic articles (5,33 %); material processing (3,82 %); etc.

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide statistics related to patents

Since 2000 the Annual Reports and statistics have been available at the Office’s website:

http://www.upv.cz/en/publications/annual-report/annual-report.html

II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, distribution and use of primary and secondary sources of patent information

Publishing, printing, copying (main types of publications of the Office in the field of patent information, etc.)

Lists of patent documents are published in the Official Bulletin of the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic. Starting from 2007 the Bulletin is published weekly in an electronic form only (updated on Wednesdays) and placed at the Office’s website (http://www.upv.cz/en.html ). The standard content of the chapters regarding published patent applications, granted patents and registered utility models is:

- published patent applications arranged according to the number of applications and according to IPC symbols including list of applicants;
- granted patents arranged according to the number of patents and according to IPC symbols including list of owners;
- registered utility models arranged according to the number of registration of utility models and according to the IPC symbols including list of proprietors;
- official decisions, legal status and announcements;
- corrections; and
- alterations.

No prior registration or subscription to view the Bulletin is needed. The information as published should be the authentic one for legal purposes. As from No. 1/2000, the Official Bulletin has been available on the web site of the IPO CZ as an electronic book in PDF format.

Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of patent information

Office notices are published weekly in the electronic Official Bulletin of the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic. Notices are also published at the Office’s website.

Mass storage media used (paper, microforms, optical storage, etc.)

Mass storage media used are hard discs, magnetic tapes for backup and paper.

Word processing and office automation

The digitized texts of Czechoslovak and Czech patents from 1913 continuing within the framework of technical cooperation with the European Patent Office have been executed.

Documents (since No. 1 to actual national patent documents and actual registered utility models) are available in electronic and printable form at the Office’s website.

Patent information in electronic form is available at the Office’s website (http://www.upv.cz/en.html).

The title pages of national granted patents can be found at the address:
http://isdv.upv.cz/portal/pls/portal/portlets.pts.frmt
and full text of documents of national patent applications, granted patents and registered utility models and European patents valid in the territory of the Czech Republic can be found at the address:

http://isdv.upv.cz/portal/pls/portal/portlets.spis.formular?xlan=en

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide access to online publication of patent documents and gazettes, and to other primary and secondary sources of patent information, including patent publication servers and download of bulk patent data

The Official Bulletin
http://internet.upv.cz/cs/publikace/vestnik-upv.html (Czech version - since 2000)
http://internet.upv.cz/en/publications/ipo-bulletin.html (English version - since 2007)

The public Czech patents and utility models database – basic search:
http://isdv.upv.cz/portal/pls/portal/portlets.pts.frm?p_lan=English

The public Czech patents and utility models database – advanced search:
http://isdv.upv.cz/portal/pls/portal/portlets.pta.formular?lok=en

III. Matters concerning abstracting, classifying, reclassifying and indexing of technical information contained in patent documents

Classification¹, preclassification² (if applicable), and reclassification³ activities; Classification system used, e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC), other classification (please indicate whether or not patent documents are classified by your Office and, if so, which classification is used)

IPC classification, Advanced Level, has been used since January 1, 2006.

All patent documents published since 1970 were reclassified to this edition of IPC classification.

Other classification systems are not used.

Bibliographic data and full-text processing

Published patent applications, granted patents, and registered utility models are searchable by date of filing, publication, grant and registration, by priority date, by number of application, patent and registration, by name of inventor, applicant and proprietor and by IPC classification.

Search system in bibliographic data on the web site allows full-text processing.

IV. Search file establishment and upkeep

File building

Patent library stores more than 40 million patent documents from more than 20 countries including EPO and PCT documents. The collections of paper documents are arranged according to the IPC classification, the collections of national documents are arranged according to the IPC classification and by numbers. The national documents are also available in electronic version (Internet). The CDs and DVDs with full text and searchable collections are also available.

Updating

The data is updated daily and stored electronically (official databases, hard discs, magnetic tapes for backup) and in a paper version.

Storage, including mass storage media

The data is updated daily and stored electronically (official databases, hard discs, magnetic tapes for backup) and in a paper version.

Documentation from other offices maintained and/or considered part of the available search file

The foreign patent documents are stored both in a paper and a digital form (CDs/DVDs, Internet).

Official bulletins of foreign offices are available in an electronic (CDs/DVDs, Internet) or in a paper version (patent library). Both versions are received regularly.

V. Activities in the field of computerized and other mechanized search systems

In-house systems (online/offline)

The Office maintains an in-house search database of national applications of inventions and utility models, granted patents and registered utility models. The database is not accessible to the public but its structure corresponds to the public database. The following CD-ROM search systems are also available: ESPACE collections, Korean Patent Abstracts, Patents of Russia and other national documents collections.

External databases

The Office provides free access to the database comprising the data concerning the patent applications since 1991, granted patents, European patents valid in the territory of the Czech Republic and the registered utility models at the IPO CZ website http://www.upv.cz/en/client-services/online-databases/patent-and-utility-model-databases.html

The Office regularly uses the Espacenet database that offers free access to more than 70 million patent documents all over the world. The database is maintained by EPO.

The Office also performs searches on the EPOQUEnet (including BIOSIS, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PUBCHEM, Non-Patent Literature) and the commercial databases as STN International, DIALOG, QUESTEL and ScienceDirect.

Administrative management systems (e.g., register, legal status, statistics and administrative support)

The Office uses the internal information system (IS SyPP, starting from January 2004) to proceed the applications of patents, supplementary patent certificates, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks and geographical indications. The system is flexible and applicable enough to maintain official registers of all the industrial property rights. The system archives all incoming and outgoing communications of the Office, provides the information on the state of proceeding, legal status of registrations and statistical data. The system is integrated with Document Management System (DMS) of the Office. The system also processes foreign applications within PCT and the European patents valid in the territory of the Czech Republic. The data are transferred to the electronic Office’s Bulletin and to the public search database. Starting from November 2002, the system has been compatible with electronic filing recognizing authorized electronic certificates. The on-line filing system was launched in August 2006, the current version of on-line filing system was released in September 2009. Starting from January 2008, the system produces automatic electronic extracts from registers upon online request. Since 2011 has launched programming of a new version of IS SyPP which will be more flexible, based on Oracle Forms with easier maintaining and more flexible data structure. Data will be stored in xml format including the history, which means higher security. The system will be more user-friendly. System will be connected with central registers of the Czech Republic (ISZR). The new IS SyPP is co-financed by the European fund for regional development within the EU project Enforcement of Industrial Property Rights.

Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), carriers used

Workstations - HP, processor Intel Pentium 4, Core2Duo, Core I3 and Core I5, RAM 1- 4 GB, HDD 160 - 250 GB. 300 workstations connected in the Office network are of the Office staff direct service. Thereof 50 computers connected in the Office network are intended for the clients of the Office and staff training service. The Office uses the ETHERNET network and computers run WINDOWS XP and WINDOWS Seven operating systems, MS OFFICE – 2003/2007/2010 software. The Office uses CD, DVD and magnetic tapes as data mediums.

VI. Administration of the industrial property office library, and information products and services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, for assisting clients on searching procedures, for obtaining official publications and registry extracts)

Planning, administration, automation, security, buildings

Patent and utility models applications as well as requests for grant of supplementary protection certificates (SPC) can be filed in person, by post, by fax, via data box or electronically with electronic authorised certificate to the Office. Wide range of other requests may be submitted electronically via user-friendly interface.

Bibliographic data of applications and requests are entered into internal information system SyPP manually if the application or request is filed in paper or automatically while using online filing facility. Applicants receive confirmation of filing via post upon their request or electronically in the case of online filing. Applicants can follow up the procedure of their applications via the Office’s website.

Collection management, preservation

Extended safety is secured via SSL. Backing up of data changes is done twice a week. Full back up of data is on weekly basis. Backed up files are preserved for 4 weeks.

Information services available to the public (including computerized services and search files contained in libraries remote from your Office and patent information posted by your Office on the World Wide Web)

The information centre and help desk operate during the working days. They provide the public with general information concerning patent protection.

The patent collections and the Internet access are available in the public reading room of the Office’s library. The public reading room staff carries out personal assistance and consultations.

The Office’s website provides a wide range of information including basic information on IP rights, filing and registration instructions, fee information and full texts of legal documents. All valid forms are printable. An Interactive facility for filing applications and submitting requests is available online. Entries can be downloaded and stored. The facility requires electronic authorized certificate, which substitutes signature.

The Office provides full range of brochures and guides free of charge. They can be downloaded in PDF format from the Office’s web site, picked up in the office headquarters or sent upon request. The Office publishes its own books and the Industrial Property Journal (6 issues per year) reflecting the current issues of IP rights.
The Office provides searches on commercial basis.

URLs of web pages of the Office's website for electronic filing of patent applications

Online Filing - Forms:
http://www.upv.cz/en/client-services/on-line-filing.html

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide information on business procedures such as: filing, publication, examination and grant procedures related to patents; opposition and appeal procedures related to patents; etc.

Information on business procedure related to patents:
http://www.upv.cz/en/ip-rights/patents.html

Information on business procedure related to supplementary protection certificates (SPC):
http://www.upv.cz/en/ip-rights/supplementary-protection-certificates.html

Information on business procedure related to utility models:
http://www.upv.cz/en/ip-rights/utility-models.html

Guidelines for the Proceedings of the Industrial Property Office:
http://www.upv.cz/cs/publikace/metodicke-pokyny-pro-rizeni-pred-upv.html

Fees and payments:
http://www.upv.cz/en/client-services/fees.html

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide a description of information products and services offered by the Office (e.g., patent search service(s) and patent databases), as well as information on how to access and utilize them

The Office’s website:
http://www.upv.cz/en.html

VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of patent documentation and information

International or regional cooperation in the exchange of machine-readable information, e.g., bibliographic data, abstract and/or full text information

International and regional cooperation in the exchange of machine-readable patent information in Epidos is realized on Internet. Exchange of CD-ROM and DVD carriers continues. Czech patent documents in paper form were distributed to patent offices of five countries.

The Official Bulletin of the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic is published exclusively electronically as of the beginning 2007. The Official Bulletin is published on a weekly basis (updated every Wednesday) instead of the monthly basis as it was before. The paper version has been discontinued. Electronic version of the Official Bulletin is available since 2000 (Czech version, English version is available since 2007) and accessible at the Office’s web site:

http://www.upv.cz/cs/publikace/vestnik-upv.html (Czech version)
http://www.upv.cz/en/publications/ipo-bulletin.html (English version)

Medium used for exchange of priority documents

Priority documents are exchanged in paper form.

Medium allowed for filing applications

Patent applications could be filed in paper or in electronic form. In case of electronic form an electronic signature is required.

VIII. Other relevant matters concerning education and training in, and promotion of, the use of patent information, including technical assistance to developing countries (please indicate URLs of web pages of the Office’s website wherever appropriate)

Training courses for national and foreign participants, use of audiovisual means

The IPO CZ regularly organizes wide range of training courses and seminars - such as IP Protection and National (CZ) and International Systems of IP Protection in particular PCT, Intellectual Property Protection in Business (SMEs), Technology Transfer, Enforcement of Intellectual Rights, IP Jurisdiction (administrative and judicial issues), Trademarks and Designs - National and International Legal Protection, Searches in the National and Foreign Patent Databases. All the educational activities are organized for public, mainly for students, academic staff of universities, representatives of SMEs or research institutions and IP professionals. University students are also regularly invited for excursions and guided tours in the Office’s premises.

Every year, a two-year course of industrial property rights begins within the Industrial Property Training Institute – Office's own educational facility.

The Office cooperates with Regional Patent Information Centres (PATLIBs) on providing training and education.

Assistance to developing countries (sending consultants and experts, receiving trainees from developing countries, etc.)

14 days training for 5 – 6 participants is hosted by the Office every year.

Promotional activities (seminars, exhibitions, visits, advertising, etc.)

The Office presented its information activities, information and educational products at the following exhibitions and trade fairs:

• 54th International Engineering Fair (Brno, CZ)
• 11th International Trade Fair of Engineering Technologies FOR INDUSTRY 2012 (Prague, CZ)
• 17th International Interior and design Trade Fair TENDENCE 2012 (Prague, CZ)
• 20th International Trade Fair of Electrotechnics, Electronics, Automation, Communication, Lighting and Security Technologies AMPER 2012 (Prague, CZ)
• Innovation 2012 (Prague, CZ)
• 40th International Exhibition of Inventions (Geneva, CH)
• 64th IENA - Exhibition of Inventions and Innovations (Nürnberg, DE)

The Industrial Property Journal is published six times a year.

The Office cooperates with Regional Patent Information Centres (PATLIBs) on information product dissemination.

IX. Other general information related to the Office that is available on the Internet -- URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that:

URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that

provide information on legislation related to patents:
http://www.upv.cz/en/legislation/national/codes.html

provide information on legislation related to supplementary protection certificates (SPC):
http://www.upv.cz/en/legislation/national/codes.html

provide information on legislation related to utility models:
http://www.upv.cz/en/legislation/national/codes.html

Guidelines for the Proceedings of the Industrial Property Office:
http://www.upv.cz/cs/publikace/metodicke-pokyny-pro-rizeni-pred-upv.html

contains the Annual Report of the Office:
http://www.upv.cz/en/publications/annual-report/annual-report.html

contains FAQ:
http://www.upv.cz/en/information-sources/faq.html

X. Other relevant matters