Annual Technical Report on Patent Information Activities in 2015 submitted by the State Agency on Intellectual Property of the Republic of Moldova (AGEPI)
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
1.) The Law No. 50-XVI of 07.03.2008 on the Protection of Inventions was amended in July 2015. One of the main amendments relates to the possibility of validating European patents in the Republic of Moldova Article 441-443. The comprehensive Law with all the amendments can be accessed at http://agepi.gov.md/sites/default/files/law/national/l_50_2008-en.pdf
2.) The Agreement on Validation of European Patents in the Republic of Moldova entered into force as from 1 November 2015
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
1) The main amendment in the Law 50-XVI/2008 on the Protection of Inventions consists in the introduction of provisions related to validation of the European patents in the Republic of Moldova provided for in Art. 441-443. The validation procedure can be initiated at the application stage and the patent grant stage. An application published in Moldova grants the same provisional protection from which a patent application benefits. The validated European patent grants the same rights as granted by a patent. At the same time, an European patent application for which the validation fee has been paid can be converted into a national patent application.
2) The procedure for validation of the European patents is possible from November 1, 2015, i.e. since the entry into force of the Agreement on Validation of European Patents in Moldova.
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
Rights in an invention in the Republic of Moldova are acquired and protected by granting by the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI), as provided by the Law no. 50-XVI of 07.03.2008 on the Protection of Inventions (hereinafter - Law no. 50/2008), of the following titles of protection:
- patent for invention (PI);
- short-term patent for invention (STPI);
- supplementary protection certificate.
After entry into force, on 4 October 2008, of the Law of the Republic of Moldova No. 50-XVI of 07.03.2008 on the Protection of Inventions, their protection became possible by both patent for invention (PI) and short-term patent for invention (STPI). At the same time, it was stopped the receiving of applications for the issue of patents under the responsibility of the applicant and of applications for the registration of utility models. Protection of inventions by short-term patent for invention proved very attractive to national applicants, namely due to:
- the simpler, faster and cheaper procedure, compared with the protection by patent for invention granted with the substantive examination of the application, on the one hand, and
- the extension of categories of objects that can be protected by this way, compared with the protection by utility model, on the other hand.
During 2015, 291 patent applications for invention were filed with the AGEPI, with 6 fewer than in 2014. Of the number of filed applications 43% were PI applications and 57% – STPI applications (in 2014 the PI:STPI percent ratio was 47:53%). At the same time, in the case of national applicants, it was continues the downward trend in the weight of PI applications in the favor of STPI applications, representing, respectively, 28:72.
Next, statistical data on both types of applications and titles of protection are presented both cumulatively and separately, to highlight the trends, differences or similarities between them.
In the year under review, AGEPI received 124 PI applications and 167 – STPI applications, with 15 fewer and, respectively, 9 more than in 2014. More than half of PI applications (66) and all STPI applications (166) were filed under the national procedure.
Foreign applicants filed in total 61 patent applications, 18% fewer than in 2014. The absolute majority of applications came under the PCT procedure (58 PI applications and one STPI application), directly with the AGEPI being filed only 2 PI applications.
As in previous years, most of applications (230 or 79% of the total number) were submitted by national applicants, respectively, 52% of PI applications and 99% of STPI applications filed. Like in previous years, most active were applicants from Chisinau, who filed 59 (92%) applications for PI and 159 (96%) applications for STPI.
In total, during the period 1993-2015, 7341 patent applications for inventions (6002 applications for PI and 1339 applications for STPI) were filed with the AGEPI. Of all those applications most – 6436 (88%) – came from national applicants, and 905 (12%) - from foreign applicants.
In 2015, national applicants filed via AGEPI, as the receiving office, 7 patent applications abroad by the PCT route (with 4 more than the previous year). In total, in the period 1995-2015, were filed 115 applications for patenting abroad – 53 by the PCT route and 62 by regional route under the Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC).
In 2015 on top of most active entities were university institutions, followed by those in the sphere of science and innovation: of the total number of applications filed by national applicants, 61% come from these institutions (141 applications, including 369 - for PI and 105 - for STPI), which is an increase by 3 percentage points compared with 2014, the evolution of this indicator in terms of absolute values recording a positive trend (with 11 applications s).
The weight of applications proceeded from natural persons in the period under review was 38% of the number of applications filed by applicants from the Republic of Moldova, a decrease by 3 percentage points compared with the previous year. At the same time, their number (87 applications: 28 – for PI and 59 – for STPI) registered a decline by 4% compared to the previous year.
The International Patent Classification (IPC) fields to which patent applications filed in 2015 relate are the following:
- C (Chemistry; Metallurgy) - 56 (45%);
- A (Human Necessities) - 39 (31%);
- F (Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating; etc.) - 12 (10%);
- B (Performing Operations; Transporting) - 9 (7%);
- G (Physics) - 4 (3%);
- E (Fixed Constructions) - 2 (2%);
- D (Textiles; Paper) – 2 (2%).
According to statistical data, the distribution of STPI applications by IPC sections is as follows:
- A (Human Necessities) - 75 (45%);
- F (Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating; etc.) - 27 (16%);
- C (Chemistry; Metallurgy) - 23 (14%);
- G (Physics) - 14 (8%);
- H (Electricity) - 14 (8%);
- B (Performing Operations; Transporting) - 11 (7%);
- E (Fixed Constructions) - 3 (2%).
In the period under review, as a result of examination of patent applications, there were adopted 266 decisions, of which 196 (74%) – for the grant of patents, 37 (14%) – for rejection, and 33 (12%) – for withdrawal of applications. Simultaneously, there were adopted 16 decisions on the extension of validity of short-term patents.
In the reference year, AGEPI issued 189 titles of protection for inventions (61 - PI and 128 - STPI). The absolute majority thereof was issued to national owners - 176 (94%), of which 65 (37%) were issued to natural persons and 111 (63%) – to legal entities.
In total, during the period 1993-2015, 7341 patent applications for inventions (6002 applications for PI and 1339 applications for STPI) were filed with the AGEPI. Of all those applications most – 6436 (88%) – came from national applicants, and 905 (12%) - from foreign applicants.
Since the beginning of its activity until 31 December 2015, AGEPI issued 5,027 titles of protection for inventions (4,145 PI and 882 STPI), of which 4,513 (90%) – to national owners and 514 (10%) – to foreign owners.
On 31 December 2015, 4,504 patents were valid in the Republic of Moldova, including:
- 868 patents (19%) issued by AGEPI (347 PI and 521 STPI) and
- 3636 Eurasian patents (81% of all patents valid).
In accordance with Article 97(3) of Law no. 50/2008, utility models (UM), registered in the Republic of Moldova before the entry into force of said Law, remain valid and may be renewed, even if receipt of UM registration applications was ceased. On 31 December 2014, of the total number of 185 issued UM registration certificates only 13 were valid, all being renewed.
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
The most important office notices and news regarding patents and other IP rights are provided directly on the AGEPI website accessible to the public www.agepi.gov.md.
As regard the general information about patents and other IP objects, their protection and related events organized in the view to promote them on the national and international levels, the statistics data and their impact to the national economy, can be found in the Annual Report, published by AGEPI every year and distributed on the official web page: http://agepi.gov.md/en/publication/50
Statistics related to patents: http://agepi.gov.md/en/node/8459
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
All the necessary information regarding the filing on paper and/or e-filing, the applicants could find on AGEPI website http://agepi.gov.md/en/inventions/information-inventions-and-patents
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
Applicants have a variety of methods to fill their applications: on paper, fax machine, e-filling, floppy discs, CD (DVD)-ROMs.
As regard the electronic filling of applications, they may use the following web pages:
https://e-servicii.agepi.gov.md/en
https://e-servicii.agepi.gov.md/files/help/Help_Solicitant_en.pdf
http://e-servicii.agepi.gov.md/en/user
Classification1, preclassification2 (if applicable), reclassification3 activities; classification systems used (e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC)); matters concerning indexing of patent information
Starting with January 1st, 2006, AGEPI is using the advanced level of the IPC (the 8th Edition).
Abstracting, reviewing, and translation of the information contained in patent documents
The office translates the titles and abstracts into English and review the titles and abstracts provided by the applicant (in Romanian and Russian) and, if necessary, amends them accordingly to WIPO standard ST.12/A in order to ensure that the abstract contains the necessary information to be a useful search tool. The abstracts and titles are published in the Official Bulletin for patents and utility models applications and the granted protection titles is provided in 3 languages.
Other activities
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)
1) Paper
Patent applications:
The front page containing bibliographic data, the abstract and the drawings are printed. The original specifications are laid open to public inspection in the AGEPI library.
Patents:
The front page and the specification are printed, the incorporated drawings being scanned.
2) CD-ROM
National CD-ROM "Inventions of the Republic of Moldova, 1993-2014", containing bibliographic data and abstracts in 3 languages (Romanian, English and Russian) for patent applications; bibliographic data, abstracts and specifications for patents. Since 2015 the production of this CD-rom was discarded. All the available information are available online in AGEPI public database _http://www.db.agepi.md/inventions/.
3) CISPATENT - in conjunction with the IP Offices of several CIS countries (AM, BY,GE, RU, TJ, UZ, UA) and of the EAPO is issued this CD-ROM containing bibliographic data and abstracts in Romanian, English and Russian for patent applications and bibliographic data, abstracts in 3 languages and specifications in the original language for patents. The CD-ROM is issued on a monthly basis; there is also a yearly issue. Starting from January 2014 the CISPATENT CD-ROM data are only available on RUPTO ftp server
4) On-line database. Full text search through national applications and patents, short-term applications and short-term patents or Utility Models are available in on-line database located on the offices website: http://www.db.agepi.md/inventions/Search.aspx
At different stages of evolution of the application there can be found bibliographic data, description, claims, figures, cited references, search report, application and patents abstracts in 3 languages, Granted and Issued title of protection.
The database is updated monthly.
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.
The Official Bulletin of Intellectual Property is a monthly publication, which includes official information on applications for patenting/registration of intellectual property objects (IPO) in the Republic of Moldova and titles of protection granted, to the changes occurred in the legal status of applications and titles of protection of IPO and the results of appeals examination in the Contestation Commission of AGEPI, court decisions on disputes over IPOs, general information. The BOPI is issued in Romanian, English, Russian languages on paper carrier (ISSN 1810-7095), CD-ROM (ISSN 1857-050X) and online on the AGEPI website http://agepi.gov.md/en/publication/48
The Annual Report reflects the activity of the AGEPI during a whole year. It includes data on the registration / patenting of intellectual property objects, the most important events organized with the participation of the AGEPI as a partner, implemented projects and goals for the following year. The Publication is issued and distributed to regional IP Offices, national public authorities on paper carrier and is available online at the following address: http://agepi.gov.md/en/publication/50
Intellectus"- is the journal of intellectual property which has been regularly published as a quarterly journal since 1995(ISSN 1810-7079 –on paper carrier and ISSN 1857-0496 – on CD-ROM). According to joint Decision of the Supreme Council for Science and Technological Development (CSSDT) of ASM and the National Council for Accreditation and Attestation (CNAA) No. 3 of 30 January 2014 "On the results of evaluation and classification of scientific journals in the field" , "Intellectus" journal was accredited to “B” classification category, law, technology, biology, chemistry and economics profiles. “Intellectus” journal pursues the competent and multilateral reflection of intellectual property aspects, elucidation of provisions of the national and international IP legislation, publication of scientific and methodological materials, providing the public with information on the country`s intellectual treasure etc. The journal also covers the procedures for acquiring intellectual property protection, reveals the mechanism of enforcement and observance of rights, exploitation of IP objects, publishes studies signed by researchers in various fields of science, economy and technology.
The journal is available on –line at the following address: http://agepi.gov.md/en/publication/49
"AGEPI Info"- is a supplement to the “Intellectus” journal and deals with different aspects of IP protection quarterly, reproduces certain IP-related materials of the written and online press. The publication is distributed within the main IP promotion actions, seminars and exhibitions, training courses for employees organized by AGEPI. Through the heading “Stock of Inventions” the best domestic patented inventions proposed by inventors for implementation are promoted. The publication is available on paper carrier and on-line at the following address: http://agepi.gov.md/en/publication/51
“AGEPI Expo” – supplement to the “Intellectus” journal. The publication is devoted to the results of each edition of the International Specialized Exhibition "INFOINVENT". It includes more interviews with participants from home and abroad in this forum of inventions. It reveals the mechanism of exploitation of intellectual property objects, provides business people with useful information on conclusion of assignment and license contracts in order to implement the latest scientific and technical achievements in production. The publication is issued on paper acrrier and availbale on-line at the following address: http://agepi.gov.md/en/publication/52
Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external collections and databases
AGEPI has a complete classified paper collection of MD patent documents. This collecton has been scanned and stored on file servers being available to our examiners. The full data relating to MD patent documents, excepting some of the old author certificates of the former URSS based patents, are stored in the internal database.
Full text search through national applications and patents, short-term applications and short-term patents or Utility Models are available on the on-line database located on the offices website: http://www.db.agepi.md/inventions/Search.aspx
AGEPI has a CD/DVD-ROM collection containing published/granted US, FR, DE, CH, RU, WO, EP, EA, CISPATENT and other patent documents.
The online "patents" search database can be used by examiners and other interested persons to search through the MD published patent applications/short term applications and granted patents/short term patents, as well as through utility models. There is another online "Inventions" search database that contains bibliographic data of Certificates of authorship of the USSR that were published in the 1963-1992 period. The offline search database, is used by examiners in conducting the examining procedure by searching through all of the MD applications and patents.
External databases:
- EAPATIS, administered by EAPO;
- Espacenet
-PATENTSCOPE
-RUPAT
Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to external users, conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
Databases of patent documents provide users with vast possibilities and represent important sources of information both for experts and inventors, and for any researcher or simple student, pupil who want to know more in the area of interest.
In these databases the search and consultation of documents is free of charge.
Each of them has a system helping and explaining the method for conducting searches, for information on data that can be obtained following the search in the respective databases:
| Country | Office/Institution | DB |
Republic of Moldova | State Agency on Intellectual Property of the Republic of Moldova (AGEPI) | Inventions DB |
WO | WIPO Reference | |
WO | WIPO (PATENTSCOPE) | |
EP | European Patent Office (EPO) | |
EA | The Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO) | |
AU | Cambia (BD Lens) | |
Rusia | Rospatent | |
SUA | United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) | |
SUA | Free Patents Online, LLC | |
SUA | Landon IP (BD Intellogist) | |
SUA | Intellogist Free Patent search | |
SUA | Google Patents | |
SUA | SumoBrain (Patents Online LLC) | |
SUA | PIUG | |
SUA | Rolf Claessen's Chemistry Index | |
SUA | pat2pdf (Download U.S. patents) | |
Japonia | Japan Platform for Patent Information (J-PlatPat) | |
Romania | Romanian State Office for Inventions and TradeMarks (OSIM) | |
Germania | German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) | |
Canada | Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) | |
Elvetia | Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property | |
Marea Britanie | UK Intellectual Property Office | |
Ukraine | UKRPATENT |
URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide a description of information products and services offered by the Office (e.g., patent search service(s) and patent databases), as well as information on how to access and utilize them:
http://agepi.gov.md/en/services/information-services-provided-agepi
Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
The legislation related to patents and protection of patent’s rights is available on official website www.agepi.gov.md
Other sources
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
The Patent Office uses Microsoft Office suite 2007 or 2010. All of the patent related information and documents are entered in MS Word trough internal in house built patent IT system. This system has several applications, like the main patent management application, fees management, patent valability, statistics applications, and also some data exporting tools. Upon opening, patent documents are automatically formatted and corrected (characters encoding, degree characters, appearance of Cyrillic letters in non-Cyrillic words and vice versa, etc). All of the other documents like correspondence letters, publication files, miscellaneous reports, etc. are generated using the same system. Although all of our patents are scanned once entered into archive AGEPI is planning to scan them upon arrival and to have a fully functional electronic dossier and electronic archive. We are also developing a system for the European applications that requested validation in Moldova.
Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
Each expert has a personal computer with LCD monitor and DVD drive. Microsoft Windows 10 or Windows 7 is used as operating system. All computers are connected via the 100 Mb/s or 1Gb/s network into the Microsoft Active Directory 2008 Domain. Agency has a fiber channel link into the internet with 1 Gb/s speed foreign traffic and each expert can use internet and has his own official e-mail address.
Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
- DB Inventions and short-term Inventions
- DB Plant Varieties
- DB Utility Models
During the period under review, AGEPI also developed and implemented the following information products:
- Patent Landscape and Analytics
- Database "validated European patents" and data import application.
The public databases are updated monthly from internal databases.
Data from Inventions&short-term Inventions database and Utility Models database are sent monthly to RUPTO (for CISPATENT) and EPO (Inpadoc) and quarterly to WIPO (PCT national phase) and EAPO (Eapatis)
Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
File building
File building of paper search files classified under the IPC and of the CD/DVD-ROM collections classified under years and countries are centralized at the office library. The patent documents and author certificates of the former URSS from 1924 up to 1992 are stored in National Technical Scientific Library (NTSL).
All MD patent documents are electronically stored and searchable for internal use; all published MD patent applications (abstracts) and patents (full text) are electronically searchable for external use.
Updating
Paper and some CD/DVD-ROM search files are updated monthly, several CD-DVD/ROM search files are updated yearly. Electronically searchable files for internal use are updated permanently depending of filings; electronically searchable files for external use are updated monthly.
Storage, including mass storage media
Patent documentation on paper is stored on shelves in the AGEPI archive, CD-DVD/ROM are stored in the library, electronic data are stored on Fileservers, and on magnetic tapes, for backup.
Documentation from other offices maintained and/or considered part of the available search file
Eurasian published patent applications and granted patents are mandatory search files.
Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
The whole administration is built in "Patents" program and is performed by an Administrator from Patents Division, but also by a Database Administrator for a complete administration.
Other matters
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 Library is a subdivision in the AGEPI structure that provides information-library services in the field of intellectual property to beneficiaries. The AGEPI Library is the depository of the National Patent Collection of the Republic of Moldova. AGEPI readership covers inventors and innovators, researchers, managers and lawyers, patent attorneys, representatives in IP, experts and other collaborators of AGEPI. At their disposal, and also at other persons interested in the field of intellectual property were placed two reading rooms, of which one is computerized, and the electronic catalog of books and that of scientific articles in the field of IP. The reference fund and the collection of periodicals are in regime of open access to the shelf.
Beneficiaries of services provided by the library are experts and other collaborators of AGEPI, and all interested persons outside the institution: counselors in intellectual property, researchers, inventors and rationalizers, teachers, students, etc.
At the Library visitors have the possibility to:
- consult, subscribe to or purchase the official publications of AGEPI in the field of intellectual property - BOPI, “Intellectus”, “AGEPI INFO”, etc., collections of laws and methodical literature in the field of intellectual property, CDs edited by AGEPI;
- obtain copies of the descriptions of inventions from patents for invention;
- get methodological assistance in searching for information in electronic DB;
- library-bibliographic servicing in “request-offer”, “information-express” regime, by complying with the bibliographic, thematic and factual references;
- participate in IP information promotional activities at local and national levels.
Open hours for beneficiaries: from 9.00 to 16.00 Monday - Friday. Day without a program - Saturday and Sunday.
Based on bilateral agreements on exchange of information in the field of intellectual property, in the year 2015, AGEPI library has distributed free of charge the INTELLECTUS magazine and AGEPI-info to 37 local libraries placed within the main university educational institutions and 10 foreign libraries from Romania, Russian Federation, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Ukraine.
Publications related to different business procedures and patent information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
The AGEPI Library has collections of specialized literature structured according to objects of intellectual property, methodical and scientific literature, of legal, informative and cognitive character, including:
- Patents for Inventions protected in the Republic of Moldova - about 9900 units (see DB “Inventions”);
- Official Bulletins of Intellectual Property of IP Offices from 37 countries and 4 international organizations purchased under bilateral exchange - about 23116 units;
- Electronic databases on intellectual property - 34 with a total of 26,983,964 of documents;
- Books in intellectual property, legal documents, normative acts, international treaties and agreements, dictionaries and encyclopedias in different branches of economy, official and methodical publications of AGEPI - about 6000 copies.
The new acquisitions of the AGEPI Library IP fund can be accessed on AGEPI web page: http://www.agepi.gov.md
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.
AGEPI has a constant relation with national institutions in the field, in particular with universities, research centers and innovation support centers. AGEPI has signed about 64 national agreements with national institutions, 14 of which are signed with the national universities and 40 with research centers, technology and innovation support centers. To promote the knowledge about the intellectual property and its protection, AGEPI is involved in organization of Round tables, seminars and training for the representatives of universities, research and technology centers.
During the reporting period, being a loyal supporter of creativity and inventiveness of the young generation, AGEPI provided considerable support in conducting an exhibition of engineering works in the field of energy, electronics and telecommunications, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, mechanics, transports, industrial clothing design of the innovative students from the Technical University of Moldova and pupils from the Technical College of TUM entitled “creation opens the Universe”, and the Contest for Rube Goldberg Machines “TUM-RG 2015” held on May 8, within the premises of the Exhibition Pavilion in the Riscani campus of TUM. AGEPI awarded 3 most creative and innovative works of TUM students.
Year 2015 was marked also by the an enhanced cooperation between AGEPI and the Academy of Sciences of Moldova and the Agency for Innovation and Technology Transfer, in particular, in the framework of organization of the 14th edition of the International Specialized Exhibition “INFOINVENT”, in the period from November 25-28. ISE INFOINVENT has become a platform for communication and collaboration in the field of IP, creativity and innovation. In this context, AGEPI contributed to organization of several events dedicated to promotion of innovation and IP in the business environment, like the First forum of Women Innovators and Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Moldova, jointly organized with Women Inventors Association of Moldova (AFIRM).
With view to present successful models of each sector, to promote the importance of creative industries, to highlight solutions that would impel economic growth in this area, AGEPI I cooperation with Center for Business “Kentford”, Ministry of Culture, “JCI Chisinau” and supported by “Simpals”, “Fautor” and “Ribca’s Artisan Bakery” organized the round table “Success Stories of Creative Business”.
Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
In the period under review, there were organized 80 IP information promotion and dissemination activities, through book exhibitions, specialized seminars, contests, carried out both inside and outside the AGEPI (in libraries, educational institutions, enterprises). These activities were organized in cooperation with the Association of Librarians of the Republic of Moldova (ALRM), with university libraries and district public libraries in the republic.
Among the most important IP information promotion activities, in particular in the patent field, carried out in 2015 should be mentioned the following:
- Seminar dedicated to Inventor’s and Rationalizer’s Day, organized and coordinated by AGEPI jointly with the Medical Scientific Library of the SUMP “N.Testemitanu”,
- Participation with communications in the Workshops “New Library Services, Rounds 1-3”, organized by IREX Moldova JSC within the NOVATECA program for librarians-trainers,
- Participation with information stand in the works of the 24th Edition of the International Book Exhibition, organized in Chisinau by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Moldova, National Library of the Republic of Moldova, “Paul Mihail” Bibliophily and Ex-Libris Scientific Society of Moldova, League of Librarians “Alexe Rau” of Moldova, under the patronage of UNESCO and First Lady of the Republic of Moldova, Margareta Timofti,
- Practical Seminar “Application of the Patent Landscape Platform”, organized at the Medical Scientific Library of the SUMP “N.Testemitanu” for librarians and persons from the academic environment.
Other activities
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
The AGEPI is sending, monthly, information to several destinations:
- European Patent Office (EPO)-(INPADOC), monthly:
- the bibliographic data and abstracts for published applications and issued patents and full patent information for granted patents, in XML, St.36;
- changes in legal status;
- images of bibliographic data for published applications and full patent information in national language for patents in bookmarked PDF (examples: published, granted)
- Eurasian Patent Office, quarterly, bibliographic data in ACCESS database, abstracts, claims, images, in pdf files.
- Rospatent (CISPATENT), the bibliographic data and abstracts for published applications and issued patents and full patent information for granted patents, in both XML St.36 and MSWORD formats
- AGEPI furnished the MD patent documents and the official gazette (BOPI) on CD-ROM to 7 IP Offices and receives patent documentation and information from 10 countries and 2 regional patent organizations (EPO and EAPO).
Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to patent information
information, events organized by the international specialized institutions:
- Seminar "Clarity and unity: analysis of patent applications- intermediate level", organized by Academy of the European Patent Office (EPO), March 9 – 11, 2015, in Munich, Germany;
- Seminar "Clarity and unity: analysis of patent applications- advanced level", organized by Academy of the European Patent Office (EPO), March 9 – 11, 2015, in Munich, Germany;
- Seminar "Novelty and inventive step - advanced level" organized by the Academy of the European Patent Office (EPO), from March 11 – 13, 2015, in Munich, Germany;
- Seminar "Novelty and inventive step – intermediate level" organized by the Academy of the European Patent Office (EPO), from March 11 – 13, 2015, in Munich, Germany;
- Seminar "Patenting in particular areas: mechanics, electricity – intermediate level", organized by the Academy of the European Patent Office (EPO), from May 6-8, 2015, in Munich, Germany;
- Seminar "European Patent system from filing to grant" organized by the Academy of the European Patent Office (EPO), from July 7 – 10, 2015, in Rome, Italy;
- Seminar focused on Introduction to patent statistics and the PATSTAT product line organized by European Patent Office (EPO), from March 23 – 25, 2015, in Vienna, Austria;
- International Exhibition of Research, Innovation and Inventions PRO INVENT, organised from March 25-27, 2015, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania;
- PATLIB Conference, organized by the European Patent Office (EPO), from April 21-22, 2015, in Munich, Germany;
- 10th edition of the European Inventor Award, organized by the European Patent Office (EPO), on June 11, 2015, in Paris, France;
- The 7th edition of the International Exhibition EUROINVENT, organised in the period from May 14-16, 2015, in Iaşi, Romania;
- International Exhibition of Inventions, Research and Technology Transfer INVENTICA -2015, organized by the National Institute of Inventions from Iasi, on June 26, 2015, in Iasi, Romania;
- IP executive week, organised by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), from July 20 – 24, 2015, in Alicante, Spain;
- The 9th edition of the International Warsaw Invention Show, organised from October 12 – 14, 2015, in Warsaw, Poland;
- International Educational Program on Idea, Invention, Innovation and Intellectual Property – Seed Project 2015, organised from October 19 to 30, 2015, in Seoul;
- International Trade Fair Ideas Inventions New Products (iENA), organised from October 29 – November 1, 2015, in Nuremberg, Germany;
- The 40th Edition of the International Salon of Inventions « INOVA-2015”, organised by the Inventor’s Association of Croatia, from November 5 – 7, 2015, in Karlovac, Croatia.
- The 4th Session of the Interstate Council on Legal Protection and Defense of Intellectual Property, 9 November 2015, in Moscow, Russian Federation.
Assistance to developing countries
In 2015, AGEPI has received assistance from the World Intellectual Property Organization, European Patent Office, and the other international and national institutions. The assistance was provided aimed at organizing national seminars and workshops related to the patent information designed to familiarize the public with recently developments in the patent field and the benefits of patent protection the potential users can benefit.
As a state member of the World Intellectual Property Organization, Republic of Moldova had the opportunity to use, in the year under report, the WIPO tools to facilitate access of persons from developing countries and countries with economies in transition, to the values offered by the IP system, including the ARDI Program (Access to Research for Development and Innovation) and ASPI Program (access to Specialized Patent Information).
In the conditions of achievement of the preparatory arrangements for patent data exchange between AGEPI and EPO, in the context of implementation of the Validation Agreement, in September 9 to 10, 2015, AGEPI hosted the working visit of the EPO expert in the Post grant renewal fees, products and specialized services distribution team. Thus, there was reviewed the technical aspects of data exchange between the offices with presentation of practical recommendations to AGEPI experts.
Other activities
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.