CWS.ATR.PI.2011.IL

Annual Technical Report 2011 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Israel (CWS/ATR/PI/2011/IL)

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

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

I. Evolution of patent activities

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

Slight decrease in number of applications (6,886 compared to 7,266 in 2010).
The ILPO experienced a significant increase in granted patents (5,104 compared to 2,293 in 2010).

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

Increased number of green applications and applications for accelerated examination.

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

http://www.justice.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/42F81829-674F-4C64-A900-40D74941250E/36339/ILPOAnnualReport2011.pdf

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

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

Official Gazette published monthly contains publication of bibliographic data of submitted as well as accepted applications, granted applications, extended applications, notices of register changes.

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

Web based storage ,as well as use of optical media.

Word processing and office automation

Microsoft office

(New) techniques used for the generation of patent information (printing, recording, photocomposing, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), etc.)

Scanning and O.C.R

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

http://www.justice.gov.il/MOJHeb/RashamHaptentim/Yoman/default.htm

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

Abstracting, reviewing, translating

As the vast majority of our patent applications are in English , there is no need for translation.

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

- We don't have any local system for classifying.
- We use only the IPC for classifying.
- We classify only in English we don't translate the classification to our local language.
- An application that comes through PCT accept automatic the same classification.
- A local application is being classified by the examiner up to "subgroup classification".
- We reclassify only the local application that does not have a parallel application abroad.

Coordinate indexing (domestic deep indexing systems, keyword indexing)

We don't have any local system so we don't use Coordinate indexing

Hybrid system indexing

Multiple classification of documents if needed is being used by the Israel patent office. We don't use the Hybrid system indexing.

Bibliographic data and full-text processing

We classify only patents, we don’t classify publications that are not patents.

IV. Search file establishment and upkeep

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

We access most documentation from other offices by free search engines or by subscription.

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

In-house systems (online/offline)

We utilize an internal system (offline) developed in conjunction with WIPO, containing all bibliographic data of every submitted application in Israel. Note that for allowed applications full text is accessible.

External databases

THOMSON-INNOVATION
Derwent World Patent Index (DWPI)
STN International databases
EPODOC
FamPat
PlusPat

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

Our above-mentioned internal system also covers registry, legal status and administrative support management. We also generate Business Intelligence (BI) reports to collect and analyze statistical data.

Existing online thesauri; their structure, presentation and usefulness for computerized searches

We do not use this function to date.

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

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

The ILPO has a bilingual web site (English & Hebrew) open to the public containing all relevant patent information (the Hebrew website is more elaborate than the English version). On-line search in published allowed applications is available in Hebrew and in English.

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

Not available yet.

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

ILPO Website in English: http://www.justice.gov.il/MOJEng/RashamHaptentim/
ILPO Website in Hebrew: http://www.justice.gov.il/MOJHeb/RashamHaptentim/

VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of patent documentation and information

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

The ILPO provides bibliographic data of patent applications, as well as full text data of allowed applications to Patentscope (which contains the Israel national patent collection) and esp@cenet.

Medium used for exchange of priority documents

Not in use.

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

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

The ILPO periodically provides training courses for patent, trademarks and PCT receiving office staff, as well as for the public. These training courses and seminars are on the topics of (but not limited to) search databases, international classification, international search and examination, the Madrid protocol and advanced knowledge of the PCT. All training courses and seminars utilized PowerPoint presentations, whereas some, such as the international search and examination seminar, included written exercises.

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

Every summer the ILPO organizes a two week training course in conjunction with the WIPO worldwide training academy. This course constitutes the practical part of the interregional intermediate seminar on industrial property, preceded by the first part of this seminar, which takes place at the WIPO worldwide training academy in Geneva. This course provides training to trainees from developing countries regarding the Israeli intellectual property laws, as well as legal and professional issues arising while registering intellectual property rights in Israel. The interns also learn about the organizational structure of the ILPO and its various departments: Patents, Trademarks, Designs, PCT, Patent Formalities and the Legal department.

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

In 2011 the ILPO participated in the following seminars:
A workshop titled "Intellectual Property Asset Management by Small and Medium Sized Entities" was organized by the Federation of the Chambers of Commerce and WIPO. The workshop was intended to enhance the SME base-knowledge in various IP-related issues while underlining the business aspects. The program was provided by lecturers from WIPO, from the ILPO, attorneys and patents attorneys and lecturers from the academia.
An international conference took place in the Ono Academic Center, titled: "Intellectual Property Law – the Road Ahead: Traditional Knowledge, Access to Drugs and Access to Knowledge". This was the second event of its kind, the first of which took place in 2010 in Warsaw, Poland. The program was provided by lecturers from WIPO, from the ILPO, attorneys and patents attorneys and lecturers from the academia.
An inter-regional program titled: "Intellectual Property Rights as Leverage for Local and Regional Development in Transitional Economies" was held. This program was a cooperation between WIPO and Mashav of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Weitz Center. The program was intended for 25 senior government officials and representatives of Patent Offices from developing countries (primarily Eastern Europe). The Program included the following subjects:
• Innovation encouragement at the national level
• The process of incubating an idea to the fulfillment of an invention
• Innovation as a development tool in peripheral areas

In December 2011, the ILPO hosted a delegation from the Japan Patent Office to discuss various cooperation options.

Assistance furnished by offices to facilitate the changing over of receiving offices to electronic data carriers for the exchange of patent documents (see also fourth sub-item of item VI, above)