CWS.ATR.PI.2013.RU

Annual Technical Report 2013 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Russian Federation (CWS/ATR/PI/2013/RU)

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

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

The main trends in the development of activities in the field of patent information are defined by the Comprehensive Plan for Development of the Rospatent System up to 2015, and the Rospatent Departmental Plan for 2013.
Development of information technology is being carried out in three main areas, in which most of the measures for the development of information technology up to 2020 are being undertaken:
• electronic prosecution;
• electronic interaction;
• development of decision support systems.

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 provide the possibility of keeping records in an electronic format, a system of paperless prosecution during the examination of applications for registration of agreements in respect of industrial property (Agreements) has been developed and trialled;
In 2013, 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 legal actions in respect of applications for trademarks and appellations of origin.
In 2013, 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.
In 2013, an automated paperless prosecution system was developed and trialled for examining applications for introducing amendments into the entries of the registers for inventions, utility models, and industrial designs (including extending and renewing the validity of a patent) (Patent Prosecution).
In 2013, automated systems were developed and trialled for keeping the State Register of Inventions of the Russian Federation, and the State Register of Utility Models of the Russian Federation on electronic carrier.
In 2013, work continued to redirect flows of paper documents for processing at the Data Preparation Center (TSPD), measures were taken to ensure the required performance of the TSPD when transferring documents electronically, including through the deployment of additional licenses of the AbbyFineReaderEngine for multithreaded recognition and the possibility of dynamic queue recognition management. Automatic formatting of recognized texts of formulas, descriptions, and application abstracts has been provided, as has the use of a built-in spell-checker. The amount of applicant identification data has been expanded when entering application bibliographical details for loading into the appropriate prosecution system: INN, KIO, OGRN, and KPP for legal entities, and SNILS and INN for natural persons. New types of automatic verification have been implemented of electronic content (MCN) received at the same time as paper application materials for subsequent use when preparing the electronic version of the application. Automatic monitoring of the timeframes for processing documents at different stages of the routing scheme is provided.
In 2013, work continued on improving the functions of the electronic system for prosecuting applications for inventions and utility models (AS EA). In the course of providing revisers’ corrections of electronic packets, new algorithms for automatic distribution of electronic packets between revisers were implemented, and batch uploading of applications for printing proofs (publication method) provided, while incoming correspondence has been added to electronic applications (since July, 2013), all outgoing correspondence has been signed with an improved electronic signature, and the conditions to deposit entries in the EGR have been established. Files of outgoing correspondence and electronic signatures for invention and utility model applications have been uploaded to applicants’ personal areas on the FIPS website.
Work continues on extending the functions of the system for prosecuting applications for inventions, utility models and industrial designs in the Automated Database (ADB) with respect to prosecution of applications for inventions and utility models that are received electronically.
In 2013, operation continued of the PCT Electronic Applications Library automated system.
In 2013, operation continued of the system for filing and receiving electronic invention applications (AS BDEI).
With a view to the full functioning of the Patent-Information System, PatSearch, work was undertaken with patent offices whose patent documentation uploading technology is specific to those offices. Particular attention is focused on providing high quality work from the system. A key task is ensuring that the arrays uploaded to the patent documentation system (of Russia and other PCT minimum countries) are complete.
In 2013, cooperation continued with the patent office of China on downloading documentation which is included in the PCT minimum countries and must be submitted to PatSearch. Unfortunately, the practical implementation of the procedure for uploading Chinese patent information still does not meet acceptable technological requirements- upload speeds are too slow. In 2013, aware that the problem with uploading Chinese data affected many offices, the patent office of China planned to implement a project to create a new, powerful server. However, implementation of said project has been delayed. As part of the agreement on exchanging information on low data download speeds and connection instability, the patent office of China provided a second password for parallel data downloading at the request of the VPTB Division.
In 2013, work was carried out on completing data in which errors had been detected after formal verification of performance, completeness and compliance with specifications found on the website. As part of agreements previously concluded with overseas offices on the exchange of data and other written agreements, work was ongoing to ensure the quality and completeness of downloads into the system:
• in order to fill the gaps in the PatSearch System, work has been carried out to obtain archive files with bibliographic data for 2010 from WIPO, and data for full descriptions and a bibliography from No. 342011 to No. 462011.
• according to the results of a previous evaluation of the completeness of the German patent office collections, based on the resulting list of patent documents in which downloading errors occurred, information has been obtained from the German patent office for future downloads.
In 2013, following completion of the stage of harmonizing the fundamental issues surrounding the United States providing patent documentation in XML, an array of retrospective United States patent documents dating from 1920 to 1976 was obtained and loaded into the PatSearch system.
In order to fill the gaps in Eurasian patent documentation in the PatSearch System, the VPTB Division conducted work on the selection and scanning of documents available in the GPF. Following revision at EAPO, a complete array of full descriptions of Eurasian applications and Eurasian patents was obtained, and the information was loaded into the PatSearch System.
In 2013, in order to enhance the public administration system, information was made available on the Rospatent website on the results of the Office’s activity in the form of open data in the new section, Open Data, where 12 “passports” have been made available providing the opportunity to download various Rospatent open data.
A section focusing on the joint project between Rospatent and the EU Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), Modernization of the Intellectual Property System of the Russian Federation, has been created.
In 2013, a “Search payments received by Rospatent” service was opened on the website, and an electronic public communications service was established via the Rospatent website (widget).
Alongside the Rospatent website, in 2013, the FIPS website (www.fips.ru) was also active and aimed to provide comprehensive support for users at different stages of the process for legal protection and defense of intellectual property. The section Electronic Services for Applicants, which helps to familiarize organizations and individuals with the electronic filing of applications for inventions and trademarks, was developed further. A new section, Frequently Asked Questions, was opened, highlighting the main issues in registering IP subject matter and the Office’s electronic services.

Main areas of patent 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.
The FIPS website enables electronic filing of invention applications, as well as electronic correspondence through the “Personal Office” service for invention applications filed previously. Over 600 invention applications were filed electronically in 2013 (c.1.5 per cent of the total number). In addition, in the Personal Office section on the FIPS website, approximately 2,000 prosecution cases were opened for electronic correspondence.
In order to achieve the target of 25 per cent of applications filed electronically by 2015, measures were taken in 2013 to encourage applicants to use electronic filing through the development of system functionality, connecting Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC) to the electronic filing services, and facilitating integration of other organizations’ information systems with the FIPS electronic filing systems.
Descriptions of State services offered by Rospatent can be found on the Unified State and Municipal Services (Functions) Portal (hereinafter, ‘PGU’). In October 2013, work was carried out to update the descriptions of 13 services on PGU. All services offer the required forms for applications, and information on how to access services.
Online forms for filing applications can be found on PGU for the following services:
• Organization of the receipt of invention applications, examination and granting of Russian Federation patents for inventions in the established manner;
• Receipt of utility model applications;
In 2013, the terms of reference for developing new online forms and updating existing online forms for filing applications with PGU were sent to the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation for the following services:
• Registration of agreements granting rights, as well as franchise agreements for the use of intellectual property subject matter.

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

Inventions
Table 1 shows the data for 2012-2013 for the filing of applications and grant of Russian Federation (RF) patents for inventions.

As displayed in table 1, compared to 2012, in 2013 an increase was observed in applications filed (of 1.59 per cent), whereas a fall (of 3.78 per cent) was observed in patents granted for inventions.
The patents for inventions granted in 2013 were distributed according to the Sections of the (IPC) as follows:

See attached Table 2

The largest number of patents for inventions granted in 2013 was, as in 2012, to Russian applicants for Section A of IPC - Human Necessities. The largest number of patents granted to foreign applicants in 2013 was for Section B - Performing Operations and Transporting (the most popular among this group of applicants in 2012 was Section C- Chemistry and Metallurgy).
The least popular Section among Russian and foreign applicants alike remains Section D - Textiles and Paper. The number of patents granted for this Section in 2013 comprised only 0.86 per cent of the overall number of patents granted for inventions.

Utility Models

See attached Table 3

In 2013 the positive trend in applications received for utility models continued. The number of applications received increased by 2.05 per cent, which was due in the main to applications filed by foreign applicants (an increase of 30.34 per cent). Applications from Russian applicants also rose, but not significantly- less than 1 per cent. Compared to 2012, the number of patents granted rose by 8.41 per cent, due exclusively to Russian applicants (up 8.98 per cent).
Data on the distribution of certificates (patents) for utility models by IPC Section are shown below.

See attached Table 4

The leading IPC Section in 2013 remained Section B - Performing Operations and Transporting - while second place was taken by Section F - Mechanical Engineering, Lighting, Heating, and Weapons. As in 2012, Section D - Textiles and Paper - continued to be the least in demand, with the lowest number of certificates granted.

Table1to4_Patents

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT 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

One of the most important tasks of a patent office, including Rospatent, is to provide an environment conducive with filing patent applications for industrial property subject matter, thereby promoting inventive activity in the country.
The main measures aimed at addressing this issue include:
• posting instructional materials necessary for preparing and filing applications for all types of industrial property on the Rospatent website;
• providing advice on matters relating to the registration and filing of applications;
• providing opportunities for all categories of users to work with the GPF and other patent information products available in the Library free-of-charge;
• holding thematic meetings on topical IP issues (including Rospatent systems for receipt of applications for industrial property, including how to submit applications electronically);
• conducting internships and training for work with patent documentation, etc.

Addresses for web pages of the Office’s website that provide information on filing applications:
• Administrative regulations on the execution by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks of State activities to organize the receipt of applications for inventions and their consideration, examination and granting of Russian Federation patents for inventions in the established manner,
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/f5662c97-1772-11e1-bad7-9c8e9921fb2c#1 ;
• Administrative regulations on the execution by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks of State activities to organize the receipt of applications for utility models and their consideration, examination and granting of Russian Federation patents for utility models in the established manner,
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/f59b468f-1772-11e1-bad7-9c8e9921fb2c#1 ;
• Methodology recommendations on matters of the examination of inventions and utility models,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inventions_utility_models/rec_inv;
• Model Applications, Declarations and Requests and Examples of Completed Forms section:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/file_library/obr_zaya/;
• Electronic Services for Applicants section:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/el_zayav/;
• Fees section:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/4b2be45c-fe19-11e0-77a5-8e000200001f;
• Patent and Other Fees subsection:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/0083cb94-2c92-11e1-dd3a-9c8e9921fb2c.

Information on the seminars and other similar events held in 2013 can be found in Part 5 (e).

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

On the Rospatent and FIPS websites access is provided to the following resources:
• a database of invention applications that contains information on the prosecution of 293,000 applications submitted from 2007 to 2013, updated daily;
• a database of applications for utility models submitted from 2007 to 2013 that contains information on the prosecution of 87,000 applications, updated daily.
Through the electronic prosecution system for inventions and utility models (AS EA), access is provided to primary application materials for inventions and utility models, versions of application components (invention claims, descriptions), bibliographic data, copies of documents sent to applicants, and incoming and outgoing correspondence, electronically signed.

Classification¹, preclassification² (if applicable), reclassification³ activities; classification systems used (e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC)); matters concerning indexing of patent information

With regard to improvement of International Patent Classification (IPC), in 2013 Rospatent conducted training and published the periodic full version of IPC 2014.01 electronically in Russian for internal use, and produced an online publication for external users of patent information.
For that purpose, Rospatent specialists processed a total of 1,582 corrections to the previous edition of IPC:

See attached Table

In accordance with the newly created IPC classification scheme definitions, informative links have been removed from these schemes.
In 2013, as part of the work conducted by WIPO to improve IPC, Rospatent prepared:
• reviewers' reports on projects D263 (sub-class А41С), D287 (sub-class A45F), regarding the creation of definitions relating to these sub-classes;
• comments on projects F015 (sub-class A23L), С465 (sub-class А61K), F008 (sub-class G06F), С466 (sub-class А61В), С464(sub-class A23L), С467 (sub-class F21V).
In 2013, FIPS examiners provided full hybrid system indexes for national documents on all publications.
In 2013, the preliminary assignment of an IPC classification to applications for inventions and utility models received by FIPS was continued, in order to send them to the appropriate examination division for substantive examination of applications for inventions on their merits and the examination of utility models.
In 2013, 43,844 applications for inventions and 14,135 applications for utility models were assigned a preliminary classification index before being forwarded to the appropriate examination divisions.
International applications received by the International Patent Cooperation Division of Rospatent in its role as an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examining Authority are assigned a preliminary IPC index classification, which determines the appropriate examination division for each application. In 2013, 3,588 international applications were assigned a preliminary classification index before being forwarded to the appropriate examination divisions for the purposes of conducting an international search.

Table_Patents

Abstracting, reviewing, and translation of the information contained in patent documents

In 2013, abstracts continued to be published in Russian and English for RF patents granted for inventions as part of the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette, with full descriptions of inventions for RF patents and English-language abstracts on an electronic carrier with search facility (CD/DVD). In addition, abstracts in Russian are published as part of the publication Descriptions of Inventions for RF Patents on paper (identical to publications on electronic carrier).
With the aim of providing examiners and other categories of users with comfortable conditions when working with foreign patent documentation, immediate translation assistance is provided for patent documentation, both from Russian into other languages and from other languages into Russian, in both written and oral form.
Furthermore, all categories of users of the GPF are provided with the automated translation system, PROMT. The quality of translations essentially depends on the thematic dictionaries loaded into the system.
In connection with carrying out significant work to translate foreign documents on all issues related to intellectual property, the VPTB works actively to supplement thematic dictionaries on the latest subjects and over 52,000 dictionary entries have been prepared that are actively used when working in the VPTB display room.
VPTB performs translation from foreign languages and prepares summaries of foreign legal and patent literature. In 2013, the titles of articles, books and prepared summaries of 3,318 publications of interest to specialists in legal protection of intellectual property were translated into Russian. The volume of legislation from foreign countries translated in 2013 was approximately 600 pages (Australia, Benelux, Hungary, Denmark, Canada, USA).
The results of this work are entered into an electronic catalog which is available on the FIPS website and is accessible to a wide range of users.

III. SOURCES OF PATENT INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Main types of publications of the Office (patent applications, full text, first pages, abstracts, bibliographic data, granted patents, etc.), medium (on paper, on CDs, online – URLs)

Table 5 contains data on the main types of Office publications in the field of patent information, carriers and also the frequency of publications.

See attached Table 5

The Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette on CD-ROM electronic carrier with search system and the corresponding paper publication are distributed by subscription. The three most recent electronic Gazettes are available on the Rospatent website.

The web page addresses of Office websites providing information relating to Office publications are:
• 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 protectable subject matter, and the official registration of intellectual property subject matter:
http://www.rupto.ru/rupto/portal/f6fafdc4-1772-11e1-bad7-9c8e9921fb2c#1
• Regulations on official publications of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks in the Patent Information Products section:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/publishing_activities/publication_act_new ;
• Prospectus of publications and databases in the Patent Information Products section:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/72ad5c0041364dd0b047f269478bc563/prospekt_2014_izm.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

Table5_Patents

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

The forms of notifications on inventions and utility models published in the Rospatent Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette are listed below:

1. Forms of notifications relating to published invention applications
НZ9А Change of designation or first name, surname or patronymic of the applicant
HC9A Change of information on author(s)
НЕ9А Change of correspondence address for applicant
FA9A Review of invention application at applicant’s request
FA9A Recognition of invention application as withdrawn
FZ9A Invention application, of which withdrawn status has lapsed
GA9A Conversion of invention application to utility model application

2. Notifications containing communications on changes to information on State registration of inventions/utility models
PD4A/PD1K Change of designation, first name, surname or patronymic of patent owner
ТС4A/TC1K Change of information on author(s)
ТЕ4A/TE1K Change of correspondence address
Withdrawal of statement concerning obligation to conclude agreement on alienation of a patent in accordance with Article 1366(3) of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation

3. Notifications containing communications on termination and restoration of validity of an invention/utility model patent
MZ4A/MZ1K Premature termination of validity of a patent for an invention/utility model (group of inventions/utility models) on the basis of a statement by the patent owner
ММ4А/MM1K Premature termination of validity of a patent owing to non-payment within the prescribed period of the fee for maintenance of the patent in force
MG4A/MG1K Termination of validity of a patent for an invention/utility model (group of inventions/utility models) as a result of the grant of a patent for identical subject matter
PA4F Termination of validity of a USSR author’s certificate for an invention on the territory of the Russian Federation and grant of a Russian Federation patent for an invention for the remaining period
MF4A/MF1K Revocation of a patent
NF4A/NF1K Restoration of validity of a patent

4. Notifications containing communications on extension of the term of validity of a patent for an invention/utility model or grant of a duplicate patent
ND4A/ND1K Extension of term of validity of a patent for an invention/utility model (group of inventions/utility models) on the basis of a statement by the patent owner
RH4A/RH1K Grant of a duplicate patent

5. Notifications containing communications on agreements relating to disposal of the exclusive right in an invention/utility model, transfer of an exclusive right in an invention/utility model, without the conclusion of an agreement with the patent owner
PC4A/PC1K State registration of an agreement on the alienation of an exclusive right (extension code 01)
PC4A/PC1K State registration of transfer of an exclusive right without an agreement being concluded
QB4A/QB1K State registration of an agreement for disposal of an exclusive right
QZ4A/QZ1K State registration of changes to a registered agreement (extension code 01)
QZ4A/QZ1K Registration of a request for withdrawal of a statement on an open license (extension code 02)
QZ4A/QZ1K Insertion of amendments in a registered agreement (extension code 03)
RL4A/RL1K Recognition of a registered agreement as invalid
QC4A/QC1K State registration of cancellation of a registered agreement (extension code 01)
QC4A/QC1K Cancellation of a registered agreement (extension code 02)
QC4A/QC1K State registration of termination of validity of a registered compulsory license (extension code 03)
QA4A/QA1K Registration of an open license

6. Notifications containing other communications on registered inventions/utility models
ТK4A/TK1K Correction of obvious and technical errors in publications of information on inventions/utility models in the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette
TK4A Corrections to publications of information on inventions in English
BF4A/BF1K Cancellation of earlier publication of information on registered inventions/utility models
RZ4A/RZ1K Other changes relating to registered inventions/utility models
TH4A/TH1K Republication of descriptions of inventions for patents/title sheets of descriptions for utility model patents

The addresses of web pages on the Office site providing access to online publications are:
• Inventions and Utility Models Gazette http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/ofic_pub/ofic_bul/iz_pm ;
• in the Information Resources section, International Classifications subsection: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/international_classificatio/;
and the Open Registers of Russian Patent Documents subsection:
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 Inventions of the Russian Federation
Register of Utility Models of the Russian Federation
Register of Applications for the Grant of a Russian Federation Invention Patent
Register of Applications for the Grant of a Russian Federation Utility Model Patent.

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

In 2013, examiners performed virtually all searches online. If the information contained in the PatSearch system is insufficient, examiners may consult patent-office databases that are freely available on the Internet (mainly Espacenet, PATENTSCOPE, EAPATIS, DEPATISNET, and the databases of USPTO and the patent office of Japan). In order to view correspondence relating to applications in the patent offices of Japan and Korea, examiners can access the AIPN and K-PION databases, respectively. Furthermore, under the agreement with the European Patent Office, one FIPS workstation has been connected to the EPO internal search system, EpoqueNet.

Where necessary, examiners continue to use commercial databases. These are mainly databases provided through the STN International platform. These databases are generally consulted during searches on chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.
Access to the STN database is provided to FIPS examiners in the online search and consultation room, where specially trained staff carry out searches jointly with examiners when necessary. Approximately 1,300 of these searches were carried out in the online search and consultation room in 2013; the bulk of these were performed in the REGISTRY, CA, CASREACT, and CHEMCATS databases.

In addition to carrying out searches jointly with examiners in the STN network, staff in the online search and consultation room offer consultations regarding online searches in other available databases. More than 350 of these consultations were provided during 2013.
In order to improve the examination information supply, staff in the online search and consultation room receive continuous training on the online databases that are useful for conducting information searches and prepare and update guidelines on their use for examiners. Staff in the online search and consultation room are also involved in training both new and experienced examiners on the skilled use of available search databases.

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

In 2013, patent information users were presented with the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette with full descriptions of inventions for RF patents on electronic CD/DVD carrier with search system. They are distributed on subscription, with a frequency of 36 issues per year. Alongside the Official Gazette on disks, the paper Gazette was published, based on official Rospatent information.

For new subscribers, and also for the purposes of keeping patent collections up to date, the series of the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette with full descriptions of inventions for RF patents published in previous years (2010-2012) were offered on CD/DVD.
In addition, in the interests of users, the following information products were distributed:
• Annual retrospective sets of invention descriptions for USSR authors certificates and RF patents, from 1924 to 2012, on DVD (a total of 108 disks);
• An information-search system for invention descriptions in Russian and English, from 1994 to 2013, on DVD - quarterly and cumulative (one disk);
• Title pages of utility model descriptions for RF documents providing protection, from 1994 to 2013, on DVD - quarterly and cumulative (one disk);
• Descriptions of utility models for RF documents providing protection from 1994 to 2013 on DVD- quarterly and cumulative (two disks);
• Patent invention descriptions on paper – 31,652 units;
• Title pages of utility model descriptions on paper - 12,655 units;
• Rospatent Annual Report for 2012 on CD (on paper for international exchange).
The selection of information products also included the new version of the official publication of the International Patent Classification, edition 2013.01 (IPC-2013.01) and alphabetical subject indexes on CD.
Most products on CD and DVD were distributed with MIMOSA software, allowing all forms of patent searches to be carried out.
On the basis of official information relating to inventions and utility models, thematic databases are produced for users on CD on special request.
In 2013 electronic publication on the FIPS website continued of the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette, while the registers of Russian inventions and utility models were updated and details of their legal status were provided.

Also on the Internet, users are granted free access to information on applications for the grant of Russian Federation invention and utility model patents. Information on the prosecution of applications is available for applications received after January 1, 2007.
In 2013 the Rospatent Internet site provided access to:
• registers of Russian patent documents relating to inventions and utility
models,
• registers containing information on published applications and the prosecution
of applications filed in 2007-2013 for the grant of invention patents;
• registers containing information on the prosecution of applications filed in 2007-2013 for the grant of utility model patents;
• the Rospatent Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazettes published in the last month.
• Rospatent Internet resources are compiled in the following databases:
• a full-text database of Russian inventions (contains information on
511,000 invention patents from 1994 to 2013 inclusive, updated three times per month);
• a retrospective database of Russian patent documents in facsimile form
(contains information on 1,433,000 patent documents for inventions from 1924 to 1993 inclusive);
• a retrospective database of Russian patent documents in facsimile form
(contains information on 1,433,000 patent documents for inventions from 1924 to 1993 inclusive);
• an abstracts database for Russian inventions (contains information on
527,000 patents for inventions from 1994 to 2013 inclusive, updated three times per month);
• a database of published applications for inventions (contains
information on 421,000 applications for inventions from 1994 to 2013 inclusive, updated three times per month);
• an abstracts database for Russian inventions in English (contains
information on 535,000 invention patents from 1994 to 2013 inclusive, updated three times per month);
• a full-text database of Russian utility models (contains information on
136,000 Russian utility model certificates and patents from 1996 to 2013 inclusive, updated once per quarter);
• an abstracts database for Russian utility models (contains information on
136,000 Russian utility model certificates and patents from 1996 to 2013 inclusive, updated three times per month);
• a future-oriented inventions database (contains information on 1,200
patents for inventions that are recognized by FIPS as promising, updated once per quarter);
• a database of invention applications filed from 2007 to 2013 (contains
information on the prosecution of 293,000 applications, updated daily);
• a database of utility model applications filed from 2007 to 2013
(contains information on the prosecution of 87,000 applications, updated daily).
• the IPC database.

On the FGBU FIPS site users are provided with access to:
- an information-search system (ISS) on national patent documentation;
- registers of Russian patent documents on all forms of industrial property;
- registers containing information on the prosecution of applications filed from 2007 to 2013 for the grant of invention and utility model patents;
- Rospatent Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazettes published in the last month.

Users' work with the information-search system
Office examiners are given the possibility to work with all inventions and utility models databases.
Access for external users to full-text inventions and utility models databases is granted on a contractual basis.
As part of the Rospatent Program of Cooperation with regions of the Russian Federation, 153 organizations received free access to full-text inventions and utility models databases.
As part of the cooperation agreements between Rospatent and relevant organizations, free access is granted:
• in relation to full-text inventions and utility models databases, to:
• 40 organizations participating in the implementation of the State project to develop nanotechnologies;
• 84 Technology and Innovation Support Centers;
• in relation to all FIPS databases, to:
• 84 organizations of the Federal Service of Court Bailiffs;
• 170 organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs;
• 11 organizations of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service;
• 16 organizations of the Ministry of Defense;
• 101 organizations of the taxation service.

External users are provided free of charge with:
in relation to inventions:
• abstracts databases in Russian and English,
• a database of published invention applications,
• a future-oriented inventions database,
• a full-text database containing documents published in the last three Inventions and Utility Models Gazettes;
• the IPC database.
in relation to utility models:
• a database containing documents published in the last three Inventions and Utility Models Gazettes;
• an abstracts database;
• the IPC database.

Users’ work with Rospatent Official Gazettes
Users are granted free access to Rospatent Gazettes as follows:
- Inventions and Utility Models Gazette – to the last three Gazettes published.
In 2013, users accessed Rospatent Gazettes on more than 2,151,000 occasions.
URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide a description of information products and services offered 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/;
• Carrying out searches – in the Information Resources section: Services subsection,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/article_6/;
and Information-Search System subsection, http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/ ;
Open Registers, http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/;
Inventions and Utility Models in the Official Publications section,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/ofic_pub/ofic_bul/iz_pm ;
• Patent databases – Databases subsection of the Information-Search System section,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_2/;
• Information on accessing and using resources – in the Information-Search System section, Support subsection,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_4/;
Instructions,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_1a/.
FIPS All-Russian Patent Technology Library Division,
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/fonds/

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

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/.

All patent documents in Russian databases contain information on current legal status that is updated three times a month.
The Automated Database (ADB) subsystems to determine legal status use the given official publications containing information on new registrations of protection titles and changes. Following publication of each Gazette, data on legal status are displayed on the Rospatent site in the Information Resources section. For inventions and utility models patent status may be “valid”, “may terminate validity”, “validity terminated, but may be restored”, and “validity terminated”.
Information on the legal status of inventions and utility models is published in Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazettes (on CD/DVD), in the paper Gazette and on the Rospatent site:
- information on the grant of RF patents for inventions and utility models;
- information on amendments to the published information on applications for inventions and to entries in the State Registers of Inventions and Utility Models (Notifications section of the Gazette).

IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

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

In 2013, automated systems were developed and trialled for keeping the State Register of Russian Federation Inventions and the State Register of Russian Federation Utility Models on electronic carrier.

In 2013, an automated paperless prosecution system was developed and trialled 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).

In 2013, an automated paperless prosecution system was developed and trialled for reviewing applications to introduce amendments to the registers of inventions, utility models, and industrial designs (including extending the term of and restoring patents) (Patent Prosecution).

In 2013 Rospatent examiners used the Information-Search System, PatSearch, for invention and utility model examinations. The PatSearch system is a professional search system for patent office examiners to perform searches when examining inventions and utility models. As a result, a wide range of functions and services has been introduced into the system.
Below is a list of the main functions of the system:
• Search in selected arrays
• Index browsing when preparing a request
• Sample analysis (statistics on search results)
• Document viewer (with highlighting of search terms)
• Two-window document viewing
• Print documents
• Export documents
• Consideration of IPC reform and subsequent reclassification
• Search based on the European patent classification, the American patent classification, USPC, as well as the Thomson Reuters (Derwent) classification.
• Multilingual machine translation (including translation of a selection of the document or the whole document, and separate translation of query)
• Analysis of search results (including cluster analysis and construction of semantic networks)
• Espacenet search
• E-Library search
• Scopus search
• Amino acid and nucleotide sequence search in the European data bank, EMBL.
Extensive use has been made of the opportunity to document search histories, including an indication of search arrays, search query transcripts, and the number of documents located and viewed, as well as a list of documents included in the examiner’s final selection.

In 2013, additional tools were developed in the PatSearch system to search by number range in text boxes. This includes the PatSearch system providing a number range search in the form of an error message.

Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

Equipment used:

PrimePower 1500 server
(RAM – 32GB, processors – 14, external memory – 24TB)
HP DL380 server – 42 units
(RAM – 4GB, processors - 2, external memory – 200GB)
HP DL580 server – 18 units
(RAM – 16GB, processors - 4, external memory – 600GB)
HP, Fujitsu-Siemens workstations - 1280 units
Switching equipment:
Cisco 6503, Cisco 4507

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

In 2013, the main search tool was Rospatent’s in-house search system, PatSearch, which is available at each examiner’s workstation. The search array of PatSearch includes patent documentation from the Russian Federation, the USSR, and CIS countries, countries included in PCT minimum documentation, and the World Patent Index (WPI) database, as well as an array of extended abstracts and bibliographies from Thomson Reuters DWPI. The PatSearch system also supports searches in external sources, including searches of genetic sequences. In addition to PatSearch, all examiners enjoy free access to all foreign patent office search databases, and to several databases of non-patent literature.

Searches of non-patent scientific and technical literature are performed at examiners’ work stations, from which the SCOPUS scientific technical abstracts database and the RFFI Electronic Scientific Library website database may be accessed. library websites and websites of specialized databases, both national and foreign, in the fields of medicine, biology, biotechnology, chemistry, pharmaceuticals and technology, access to which is provided free of charge, may also be used from work stations, as well as Internet search engines Google, Rambler and Yandex.

In addition, in order to extend the search field further, examiners are provided with access in special search rooms to local databases, subject-specific databases on optical disks, and patent and non-patent databases on the Internet that are freely accessible, as well as the commercial abstract database RZH VINITI.

When searching for non-patent literature in the Training and Computer Search room (i.e., in addition to work station access), the most popular database among examiners has traditionally been RZH VINITI. The arrays of Russian-language abstracts from sources of national and foreign scientific and technical literature (material from periodical and serial publications, books, dissertations, conference materials, theses, patents, regulatory documents and deposited scientific work, 30 per cent of which is from Russian sources) contained therein are actively used by examiners as an information resource.

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

The main source of information for the principal functions of Rospatent is the State Patent Collection (GPF).

At present, the modern automated patent information system, PatSearch, is in full operation at FIPS, and is the most important and rapidly developing part of the GPF. The creation and development of this system, while maintaining the existing parts of the GPF on physical media (collections on paper, microcarrier, and optical disks), was determined by objective changes brought about by transferring the official publications of the leading patent offices onto websites or specialized resources instead of using a physical carrier (optical disks) in the international exchange of patent documentation.

The main source for establishing the State Patent Collection (GPF), including its electronic PatSearch system content, is the international exchange of patent documentation. Modern forms of providing information to users are changing the nature of international exchange, and accordingly the manner in which the GPF is updated and maintained. One of the main objectives of FIPS in transforming the traditional system of international exchange of patent information is to maintain the principle of exchanging international data, as has been the case traditionally, on a non-remunerated, and non-commercial, basis.

Foreign patent documentation obtained using FTP may be loaded onto the PatSearch system from the websites or specialist Internet resources of foreign patent offices or organizations under the "package" mode.

The functionality of this system is mainly intended for organizing examiners' work. However, the system is available to VPTB Division users (with certain limitations) for work in the display class.

In 2013, information was uploaded into the PatSearch system from all arrays of patent documentation from PCT minimum countries, as well as an array of extended abstracts and bibliographies from Thomson Reuters DWPI. This array is the main source for the search index. The system includes arrays of patent documentation from the USSR and Russian Federation, the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), PCT, the European Patent Office (EPO), the United States of America, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Australia, ARIPO, OAPI, and the Republic of Korea, and English-language abstracts and facsimiles of documents from Japan, China and other countries. The system is provided with a view of the full description of patent documents that have not yet been loaded onto the system but are found in DWPI through integrated online access to EPO arrays. Searches for non-patent literature are made through integrated access to external digital library E-Library and the SCOPUS database of non-patent literature. The majority of the arrays were provided as facsimiles of patent descriptions and required huge amounts of memory to be accommodated - several tens of TB.

System search arrays
• DWPI array
• Descriptions of USSR inventions from 1924 to 1993
• Descriptions of RF inventions from 1994 to date
• Claims of RF utility models from 1994 (No. 1) to date
• Claims of Russian invention applications
• Unpublished Russian invention applications
• Abstracts of patent documents from the world's leading countries in English (DWPI)
• Descriptions of inventions from PCT minimum countries, including:
• PCT applications
• EPO
• United States of America
• Japan
• Germany
• United Kingdom
• Canada
• France
• Austria
• Australia
• Switzerland
• Republic of Korea
• China
• ARIPO
• OAPI
• Descriptions of inventions from CIS countries with abstracts in Russian (CISPATENT)
A total of approximately 93 million patent documents.

In addition, Office examiners have been provided with the opportunity to work with the STN and EPOGUE systems on a commercial basis. In the VPTB display class, access is also provided to paid abstracts from the Global Patent Index (GPI) EPO database. This is a high quality patent information product that is in demand by VPTB visitors.

VPTB users also enjoy access to electronic non-patent literature resources: Kluwer IP Law, Swets&Zeitlinger BV's electronic resources portal, SwetsWise, Elsevier, etc.

The GPF is one of the most accessible and highest quality patent collections in the world. The patent documentation of GPF is provided on all carrier types - paper, microcarriers, optical disks and virtual means of displaying information.

A significant part of the GPF is available on optical disks (56,100,000 optical disks as at January 1, 2014) and the collection is formed, mainly, from traditional international exchange with foreign patent offices.

Patent information on optical disks is loaded in contemporary databases with a quality user interface and is made available to all categories of users in the VPTB display class.

The patent collection on optical disks contains patent documentation from Russia, the PCT minimum countries, CIS, WIPO, EPO, and EAPO, as well as Denmark, Spain, Serbia, Slovenia, and Finland, among others.

The collection of optical disks is stored in metal cupboards. Information on disk coordinates (cupboard number, shelf number, etc.), their usage history, possible exchanges and so on are available in a special technology database. Work with this collection is free of charge for all categories of users in the VPTB display class.

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

The Automated Databank (ABD), designed to prosecute applications and protection titles for inventions and utility models, has subsystems that manage the work of examiners and support staff, as well as capturing statistical information on various aspects of the activities of Rospatent subdivisions.

The subsystems for statistics allow the creation of over 300 different forms of reports on the activities of the Office’s subdivisions.

The electronic prosecution system for inventions and utility models (AS EA) supports functions to load and download electronic documents to Applications e-Work, plan examiners’ work, draft master plans and portfolios of examiners’ applications, list applications by applicant, capture statistics, provide access to Applications e-Work and application components, review bibliographical information, prepare outgoing correspondence, sign decisions on issuance of patents by electronic signature, introduce revisers’ corrections to the electronic packet of elements of an application for publication and has an application search function and a developed user administration system. The AS EA system is integrated into ABD.

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

Patent library: equipment, collection management, network of patent libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign patent libraries

The main functions of the All-Russian Patent Technology Library (VPTB) is the establishment of the State Patent Collection (GPF), including patent documentation on all subjects of intellectual property, scientific and technical and legal and patent literature on all carrier types, and providing them to all categories of users. Furthermore, VPTB fulfills the functions of a public library and the library of the Office at the same time. The main source for the GPF is international exchange, which ensures updating of patent documentation and Official Gazettes of foreign offices, while national and foreign scientific and technical, and legal and patent, literature is updated through subscription and obtaining books and periodicals.

As at January 1, 2014, the GPF comprised more than 117.5 million documents overall.

In order to assist VPTB readers, both general and specialized reading rooms are provided:
- optical disks and remote databases;
- paper and microform patent documentation;
- information and bibliography services;
- etc.

VPTB provides free access to patent collections that are targeted at all categories of users in RF, as well as those in neighboring and other foreign countries without any restrictions. Visits and services are free of charge for all categories of library users.

The VPTB patent collection is managed according to type of intellectual property and information carrier.

The Library premises are equipped with an alarm system and an automatic fire-fighting system.

A total of 82,000 persons consulted GPF in 2013.
In 2013, users (including examiners) were issued with over 30.9 million copies of patent documents: over 2.9 million copies on paper, 4,700 copies on microcarrier, and over 28 million copies on optical disks and from remote databases.

The patent information services of VPTB are provided to remote users on request, including thematic selection of patent documentation, searching by systematic indexes, searching in automated databases and searching for patent-analogs, among others. There are over 40 designated services in all.

In 2013, over 4,600 patent information services were provided at the request of remote users.

The Russian patent office does not have a regional network of patent libraries, yet, through international exchange it cooperates with a range of foreign patent office libraries, including the Latvian Patent Technology Library, the Library of the Patent Office of Austria, the Central Patent Library of the Office of Bulgaria, the State Patent Technology Library of the Republic of Tajikistan and other libraries.

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

The VPTB offers a unique collection of legal and patent, and dictionary and reference literature (PPL collection), which is part of the GPF and is available on paper and electronic information carriers. The PPL collection includes publications on a wide range of theoretical and practical issues of intellectual property protection in Russia and abroad: national and international normative documents; comments and reviews; methodology recommendations and study aids; standards in the field of patent and scientific and technical information; annual reports of patent offices; symposium and conference materials; collections of court decisions; collections of statistics, etc. It comprises books, pamphlets and periodical and serial publications from over 30 countries around the world and six international organizations in 20 languages (primarily in English, Russian, German and French).

At present, the PPL collection comprises approximately 86,600 publications, with the oldest publications dating from 1810. A special Index has been developed to classify the PPL collection that provides a multi-aspect reflection of various issues of IP legal protection.

An electronic catalog was created for legal and patent literature, which contains bibliographical descriptions in the original language, and Russian translations of titles and/or abstracts. As of 2013, there were approximately 135,000 bibliographic records. The electronic version of the catalog, containing information on publications since 1992, is available on the FIPS website in the VPTB Division section, and is available online to remote users. Since 2011, links to full-text documents freely available on patent owners’ websites have been added to the electronic catalog.

The VPTB Division section of the FIPS website is constantly being updated and supplemented with materials. The following are updated quarterly: the guidelines on the VPTB Collection and Internet Resources, the Internet Navigator for Patent Information Resources, 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 of the national nanotechnology network; and translations into Russian of the EPO publication Patent Information News. Bibliography lists are made available on a monthly basis to help regional experts with issues that arise regarding protection of intellectual property subject matter and questions of judicial practice, and issues in the commercialization of intellectual property and business to help small and medium-sized enterprises. Information in sections such as Frequently Asked Questions, New Arrivals, etc., is regularly updated.

Overall, in 2013 more than 142,000 users consulted the information available in the VPTB Division section of the FIPS website.

Aside from the above-mentioned information sources, all categories of users are provided with access to Kluwer IP Law electronic resources (information on the registration system for patents, trademarks and industrial designs in different countries, and information on judicial practice in the field of copyright and patent law) from publisher Kluwer Law and Business.

The Office examiners are also provided with access to non-patent literature through interlibrary lending and electronic document delivery systems.

In order to meet examiners’ requirements, the collections of nine specialized Moscow libraries are used, as well as foreign electronic resources (Swets&Zeitlinger BV’s SwetsWise and Elsevier, among others).

Internet publications of the All-Russian Patent Technology Library Division are presented on the FIPS website in the State Patent Collection and VPTB Information Products sections: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/fonds/.

On the Rospatent site, in the Rospatent and Regions section, the following online publications are published:
• Method-related materials and reviews on protection and enforcement of the
results of intellectual activity to assist small and medium-sized enterprises:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/regions/mp;
• 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 of the national nanotechnology network:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/regions/recomend

In order to ensure the uniform practical application of the provisions of Part IV of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation regulating the grant of legal protection to the subject matter of patent legislation and means of individualization, a range of method-related recommendations have been posted on the FIPS website:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inventions_utility_models/industrial+property_recomend;

To assist the patent subdivisions and the State services of the science and education sector and organizations of the national nanotechnology network, a range of method-related materials are available on the website:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/regions/nano_pat

In the Information Resources section, in the Open Registers, information is provided on registering intellectual property subject matter with an indication of its legal status or state of prosecution:
http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/

Office’s initiatives on providing foreign patent information in the local language(s) (e.g., machine translation tools, translation of abstracts)

Work continued throughout 2013 to maintain the PROMT automated translation system available to examiners. At the beginning of the year, an inventory was carried out of examination department work stations connected to the PROMT system, in order to provide a connection to every work station, and to account for them all. When prompted by the departments, work was carried out to install and troubleshoot any malfunctioning of the PROMT system, providing uninterrupted access to the translation system. Upon request, employees may be advised on all work matters relating to the PROMT system at their department work stations and in the Training and Computer Search room.

Work has continued on updating and amending the English - Russian user thematic dictionaries in order to improve translation quality, and to integrate them subsequently into the PROMT system. As part of the work to improve the tools affecting translation quality, a conversion table was developed of specialized dictionaries in the PROMT system and IPC sections.

Examiner surveys have been conducted to assess the performance of the new version of the PROMT system installed on work stations and in PatSearch, which will enable examiners’ proposals and requirements in relation to the system to be taken into account. This work is to be continued, and will help to enhance the translation tools of the PROMT system, and to improve the quality of foreign patent documentation translations.

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

Given the importance of knowing the basics of intellectual property and in order to train new specialists in the skills for successful work in science, economics and industry, the VPTB Division holds a range of different events in cooperation with universities, research centers, Technology and Innovation Support Centers, etc., including:

• organizing and holding seminars and practical classes based on GPF for students from a range of Moscow higher education institutions held in accordance with Cooperation Agreements. In 2013, 32 excursions and practical classes on working with patent documentation were held, which were attended by over 400 persons;
• participating in seminars and conferences organized and held in regional information centers, libraries and Russian higher education institutions as part of the Rospatent Regional Policy. The subjects of these events correspond to the tasks of raising public awareness of patents, enhancing inventive activity, and providing innovative State policy. A representative of VPTB participated in a practical seminar on legal protection of intellectual property in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in 2013.
• disseminating knowledge in the field of intellectual property by periodically organizing roundtables in Moscow – thematic meetings between leading FIPS specialists and representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises, teachers and students of higher education institutions and other specialists interested in issues of intellectual property. In 2013, seven thematic meetings were held and attended by more than 450 persons.
In 2013, VPTB conducted two training sessions for representatives of Roskosmos Ltd., and the Gorky Vladimir Regional Universal Scientific Library on the comparative analysis of the search possibilities offered by the PatSearch database, ISS Mimosa, ISS on the FIPS website, the EPO Global Patent Index database and EAPO EAPATIS database;
• assistance with the updating, on a non-remunerated basis, of patent collections of national patent documentation on optical disks in the higher education institutions, libraries and other regional organizations of the Russian Federation most actively involved in innovation processes. In 2013, over 400 optical disks with national invention descriptions were distributed to different higher education institutions in the Russian Federation. In 2013, foreign invention descriptions on optical disks (581 disks) and foreign patent periodicals (15 disks) were sent to the regions of Russia.

In 2013, Rospatent provided access free of charge to full-text databases of national descriptions of inventions, utility models and industrial designs to 12 Russian commercial organizations, including eight that provide services with respect to the activities of Technology and Innovation Support Centers.

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. Both internal and external training methods are used. Guaranteeing conditions for the continuous professional development of employees is provided for under the FIPS Charter.

Organization of FIPS employee training using in-house training methods.

In 2013, in accordance with the Combined Plans for In-House Training of Employees, as approved by the Director of FIPS, the following were held:
- 26 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).
- 520 sessions directly in the FIPS subdivisions in accordance with the quarterly in-house training plans (mostly focused 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 conducted by the management of these subdivisions).

In order to exchange experience with foreign patent offices, two training seminars on familiarity with the law enforcement practices of other patent offices (EPO, USA) were held at Rospatent for staff examiners, and administrative and managerial staff from FIPS. The seminars were attended by 166 specialists.

Specialists from Scientific Production Enterprise, Garant-Servis Ltd., conducted a series of training seminars on the updated version of the Garant-Aero system. The seminars were attended by 22 FIPS employees.

Professional development of newly recruited FIPS examiners

Professional development of newly recruited examiners is carried out on a contractual basis and financed by the FIPS budget through open competition and conclusion of a civil contract between the educational institution and the winner.

In 2013, on the basis of the results of an open competition for the professional development of newly recruited FIPS examiners in the examination of inventions and utility models, a civil contract was concluded between a State Education Institution of Higher Professional Education of the Russian State Academy of Intellectual Property (GOU VPO RGAIS) and a federal budgetary institution.

In accordance with a contract signed in 2013, training was organized and conducted of the 11th stream of newly recruited FIPS examiners, consisting of 33 people. The training was carried out in accordance with the thematic curriculum, and was 220 academic hours in duration.

Training for staff examiners in how to use different search systems.

As in previous years, in order to improve the quality of examination searches, both newly recruited and experienced examiners have undergone training in how to use the search tools of the available databases optimally. Consultations relating to information searches are constantly being conducted in the search rooms.

The main area of focus is the Rospatent search system, PatSearch, and its new and updated functionality, as well as its additional information resources. Such additional information resources are most often consulted for full-text searches of national documents, and automatic translation into English, as well as for access to application materials (files).

Mandatory training of new examiners in the use of automated systems and databases that have been selected for examination searches is provided on a separate schedule.

At the request of organizations cooperating with Rospatent, their staff members may be trained in conducting information searches.

The training offered adopts a tailored approach to different groups of students. Having been developed according to ability levels, the programs enable students to enhance their skills and provide an opportunity to apply their knowledge and use electronic information resources to perform an examination search independently.

Training under higher professional education programs

In 2013, 18 FIPS employees continued training under the higher professional education program at RGAIS, four of whom were funded by FIPS (first degree). One person gained a degree, while three others are continuing their studies.

The training of 14 employees was self-funded (of whom 12 obtained a first higher degree, and two, a second higher degree). In 2013, five people gained a degree (three gained a first degree, and two, a second degree).

RGAIS post-graduate studies

Seven FIPS employees undertook post-graduate studies at RGAIS, of whom one was under special admissions, and six (including two competitors) acted on their own initiative (one person successfully defended his dissertation in May, 2013).

In 2013, 164 people from 57 organizations located in the seven federal districts of Russia attended distance-learning courses organized by WIPO with the participation of regional TISCs, of which “Basics of Intellectual Property” was attended by 151 persons, “Patents” (in English), by five persons, “e-Commerce and Intellectual Property”, by one person, and “Copyright and Related Rights”, by seven persons.

In 2013, Rospatent organized and held 33 conferences, seminars and roundtables on intellectual property issues in 16 regions of the Russian Federation, where 56 FIPS staff members gave presentations. From among those participants, four FIPS staff members and three WIPO staff members presented at two regional seminars organized and conducted by WIPO together with Rospatent and FIPS at the Don State Technical University (TISC) and the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Five FIPS staff members gave presentations at the international practical research conference organized by Rospatent and FIPS, together with the Federal State Independent Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education, the M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern State University (TISC), held in Yakutsk on June 19 and 20, 2013. At the Innovation Potential of Russia Forum organized by Rospatent and FIPS with WIPO’s support, and held at Rospatent on April 24 and 25, 2013, one Rospatent staff member, three FIPS staff members, and one WIPO staff member gave presentations. Overall, more than 230 persons took part in the Forum, including seven participants from foreign countries and representatives of 34 Russian regions.

April 8 and 9, 2013. In Saransk, a practical seminar, “Use of Patent Information in Research and Development of New Products”, was held at Independent Institution, Technopark - Mordovia, at which three FIPS staff members gave presentations.

In total, the conferences, seminars and roundtables held in 2013 were attended by more than 2,000 persons from different regions of Russia.

VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF PATENT INFORMATION

International exchange and sharing of patent information in machine-readable form, e.g., priority documents, bibliographic data, abstracts, search reports, full text information

At present, FIPS VPTB, which builds the patent information resources of the Office, undertakes international exchanges with 57 countries and six international organizations.

In 2013, FIPS VPTB received the following:
- 5,077,000 copies of full descriptions for foreign patent documents electronically (of which 4,534,300 documents on optical disks, and 542,700 through downloads from foreign patent office websites or Internet resources) from 23 countries and five organizations; 66 annual sets of invention descriptions on optical disks.
- 1,507 copies of Gazettes containing information on inventions were received in all formats from 44 countries and one international organization: 2 paper copies; 268 copies on optical disks; and 1,237 copies were downloaded from the websites or Internet resources of foreign patent offices.

As part of international exchange in 2013, FIPS VPTB sent 47 foreign countries and four organizations 63 annual sets of Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazettes with full descriptions of inventions for RF patents on CD/DVD-ROM. In total, 1,931,300 copies of national invention descriptions were sent to foreign patent offices.

10 sets (140 copies) of the combined regional output of CIS countries on CD-ROM CISPATENT were forwarded to six patent offices and EPO. Nine countries participating in the Direct Libraries project were sent nine sets (178 items).

Under the framework of international exchange with foreign patent offices in 2013, aside from patent documentation, legal and patent publications were also sent to individual patent offices in accordance with existing agreements (215 copies in total: 143 on paper and 72 on disks).

Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed at the instigation of WIPO between VPTB and the information and education services of the WIPO information division, as a WIPO Depository Library, VPTB has since 2009 received one copy, in English and Russian, of every new WIPO publication free of charge.

In 2013, Rospatent, acting as a Receiving Office, transferred 1,320 registered copies of international applications and 801 certified copies of priority applications to WIPO electronically by means of PCT-EDI, without sending paper copies.

In December, 2013, testing was completed of the transfer, by means of PCT-EDI, of international search reports and written notes from the International Searching Authority, and Rospatent began sending all international search reports and written notes to WIPO in electronic format only, without accompanying paper copies.

Data on 204 national patent documents that have been reclassified due to the migration to IPC edition 2014.01 were transferred into the Master Classification Database (MCD).

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

Active participation continued in 2013 in the work to establish and refine the WIPO standards in the field of patent information under the relevant Task Forces of the Committee on WIPO Standards, primarily by developing Standards for the use of XML to exchange information on industrial property rights in all formats. Significant attention was given to the revision of WIPO Standard ST.14 regarding the introduction of new codes for categories I and N, as well as developing a Standard on the exchange of legal status data.

Active participation in the work of the WIPO Committee of Experts on IPC and ICGS continues, primarily on plans to review them. Up-to-date Russian-language versions of these classifications are being prepared for the completion of their review. Alphabetical subject indexes for the current versions of IPC are regularly republished.

Rospatent plays an active role in developing cooperation under the PCT. Particular attention is focused on the present stage of harmonization of search procedures during application examination and writing up reports on searches that have been performed.

As part of a set of measures to increase cooperation with foreign patent offices in the implementation of the PPH programs, a number of new bilateral agreements under the PPH-MOTTAINAI and PCT-PPH programs have been concluded. A bilateral PCT-PPH program with the Japan Patent Office (JPO) commenced on June 1, 2013, and negotiations have been conducted with the Patent Offices of Portugal and Korea regarding bilateral agreements under the PPH-MOTTAINAI and PCT-PPH programs.

In all during the PPH program, a total of 251 applications to participate in the program had been filed with Rospatent as of December 31, 2013, of which 123 were from Japanese applicants, 110 from US applicants, 10 from Korea, five from China, two from Finland, and one from Spain. The number of applications considered for different types of PPH program grows significantly every year. Thus, in 2013, virtually as many applications to participate in the PPH were filed as in the previous period of the program (119 and 132, respectively).

Development has begun in close cooperation with foreign patent offices of a new program for multilateral PPH, dubbed Global PPH (GPPH). 17 patent offices will be participating in the pilot program, which will further expand the number of Rospatent partners in PPH.

A Rospatent delegation regularly participates in the work of the East meets West forum dedicated to exchanging patent information.

In 2013, Rospatent continued to implement the measures outlined by the Program to Establish a Network of TISCs, developed jointly by WIPO and national patent offices.

April 24 and 25, 2013. In Moscow, as part of work of the Innovation Potential of Russia Forum organized by Rospatent and FIPS with WIPO’s support, two breakout sessions were held on TISC activities relating to the topic of “Patent Landscapes”, one WIPO staff member gave a presentation, TISC representatives from six Russian regions presented on progress made in the project to establish a regional TISC network, and workshops for TISC staff members were conducted in the computer room on the construction of patent landscapes. More than 50 persons took part in these meetings, including 46 representatives of regional TISCs.

June 19 and 20, 2013. In Novosibirsk, a regional scientific research seminar, “Intellectual Property in the Global Innovation Economy. Protection of Intellectual Property Rights as a Factor in Successful Entry into the Markets of the WTO” was held at the State Public Scientific and Technical Library of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, with the support of the Novosibirsk Regional Government as part of the International Project “Establishing a Network of Technology and Innovation Support Centers”. The conference was organized by Rospatent, FIPS, the Novosibirsk City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, SOYUZPATENT Ltd., the State Public Scientific and Technical Library of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Novosibirsk Regional Fund for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises. Presentations were given by five FIPS specialists. During the seminar, a workshop was conducted in the computer room on the topic “Using national and foreign search systems”. 140 persons from nine regions of the Russian Federation took part in the seminar.

September 25 and 26, 2013. In St. Petersburg, the Second Conference of Russian Federation Technology and Innovation Support Centers was held at the International Institute of Business and Law (IMBIP), National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (NIU ITMO), at which four staff members from FIPS and one from WIPO gave presentations. The conference was organized jointly by WIPO, Rospatent, FIPS, IMBIP and NIU ITMO. Participating in the conference were 70 persons, including representatives of the Patent Offices of the Republic of Armenia, Republic of Moldova, and the Kyrgyz Republic.

During 2013, FIPS participated in organizing and holding two international invention exhibitions:

April 2 to 5, 2013- 16th Moscow International Exhibition of Inventions and Innovation Technologies, Archimedes 2013 (Moscow, Sokolniki EcoCenter);

November 14 to 16- 62nd World Exhibition on Inventions, Research and New Technologies, Brussels – Innova/Eureka 2013 (Brussels, Belgium)

VPTB participates in the International Project “Establishing a Network of Technology and Innovation Support Centers”. In accordance with Appendices 1 and 2 to the Agreement on Establishing TISCs, over 850 DVD-ROM optical disks containing sets of Russian patent documents were sent to TISCs during 2013.

An annotated list of WIPO publications on the basics of intellectual property protection (in Russian), providing links to the full text of documents available on the WIPO website (29 titles), has been updated and placed on the FIPS website in the TISC section, under the heading “Information Resources for TISCs.”

Work was undertaken to prepare handout materials for participants at the Second TISC Congress. A handbook, “Establishing a TISC Network in the Russian Federation”, and the following bibliographic indices have been prepared: “Patent Landscape”, “Electronic Filing of Applications for Industrial Property in the Russian Federation and under International and Regional Agreements”, and “Electronic Filing of Applications for Industrial Property Abroad”.

In 2013, work began on involving TISCs in thematic meetings with leading FIPS specialists by video conference. The following five organizations took part in two thematic meetings:
• Federal State Independent Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education,
Belgorod State National Research University;
• Independent non-profit organization, Intellectual Property Center of the
Republic of Mordovia, and Independent Institution, Technopark-Mordovia (jointly);
• Federal State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education, Tomsk National Research Polytechnic University.
• Federal State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education, the N.G. Chernyshevsky Saratov State University;
• Federal State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education, Bashkir State University.

In 2013, as part of the Rospatent Program of Cooperation with regions, the VPTB Division conducted a two-day training course for the staff of the Gorky Vladimir Regional Scientific Library on the following issues: defining classification indexes on various kinds of carrier; comparing the search possibilities offered by the PatSearch database, ISS Mimosa, ISS on the FIPS website, the EPO Global Patent Index database and EAPO EAPATIS database; and conducting searches on specific topics.

In accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed on November 21, 2012 between the Eurasian Patent Office and FIPS on granting public libraries and leading higher education institutions access to the Eurasian patent information system, appropriate proposals were prepared during 2013, and EAPO granted 23 libraries and leading higher education institutions- most of which had the status of a TISC- access to the EAPATIS system.

Assistance to developing countries

In accordance with the Agreements between Rospatent and the International Bureau of WIPO, Rospatent, acting as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority, prepares search reports with preliminary examination reports on applications filed with the International Bureau of WIPO by developing countries. In 2013, 24 search reports together with examination reports were prepared on such applications.

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS

^1.	Classification is allotting one or more classification symbols (e.g., IPC symbols) to a patent application, either before or during search and examination, which symbols are then published with the patent application.
^2.	Preclassification is allotting an initial broad classification symbol (e.g., IPC class or subclass, or administrative unit) to a patent application, using human or automated means for internal administrative purposes (e.g., routing an application to the appropriate examiner). Usually preclassification is applied by the administration of an office.
^3.	Reclassification is the reconsideration and usually the replacement of one or more previously allotted classification symbols to a patent document, following a revision and the entry into force of a new version of the Classification system (e.g., the IPC). The new symbols are available on patent databases.

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Annual Technical Report 2013 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Russian Federation (CWS/ATR/PI/2013/RU)

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

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

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

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

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

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

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) – URLs

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

Classification¹, preclassification² (if applicable), reclassification³ activities; classification systems used (e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC)); matters concerning indexing of patent information

Abstracting, reviewing, and translation of the information contained in patent documents

III. SOURCES OF PATENT INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Main types of publications of the Office (patent applications, full text, first pages, abstracts, bibliographic data, granted patents, etc.), medium (on paper, on CDs, online – URLs)

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

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

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

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

IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

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

Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources

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

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

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

Patent library: equipment, collection management, network of patent libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign patent libraries

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

Office’s initiatives on providing foreign patent information in the local language(s) (e.g., machine translation tools, translation of abstracts)

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

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

VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF PATENT INFORMATION

International exchange and sharing of patent information in machine-readable form, e.g., priority documents, bibliographic data, abstracts, search reports, full text information

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

Assistance to developing countries

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS

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CWS.ATR.PI.2013.RU

Annual Technical Report 2013 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Russian Federation (CWS/ATR/PI/2013/RU)

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

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

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

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

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

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

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) – URLs

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

Classification1, preclassification2 (if applicable), reclassification3 activities; classification systems used (e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC)); matters concerning indexing of patent information

Abstracting, reviewing, and translation of the information contained in patent documents

III. SOURCES OF PATENT INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

Main types of publications of the Office (patent applications, full text, first pages, abstracts, bibliographic data, granted patents, etc.), medium (on paper, on CDs, online – URLs)

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

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

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

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

IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

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

Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources

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

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

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

Patent library: equipment, collection management, network of patent libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign patent libraries

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

Office’s initiatives on providing foreign patent information in the local language(s) (e.g., machine translation tools, translation of abstracts)

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

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

VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF PATENT INFORMATION

International exchange and sharing of patent information in machine-readable form, e.g., priority documents, bibliographic data, abstracts, search reports, full text information

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

Assistance to developing countries

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS

Classification¹, preclassification² (if applicable), reclassification³ activities; classification systems used (e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC)); matters concerning indexing of patent information