SCIT.ATR.PI.2008.HU

Annual Technical Report 2008 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Hungary (SCIT/ATR/PI/2008/HU)

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

PREPARATION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LEGISLATION

The Hungarian Patent Office (HPO) performed its duties related to the preparation of legislation with a comprehensive approach in an efficient and proactive manner. The majority of the tasks focused on the preparation and management of amendments to legislation concerning industrial property and copyright. An important part of the work was connected with the legal drafting and other duties related to Hungary’s membership of the European Union, the European Patent Organisation and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Preparation for the Hungarian EU presidency in 2011 intensified, which, as a new challenge, imposed numerous tasks on the HPO.

On 15 December 2008 the Parliament adopted an amendment aimed at the legal harmonisation of Act LXXVI of 1999 on copyright (Copyright Act). In line with the HPO’s mid-term strategy, the amendment brought a change in the provisions on public lending rights, a new system for the authorisation of orphan works was developed, and the order of approval of the fee schedule of collective rights management organisations was also modified.

A package of three draft laws was prepared comprising of the proposal on the amendment to certain industrial property laws, that on the accession to the Agreement on the application of Article 65 of the Convention on the Grant of European Patents, adopted in London on 17 October 2000. The whole package will be submitted to the Government in 2009.

The proposal, also in accordance with the mid-term strategy of the HPO, on the one hand, provides for the accession to the Agreement on the application of Article 65 of the Convention on the Grant of European Patents, adopted in London on 17 October 2000 (hereinafter referred to as the “London Agreement”), and on the other hand, provides for the legislation necessary for the implementation of the London Agreement in Hungary by the amendment of Act XXXIII of 1995 on the protection of inventions by patents (hereinafter referred to as the “Patents Act”). The London Agreement aims at partly waiving the requirements for, and the costs of, translation of European patents. In the event of Hungary’s accession to the Agreement, it will suffice to provide the English translation of the whole text of a European patent to validate it in Hungary, while the claims defining the scope of protection will still be translated in each case into Hungarian. The whole Hungarian translation of a European patent would only be required in the event of a legal dispute.

The proposal, taking into account the social debate on the matter, schedules the entry into force of the London Agreement in Hungary’s respect on 1 January 2011.

By amending the Patents Act, the conditions of application of the so-called farmers’ privilege (a limitation of the rights deriving from plant variety protection) are renewed; and the industrial property laws in other matters are also modified. These changes include the transfer of the main rules on the fees payable for the maintenance of industrial property protection into the relevant industrial property acts, the extension of the range of documents that may be sent to the HPO electronically, and the amendment of rules on the secrecy of certain patent applications. The proposal sets out 1 August 2009 as the date of its entry into force.

Hungarian Council for the Protection of Intellectual Property

During the seven years since its establishment, the Hungarian Council for the Protection of Intellectual Property (hereinafter referred to as the “Council”) has grown into a body playing an orientating role in the intellectual property profession. Its activities have helped the work of central public administration and commanded keen international interest. The activities of the Council are regulated by Article 115/F of Act XXXIII of 1995 on the protection of inventions by patents.

In March 2008 the third volume of an intellectual property protection series, co-edited by the HPO and the Council, entitled White Paper on Intellectual Property Protection was launched in the framework of a press conference. The volume devoted to the current issues of intellectual property protection gives an insight into the strategic ideas of domestic and international intellectual property protection in a knowledge-based economy of the 21st century. It also contains the HPO’s mid-term strategy for institution development, offers an overview of the new Hungarian body, the National Board Against Counterfeiting facilitating the enforcement of IP rights; and it elaborates on the most important issues concerning the “hot topics” in copyright and their backgrounds.

It is the fifth year that the quarterly “Newsletter on intellectual property protection”, a joint publication of the HPO and the Council, is published. It summarises news and current information in the fields of industrial property and copyright. The aim of the publication is to acquaint responsible political and professional decision-makers and figures in the economic and cultural spherese with current national and international issues of intellectual property protection in a concise form.

Upon the agreement concluded with the professional and financial support of the Council, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office made available for the HPO data on gross added value, gross emission, employment and income from 2006 for the purposes of an analysis on the economic contribution of copyright-based industries in Hungary, in line with the methodological guide laid down by the WIPO.

In compliance with its operational rules, the Council held four meetings. It discussed and/or
adopted:
• the report on its activity in 2007 and its work plan for 2008;
• an information note on the National Body Against Counterfeiting (NBAC) ;
• the issues of the entry into force of, and the accession to, the London Agreement;
• the amendment of Act LXXVI of 1999 on copyright;
• the situation of book publishing and book trade;
• the present and future situation of the appellation of origin Tokaj as reflected in the Community
law;
• the copyright regulation in respect of uses by libraries;
• the situation of protection of geographical indications in Hungary and in the Community, and
the further development of regulation;
• the new developments in the international relations between collective rights management
and competition law;
• amendment of Directive 2006/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12
December 2006 on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright in
the field of intellectual property;
• the draft of the new Civil Code and the regulation of intellectual property protection;
• the HPO’s participation in the calls for proposals of the European Union and in the bilateral
European co-operations;
• the draft of the next volume of the series White Paper on Intellectual Property Protection.

Body of Experts on Industrial Property

The Body of Experts on Industrial Property acted in the matter of 11 requests and commissions. An expert opinion was prepared in 4 cases and 4 cases are ongoing. The Body issued an information note in two cases. The majority of commissions were initiated by economic entities, the Hungarian Customs and Finance Guard (HCFG), courts, individuals, and courts of arbitration.

Body of Experts on Copyright

The Body of Experts on Copyright received 31 requests; the number of requests received in 2007 and continued in 2008 was 11. Sixteen appointments were received from courts, 6 requests from the police and the HCFG, one request each from a mayor’s office and a chamber of commerce, 7 from private organisations (enterprises, law offices). The requests and commissions concerned a wide range of copyright and related rights issues, with a shift of emphasis towards book publishing, use of works on the Internet, architectural creations and their designs.

INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY OFFICIAL EXAMINATION AND PROCEDURES

OFFICIAL ACTIVITY

The estimated number of applications within the framework of the international patent cooperation treaty (PCT) designating Hungary, but not including those which request national procedure, was 163 800. This represents an increase of 2.5% compared with the previous year. In the years following the accession to the European Patent Convention on 1 January 2003, Hungary has been receiving a continuously increasing number of matters relating to granted European patents. In 2008 the number of European patents designating Hungary granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) was above 23 000, and the HPO received 2211 requests for validation of European patents.

As a result of Hungary’s accession to the Community and European protection systems, the total number of industrial property applications filed following the national route, domestically and directly with the HPO from abroad, decreased proportionally as expected. The decrease in the number of patent applications filed following the national route, as a result of the stagnating domestic patent activity, is due first of all to a decline in the number of foreign applications filed directly with the HPO. In the case of utility models the application activity stagnated.

The patent and utility model activity of domestic applicants remained on the level of the previous year. The number of patent applications filed by domestic applicants has been around 700 for years. The low patent activity is closely related to the insufficient intensity of Hungarian innovation and research and development, to the shortcomings of industrial property awareness and the property relations within the Hungarian economy.

The HPO has performed the tasks of a receiving office deriving from the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), from the accession to the European Patent Convention on 1 January 2003 (including euro-PCT applications) and from the accession to the European Union on 1 May 2004. Hungarian applicants have been filing their foreign applications increasingly with the HPO as a receiving office. Domestic applicants filed 155 PCT applications, 11 European patent Applications, and 1 application for Community plant variety rights in 2008 via the HPO.

Although the number of applications filed by Hungarian applicants abroad continued to be extremely low, their international (PCT) activity (approx. 170), European patent activity (107) and their Community trademark and design activities (277 and 174) showed an upturn, the pace of which belongs to the European top-notch. The figures of the industrial property activity of foreign applicants in Hungary indicate the international interest in the Hungarian economy and market and also the integration of the Hungarian economy in Europe. Since the accession to the European Patent Convention on 1 January 2003 a growing number of foreign applicants have also requested protection for the territory of Hungary not directly but following the European route, that is, in a procedure before the EPO.

PATENTS

The number of applications within the framework of the international patent cooperation (PCT) designating Hungary further increased, exceeding 163 000. The number of requests for validation of European patents in Hungary increased by 34% compared with the previous year, and the fact that Hungary was designated in an increasing amount of applications for which the EPO granted a European patent projects a further growth.

The number of direct applications made by foreign applicants and the number of international (PCT) applications entering the national phase remained on a low level, in accordance with the forecasts, as these applications shifted over to the European route. The HPO received 682 patent applications filed by domestic applicants. 68% of the domestic applications were filed by individuals, 33% of them by enterprises. The number of applications filed by enterprises remained low; it surpassed that of the previous year by 5%, though.

The HPO received 2983 patent applications filed following the national route and requests for validation of European patents. The patent granting procedure was completed in 3872 cases, 10 426 cases were pending at the end of the year. The number of granted patents was 2212.

The patent applications filed following the national route and examined entirely by the HPO shows a similar concentration of technical field as to the previous year: 17% of the applications were received from a single technical field, namely mechanics, pushing the formerly leading pharmaceutical industry to third place, the share of which was 11%. Of the applications 55% were from five technical fields: mechanics, instruments, pharmacy, metal products, other industrial products.

Regarding countries of origin of requests for the validation of European patents in Hungary, German applicants ranked first (32%), followed by US (13%) and Swiss (10%) applicants. The concentration of requests for validation by technical field is very high: as much as 30% of the requests for validation came from a single technical field, namely pharmacy. 67% of the requests came from five technical fields: pharmacy, other machinery, metal products, chemistry and instruments.

The number of patents valid in Hungary has continuously increased since 2005, as a result of a growth in the number of validated European patents. At the end of 2008 the number of valid patents totalled 11 462, 1156 more than in the previous year. Valid patents granted following the national route amounted to 7204, and the number of validated European patents was 4258. The number of valid European patents surpassed that of the previous year by 67%.

Regarding valid patents broken down by technical field, both in respect of the patents granted following the national route and the validated European patents, it is the pharmaceutical industry that ranks first: 35% of all patents valid in Hungary are concentrated in this field of technology. It is followed by mechanics with a 10.5% share, and chemistry with a 9% share.

Not more than 9% of the right-holders of valid patents were Hungarian (12% in the previous year), thus, only 1073 patents were owned by Hungarians. 91% of the right-holders were foreigners, of which the German (26%) and the US (15%) right-holders were in the lead. Of the European patents validated to the territory of Hungary, 32% belonged to German, 12% to US, 10% to French and 9% to Swiss right-holders.

The highest number of valid patents granted following the national route are owned by large pharmaceutical companies: Gedeon Richter Plc., EGIS Pharmaceutical Company, Sanofi- Aventis Pharma S.A., a BASF AG., Hoechst AG., Ciba-Geigy AG., American Cyanamid Co., Bayer AG., Eli Lilly and Co., Pfizer Inc., Syngenta Participations AG., Novartis AG., ZENECA Ltd. The right-holders of the European patents validated in Hungary are also the largest pharmaceutical companies: BASF AG., AstraZeneca AB., F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG., Sanofi-Aventis Pharma S.A. and Bayer AG.

The breakdown of valid patents by lifetime shows two peaks as a result of the accession to the EPC on 1 January 2003: 35% of the patents are “middle-aged”, 10-15-years old, 37% are “young”, 4-6-years old.

Eleven board cases were completed in the HPO, 11 new procedures commenced. The number of cases pending before a board was 14 (11 revocation and 3 non-infringement procedures).

In September 2008, as an important step towards developing a new official role, in the spirit of intense cooperation, the Hungarian and the Austrian offices signed a cooperation agreement on works to be done under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). In accordance with the agreement the Austrian Patent Office (ÖPA), as an ISA/IPEA involves the HPO in its international search and international preliminary examination work, and the HPO, in line with the Regulations under the PCT, establishes international search reports and international preliminary reports. With the involvement of the HPO the range of languages accepted by the ÖPA has been extended, that is, the Austrian office has become capable of receiving not only English, German and French language international applications used by both parties previously, but also Hungarian and Russian language ones. It was justified to notify both the International Bureau of WIPO and the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation of the content of the cooperation, which was positively welcomed. It was agreed that the cooperation fully fitted with the idea of the European Patent Network, and respected the relevant international legislation in effect. Under the cooperation the HPO established search reports related to 150 PCT
applications in the fourth quarter alone. In the framework of the agreement concluded with the National Office for Research and Technology in September 2008, the HPO carried out novelty searches with preliminary patentability reports related to 160 R&D applications submitted to the autumn round of the National Technology Programme. The examiners of the HPO carried out 547 patent searches and 1234 examinations related to the cooperation agreements and services.

As a component of an office providing quality services and participating in international patent co-operation, the HPO has performed a substantial amount of examinations and novelty searches of patent applications in the quality management system since 1 January 2007, observing the requirements laid down in the European Quality Management System (EQMS).

Since 2004 a new title of protection, the certificate on supplementary protection (SPC) in respect of medicinal or plant protection products has been available to applicants. Seven new applications were received, 11 certificates were granted, 6 were rejected and 3 lapsed in 2008. The number of pending cases was 79.

PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION

The HPO received 11 new applications for plant variety protection. Protection was granted in 20 cases, 5 cases ended with a lapse, thus 109 cases were pending at the end of the year. The number of valid national plant variety protections and plant variety patents was 291 at the end of the year, of which the number of plant variety protections was 54. Together with Hungary’s accession to the European Union, the effect of Community plant variety rights extended to Hungary as well. In 2008 the Community Plant Variety Office received altogether 3013 applications for Community plant variety rights; Hungarian applicants filed only 4 applications for community plant variety rights.

UTILITY MODELS

In 2008, only 221 utility model applications were filed with the HPO. 90 % of the applications were received from domestic applicants. 81% of utility model applications filed following the national route came from individuals. In 2008, altogether 268 utility model procedures were completed: protection was granted in 165 cases, there were 16 rejections and 87 withdrawals. The HPO received 2 new requests for revocation. The procedure was completed in 7 revocation and 2 non-infringement cases. At the end of the year, 3 cases were pending.

COURT REVIEW OF THE DECISIONS OF THE HUNGARIAN PATENT OFFICE

With respect to patents, the number of requests for review decreased significantly compared with the previous year’s figure. As to utility models, the amount of requests also decreased.

2008 saw a considerable, almost 30% decrease in the number of cases returned by the courts, with a final decision. As regards patent matters, the number of orders rejecting the request for review increased.

Table_2008_P.doc - File type: MS Word 2000 Content: tables

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

In the 113th volume of the Gazette of Patents and Trademarks 12 issues were published. From January 2008, the Gazette is published twice a month providing more favourable conditions for shortening the registration period of the fast-track trademark procedure. The content of the Gazette that appears in the middle of the month covers the national and international trademark publications and is only published electronically. The edition appearing at the end of the month continues to be published in full content in electronic format.

The full content of the Gazette amounted to 3003 pages with 2945 pages of official publications. From 1 January 2006 the Gazette has been published electronically, it is accessible in its full content and can be accessed free of charge in PDF format on the website of the HPO. Either the whole Gazette or its separate columns can be downloaded. There was a great interest in it: the identifiable individual users downloaded 357 774 PDF files. The number of files downloaded by natural persons was 338 008 (95%) in the case of the Hungarian version, while this number was 19 766 (5%) in the case of the English version.

It was the third year that the Industrial Property and Copyright Review was published as an independent publication. This bimonthly periodical comprised altogether 915 pages. The periodical is also accessible electronically on the website of the HPO.

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

Hungarian Patent Office (HPO) sends monthly either the Hungarian or English abstract all the published patent applicaion to EPO together with bibliographic data.
HPO carries out either classification, preclassification and reclassification tasks. HPO uses the IPC classification system.
All the published patent application are classified by the advanced level of IPC during novelty search . From 2009 HPO will use also the ECLA classification system.
After filing a patent application HPO preclassifies it by classes.
The granted patents and published patent applications are reclassified by the newest version of IPC advanced level.

IV. Search file establishment and upkeep

ESPACE® PRECES is one of the members of the ESPACE® CD-ROM series of the European Patent Office. It contains complete patent documents of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania in facsimile mode together with the corresponding bibliographic data. The patent offices of the region established a Consortium for manufacturing the product. The co-ordination of the manufacture is performed by the Hungarian Patent Office and the CD-ROM product is manufactured by Arcanum Informatics Ltd.(Hungary).
The European Patent Office transferred its existing technology including software, and a non-exclusive license for the use of the trademark ESPACE® to the Consortium of the above mentioned patent offices.

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

HPO operates an In-house developed Unified Official Administrative System (ENYV) and an Public Industrial Property Aggregate Collection for Search containing all the published applications off all titles of protection.
HPO uses for novelty search first of all the EPOQUENET system included non-patent literature databases operated by EPO, STN databases, Esp@cenet and any other Internet access datebases.
All the patent examiners have a special hardware configuration POQUENET system and a complete and up-to-date security system at global and individual level.
In HPO all the examiners use Windows 2000 or Windows XP operation system with support and an easy-to-print network BNS printer system is avalable.
EPOQUNET system contains theaurus which is also available for all patent examiners in HPO.

IT SUPPORT IN OFFICIAL ACTIVITIES

In order to continue the development of the electronic administration procedures, the HPO has started the preparations for the introduction of the ELOenterprise electronic document management system. The introduction of the system was assigned to Albacomp Számítástechnikai Zrt., a private limited company with a significant number of references in the field of public administration.
As provided for in Government decree 84/2007. (IV.25.) Korm. on the security requirements of the Central Electronic Service System and the related systems, the duties concerning IT security are carried out by KFKI Zrt. on the basis of quarterly work plans. The IT security educational materials, which constitute the curriculum for internal trainings, as well as the IT Security Documentation System were prepared. In conformity with the ISO Standard 27001, the documentation was compiled, and after examining the IT systems on the basis of the requirements of the standard, the IT security agent prepared a report and a work plan. In order to achieve a higher level of security, the HPO performed IT security developments.
The replacement of the old IT devices continued including the replacement of 80 workstations. New acquisitions are the first Blade Server batch and the EVA 4100 SUN storage device. Within the framework of the server consolidation and virtualisation program, public services run on two physical servers instead of the former five.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE OFFICE’S HOMEPAGE

The HPO was continuously expanding and developing its homepage containing a wide range of professional knowledge, thus fully complying with e-governmental requirements and standards. There were several significant developments, namely that the new editions of the Nice, Locarno and Vienna Classification systems were added to the homepage, that the publication of the 9th volume of the IPC is underway and that the development of the Hungarian Design Council’s regional database commenced.

The homepage was visited by 382 549 individually identifiable visitors on 543 052 occasions. The number of visitors and that of visits were up by 23% and 12% respectively in comparison with the preceding year. The number of pages viewed increased by 8%, while the amount of downloaded data rose by 27%. Furthermore, the number of searches in the electronic register was 93 925. The total number of registered cases in the electronic application system was 163.

The amount of downloads exceeded 600 GB. 62% of the total number of pages were downloaded from Hungarian IP addresses and 16% of all pages were downloaded from computers whose domain registration could not be identified. As for the visitors from foreign countries, the number of visits amounted.

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)

The Patent Library and the Industrial Property Special Library of HPO is a section of the Industrial Property Information and Education Centre. The reading room and Client Services both offer services to the public and are located in a single complex next to the head office.
http://www.mszh.hu/English/kapcsolat/konyvtar.html
http://www.mszh.hu/English/kapcsolat/szabtar.html
The public reading room is open 22 hours per week. Seven workstations are available to access free online IP sources, databases and in-house IP related databases. The workstations of the library are connected to the HPO informatics systems. The most commonly used online databases are the PIPACS (Hungarian IP database), esp@cenet worldwide, WIPO IPDL, OHIM, USPTO and Japanese databases.
The collection of the Patent Library contains the documents of 24 countries and 2 international organisations on paper and optical disks. The paper-based collection contains the documents of three (HU, AT, CH) countries since the first decades of this century. A considerable part of the collection of the Patent Library is acquired in the framework of document exchange and by means of subscriptions.
The collection of the Industrial Property Special Library consists of 23,000 volumes of books, many theses, and foreign and Hungarian professional periodicals covering intellectual property issues.
The collection of the Industrial Property Special Library is continuously developed through purchasing.
The processing of the collection occurs in the HunTéka integrated library system. In the online catalogue the whole collection of the library can be found, including the information published in intellectual property periodicals, and complex and flexible retrieval is possible. Information is updated weekly.
The two libraries have four separated stack-rooms.

The Industrial Property Special Library is a borrowing and lending library using an interlibrary loan system. Permission to borrow is given to HPO’s examiners only.

Hungarian PATLIB centres providing a higher, complex level of services (with a university library or technology transfer office background) Miskolc, Szeged, Debrecen, Sopron, Győr, Pécs.

Information services available to the public:
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szolgaltatasok/szabtar/
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szolgaltatasok/ipszak.html
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szolgaltatasok/masolasi_dijak.html

Hungarian Patent Office's website for electronic filing of patent applications:
https://ugyintezes.hpo.hu/hpo/L10n.page

Providing information on business procedures such as: filing, publication, examination and grant procedures related to patents;
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szabadalom/
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szabadalom/nemzeti_ut/
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szabadalom/eu_ut/
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szabadalom/eu_ut/szab_bejelent_eu.html
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szabadalom/eu_ut/szab_nemzetijog.html
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szabadalom/pct_ut/
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szabadalom/szab_egyeb_eljar/
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szabadalom/nemzeti_ut/szab_eljar.html

Opposition and appeal procedures related to patents:
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szabadalom/szab_egyeb_eljar/szab_megsemmisit.html

Information products and services offered by the Hungarian Patent Office:
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szolgaltatasok/szab_kutatasi_szolg.html
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szolgaltatasok/ujdonsagkutatas.html
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szolgaltatasok/szabadalmazhatosagi_velemeny_kiegesz_ujdonsagkut.html
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szolgaltatasok/szabadalmazhatosagi_velemeny.html
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szolgaltatasok/jogervenyessegi_kutatas.html
http://www.mszh.hu/English/szolgaltatasok/Szabadalomtisztasagi_kutatas.html

IP databases:
http://pipacsweb.hpo.hu/?v=hunpia&a=s&l=eng
http://www.mszh.hu/English/adatbazis/pipacsmegsemmisitesi.html
http://elajstrom.hpo.hu/?lang=EN
http://www.mszh.hu/English/adatbazis/kozlony_ab/
http://elajstrom.hpo.hu/?service=eplist⟨=en

Library online catalogue:
http://mszh.asp.hunteka.hu/index.jsp?lang=en

Information on how to access and utilize the database:
http://www.mszh.hu/English/adatbazis/index.html

VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of patent documentation and information

INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION SERVICES

The information and documentation services of the HPO focused on informing the public and on the support of the official patent activities by documentation and information technology.

There was a keen interest in the services of the Patent Library on the part of the clients: 7585 requests were received, out of which general information was given in 1874 cases by phone and in 2247 cases in person; in 1875 cases the subject of service was searching patent documents. The Patent Library also performs tasks directly related to the support of official examining work. Within the framework of the retrospective digitisation of the Hungarian patent descriptions, 250 000 pages were electronically processed. The stock of the Industrial Property Professional Library, comprising nearly 20 thousand volumes, increased by 6% in comparison with the preceding year. Since the beginning of 2007, lending has exclusively been electronically available in the “HunTéka” online integrated system for libraries.

PUBLICATION OF PATENT DESCRIPTIONS

The number of Hungarian patent descriptions published in printing and in searchable PDF format on the website of the HPO was 542, while the Office also published the Hungarian translation of 1656 granted European patents.

The Hungarian patent descriptions are available on the Internet in the Public Industrial Property Aggregate Collection for Search, in the “PIPACS” database from now back to as far as 1940, in most cases in searchable PDF text format.

PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS

The HPO endeavours to take full advantage of the opportunities arising form international and European projects, which is one of the objectives of the HPO’s mid-term strategy. Within the framework of the IP4INNO project aiming to disseminate intellectual property knowledge in organisations supporting businesses, the so-called multiplier training for organisations offering services for SMEs was successfully completed. One of the objectives of the project was to draw up a uniform European curriculum series with a practical approach for SMEs. A total of 12 modules were worked out on intellectual property protection and utilisation, which provide material for 3 hour-long classroom lessons each. The HPO contributed to the development of several modules and acted as module leader in the module on utilisation. The other important element of the project was the training of multipliers. In the first phase of trainings, in which the experts themselves who developed the curriculum gained training, almost 140 experts supporting businesses and promoting innovation participated. Great interest was expressed in the second phase of the practical intellectual property training, as well, focusing on utilisation, in which the participants trained in the first phase could pass on their knowledge to their colleagues throughout the country. Only from Hungary more than 400 students took part in the training. The pilot trainings of the second phase took place in Belgium, Hungary and Spain.

In the three-year project IPeuropAware launched by the CIP Framework Programme (Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme) of the European Commission in November 2007, 20 national offices and six European industrial trade unions representing the light industry cooperate in order to promote the competitiveness of SMEs by industrial property services and information on rights enforcement. In the first year, on the basis of the evaluation of the national innovation structures and innovation strategies of 20 member states, the new services recommended for introduction were planned, industrial property reference books were compiled and preparations for a helpdesk network were performed.

The HPO undertook to organise campaigns and provide services in the field of intellectual property awareness and rights enforcement. This work was aimed at the examination of the national innovation and industrial property strategies the exploration of the need of enterprises for intellectual property services and the mapping out of the missing but somewhere else already existing services and actions, which improve the competitiveness of SMEs. It is important to take into consideration that the new services should be sustainable even after the completion of the project.

Among the information activities special attention was paid to the seminars aiming at deepening the knowledge of rights enforcement. More and more entrepreneurs wish to conduct business with China, a country which has great economic potential, while they are not familiar with the Chinese legislation and legal practice in respect of intellectual property. The experts of the EU China IPR Helpdesk offer assistance in avoiding business failures by presenting lectures in enforcement seminars and case studies to highlight the potential pitfalls in business activities. The seminar co-organised with the Enterprise Europe Network in November focused on this topic.

With the cooperation of the 26 consortium partners the national offices further developed the joint website of InnovAccess (www.innovaccess.eu). The website provides information on the operation of the intellectual property system of each EU Member State, on the industrial property titles of protection, on procedural matters and on fees, deadlines and contacts.

The new cooperation policy, being implemented within the framework of the European Patent Network (EPN) involving the substantial cooperation of national patent offices, projected the preparation of national action plans (NAP). The National Action Plan for Cooperation between the HPO and the EPO for 2008–2009 was signed in May 2008. In accordance with the cooperation agreement and the annual work plan, in the course of its service development, education and information activities, the HPO made methodological preparations for a new service enhancing added value and opened a new PATLIB centre. The staff of the HPO participated in the trainings in different topics offered by the European Patent Academy, and also, within the framework of the NAP the IP Pre-Diagnosis service was launched and awareness raising events were organised. A key element of involving capital and managing innovation risk is the determination of the capital value of Hungarian-owned intellectual assets, which requires intellectual property valuation. As a next step of the research and development activities related to the valuation of intellectual assets in order to adapt the internationally used methodology to Hungarian circumstances, the HPO launched a series of symposia with the participation of domestic and international stakeholders. The first international symposium, entitled IP Valuation in Practice was organised by the HPO in November 2008. The symposium, which was attended by more than 80 experts, undertook to assess the practical experience gained in intellectual property valuation. Brand valuation was the subject of the symposium Eurobrand 2008 Budapest, which was coorganised by Hungarian and Austrian partners in September 2008.

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)

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY EDUCATION

The HPO, through its several decade long training activities, plays a decisive role in disseminating intellectual property knowledge. The extension of the HPO’s competence, the industrial property training opportunities in tertiary education and the implementation of distance learning necessitated the replacement of Decree 78/1995 (XII. 29.) IKM on industrial property qualification by a new piece of legislation: Decree 2/2008 (VIII.22.) TNM of the minister without portfolio responsible for research and development on industrial property qualification entered into force on 30 August 2008.

The two-year long advanced level industrial property course organised by the HPO is an important pillar of the development of the domestic industrial property culture and of the bringing-up of a new generation of professionals. 42 persons completed successfully the second term of the course launched in the autumn of 2007. Interest was shown in the intermediate level industrial property training not only by the higher education institutions but also by enterprises and the public administration. Colleagues of law offices, the Hungarian Economic Development Centre (MAG), the National Office for Research and Technology, pharmaceutical companies, PATLIB centres and other enterprises took part in the intermediate level courses; the number of students was 28. The HPO provided the opportunity for obtaining industrial property qualification at the Károly Róbert College for the third time, which was achieved by 16 candidates passing the exams. At the Szolnok University College 15 students completed the intermediate level industrial property course. The HPO organised special courses on industrial property for students applying for the competition of preparation of dissertations and for the staff of the national industrial property information network. The number of students at the courses of the HPO increased significantly due also to a multipliertraining programme.

On the basis of cooperation agreements concluded with the most important universities of Hungary, as many as nearly one thousand students of 20 higher education institutions could acquire up-to-date intellectual property knowledge within the framework of graduate, post-graduate and distance learning trainings. The competition organised by the HPO for the preparation of dissertations has been successful for years. In 2008, 71 dissertations were received. The modern distance-learning programme, with the participation of 219 students, contributed to the spread of knowledge on intellectual property protection at the Ergonomics and Psychology Departments of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, as well as at the University of Debrecen (complemented with in-practice training in research).

The training, connected with the IP4INNO project, aimed at organisations offering assistance to SMEs was completed successfully. The project, in cooperation of 20 organisations in 11 countries, intended to disseminate intellectual property knowledge and innovation promotion resources, by the train-the trainer method, in organisations supporting businesses (e.g. chambers, innovation organisations, industrial parks, business counsellors). The number of students at the courses organised country-wide in the framework of the project amounted to 429, and a further 60 persons participated in the courses for businessmen organised by Enterprise Europe Network (EPN) with the contribution of INNOSTART National Business and Innovation Centre.

Related to the higher education institutions as recognised knowledge hubs, the domestic network of industrial property information centres further expanded in 2008. Besides the centres of Miskolc, Szeged, Debrecen, Sopron and Győr, a new PATLIB centre opened at the Office for the Utilisation of Research Products and Technology Transfer, University of Pécs. The PATLIB centres in Hungary are members of the European patent information and documentation network, the PATLIB network. This network is operated with the professional support of the European Patent Office and has more than 300 members. The employees of the centres presented their intellectual property protection services at the Hungarian- Romanian bilateral meeting in June.

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

http://mszh.hu
http://hpo.hu

X. Other relevant matters

INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN COOPERATION

International cooperation focused on exercising rights and meeting obligations deriving from the European Patent Convention and Hungary’s membership in the European Union, as well as on international professional cooperation within the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organization. The majority of the HPO’s international activities concerned participation in the work of the European Patent Organisation and the European Union. Of all the missions abroad 62% represented trips connected with meetings of the professional bodies of these two organisations. The management efficiency of the missions is shown by the fact that the costs of 53% of the trips were entirely or partially reimbursed by the receiving organisations.

DUTIES DERIVING FROM MEMBERSHIP IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

The HPO established close cooperation with the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market of the European Union (OHIM) and fulfilled its obligations as an EU Member State. Hungary’s representative in the Administrative Board of OHIM is the legal vice-president of the HPO, and the alternate representative is the head of the Trademark, Model and Design Department. In 2008, the Administrative Board and the Budget Committee held two ordinary meetings each, and the Administrative Board and the Budget Committee had an extraordinary joint meeting. Liaison meetings were held three times, and one meeting took place between OHIM and the national experts.

Since 1 May 2004, Hungary has been represented in the Administrative Council of the Community Plant Variety
Office by two Government officials, one of them being the technical vice-president of the HPO.

The HPO was represented at the meetings of the Working Party on Intellectual Property of the Council of the European Union, at the regulation committees of the European Commission and at other meetings of experts on 30 occasions. The meetings were held in the following topics: Council Working Party meetings on copyright and related rights, on patent law, on litigation; experts’ committee meetings on rights enforcement, on the INFOSOC directive, on the fight against counterfeiting and piracy, on the ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement).

In the framework of the EU’s CARDS programme (Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation programme – in support of the countries of the West-Balkans), the HPO, upon request, coordinated the professional tasks as a “donor” country. Within the framework of the EU TAIEX programme, the HPO, upon request, made presentations on the issues of copyright and industrial property, and received experts from abroad.

Exercising of rights as a Contracting State in the European Patent Organisation

With the contribution of delegations headed by the president, the HPO successfully performed the tasks involved in exercising the rights and fulfilling the obligations of a Contracting State of the European Patent Convention. In 2008, the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation held four meetings. The Board, set up in the interest of a better preparation of the Administrative Council’s decisions, met six times, while the Budget and Finance Committee as well as the Committee on Patent Law met twice. The president of the HPO participated in the work of the Selection Committee assessing the applications for the positions of vice-presidents of the EPO. Consultation meetings were organised between the president of the European Patent Office and the presidents of the Austrian Patent Office and the HPO on the issue of patent search and examination carried out under the PCT. The legal vice-president of the HPO is the chairman of the Committee on Patent Law and also takes part in the meetings of the Board in this capacity.

COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION

The HPO represented Hungary in the international cooperation under the aegis of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). As in previous years, the representatives of the HPO regularly took part in the meetings of the standing committees of WIPO. In 2008, the HPO ensured Hungarian participation in the following meetings: 44th series of meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO, the extraordinary meeting of the Assemblies of the Member States, informal meetings of the Coordination Committee, the extraordinary meeting thereof, meeting of the Financial and Budget Committee, Standardisation and Documentation Working Group meeting of the Standing Committee on Information Technology, meetings of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights, meetings of the Administrative and Legal Committee, Consultative Committee and Council of UPOV, as well as the meetings of the Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore.

From 23 to 25 June, co-organised by WIPO, Biopolisz Innovation Services Ltd., Szeged and the HPO, a regional
workshop was held on industrial property management and successful technology licensing at universities and research centres with the participation of foreign and Hungarian speakers. Upon the initiative of WIPO, on 16 December an inter-regional workshop was organised in the HPO, entitled Management of academic IP and early-stage innovation in transitional countries.

REGIONAL AND BILATERAL COOPERATION

Regional and bilateral intellectual property cooperation continued in 2008. The presidents of the Hungarian and Austrian Patent Offices signed a cooperation agreement in September 2008 on works to be done under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Several national offices of the region (e.g., Slovenian and Macedonian) have concluded cooperation agreements with the HPO on the performance of English language search related to patent applications.

As regards bilateral interinstitutional meetings, the HPO was visited by delegations from the State Patent Service of the Kyrgyz Republic, the National Institute of Intellectual Property of Portugal, the Austrian Patent Office, as well as by the director generals of the Finnish Patent and Trademark Registration Office and the Icelandic Patent Office. Delegations of the HPO paid visits to the French Intellectual Property Institute and the UK Intellectual Property Office.