Annual Technical Report on Trademark Information Activities in 2015 submitted by Patent Office of the Republic of Poland
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I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADEMARK INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of trademark information activities and expected time frames for their realization
A number of projects were established within the Cooperation Fund, a lot of them have already been implemented but still on some of them the work is carried out. The Cooperation Fund covers work in collaboration between OHIM (present name: EUIPO) and national offices. Main goals of this project are: harmonization of practices, adaptation to the digital environment, barrier removal, improvement of technical system. Such objectives create a good strategy especially in order to adapt to the competitive internal European and digital market. That's why here in Poland, the Office decided to participate in all of the 20 CF projects.
In 2015 Polish Patent Office continued to use new databases as follows:
• Register Plus for trademarks - in order to ensure easy and widespread access to data on polish trademarks, the Patent Office of Republic of Poland provides the users with Register Plus
• TMview - online trade mark search tool, is an online consultation tool allowing any Internet user to search, free of charge, for national, international and community trademarks of all trade mark offices involved in the initiative.
• TMclass - Free online tool to search, translate or classify goods and services when applying for trademarks. TMclass is a central point from which it is possible to access the terms that appear in the classification databases of each of the offices participating in the initiative.
• Quality Standard for Trade Marks and Designs - Transparent and harmonized information about services and quality standards provided by participating offices.
• Common User Satisfaction Survey - Harmonized User Satisfaction Survey - a Cooperation Fund project, the Common User Satisfaction Survey allows for a common approach to carrying out surveys across participating IP offices. The project also allows for the cross-linkage of other CF projects, like Quality. An analysis of the completed survey will allow the participating office to: measure customer satisfaction draw attention to areas for improvement plan future work of the office.
• eLearning - tool providing online training for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on the importance of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). This e-Learning tool is divided into two main sections: "Why is Intellectual Property important", where you can find information about Intellectual Property throughout the different stages of production, and "What and How to protect" where you can find information targeted towards Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), covering the different types of Intellectual Property rights.
• Enforcement Database - an up to date database to help enforcement agencies to better identify counterfeit goods. The tool holds data on registered IP rights, contact information, supplementary product information and logistics. This information can be used by enforcement authorities in order to detect counterfeit products.
• Anti – Counterfeiting Intelligence Support Tool - with this tool enforcement authorities can see how counterfeited goods are moving within the internal market so that they can use their resources more efficiently. The system enables end users (enforcement authorities, the OHIM Observatory, etc.) to upload the relevant data via a user friendly interface.
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
In 2015 PPO was active in the field of e-administration services, taking part in the development of functionalities related to the use of new version of governmental Electronic Platform of Public Administration Services (ePUAP2). PPO has dealt with maintaining of the existing forms in terms of their functionality and reliability and has refined the process of exchanging documents between ePUAP2 and Electronic Document Management system (EZD). PPO has also completed additional tasks related to migration of services between production and test instances of ePUAP2 platform.
Electronic Document Management System (EZD) based on Alfresco Community Edition software was developed and adapted to meet the needs of the PPO.
In cooperation with OHIM (present name: EUIPO), PPO has implemented BackOffice, new system for managing the procedures for granting and maintaining exclusive rights for trademarks and industrial designs. PPO has also implemented the applications designed to provide the data from BackOffice to other systems.
Under the Seniority project, PPO has implemented the functionality of auto-complete of information about seniority of Community Trademarks in BackOffice system. PPO has carried out as well the development of the Register Plus system. In the case of Register Plus for trademarks instance there has been added the information about seniority of Community trademarks (CTM).
PPO has launched the production instance of Publications Module, designed to assemble and export the data into the system used to prepare the official publications of the Office.
Under the Innovative Economy Programme project, the PPO has continued the development of main search engine of industrial property items, based on the SharePoint 2013.
Under the Software Package project, PPO has implemented TMeFiling and DSeFiling interactive forms, published on the PPO website, simplifying the preparation of application documents for granting the rights to trademarks and industrial designs.
PPO has launched new version of publication (searching) server “Lista Rzeczników Patentowych” [Patent Attorneys List], containing list of patent attorneys. Adjustment of the data structure and adaptation of the system to the current legislation was made.
PPO has continuously updated the versions of IPC, Nice, Vienna, Locarno and Eurolocarno classifications in Polish, English and French.
PPO conducted go-live of a new intranet on SharePoint 2013: new versions of personal pages, updating and ordering official documents, launching the search of documents and adding other new functionalities.
Main areas of trademark information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
BackOffice, developed by OHIM´s Cooperation Fund, is a workflow-based system for handling trademarks and designs throughout the whole life cycle of the process, from application to registration and publication. It also streamlines the working process, by helping users to create and monitor correspondence with clients. Its auto completion system automatically fills in trademark and design data into letters. The tool calculates fees, holding all information on one single page, and handles files, organizing notes and correspondence. PPO has also implemented the applications designed to provide the data from BackOffice to other systems.
As a continuation of work on the main search engine of industrial property items in the year 2015 there were introduced dozens of amendments requested by users, aimed at improving the functionality of the search engine. It is linked to other search systems, which are in the portfolio of the Office (Publication Server, Register Plus, etc.).
Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and registrations with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
In 2015, the Polish Patent Office received in total 13,407 trademark applications under national procedure.
In 2015, the Patent Office received from domestic applicants 12,613 trademark applications and 3,563 applications from foreigners, including 797 under national procedure and 2,766 under Madrid Agreement.
The PPO received 248 applications for international registration of Polish trademarks under the Madrid Agreement and the Protocol to that Agreement and 7 applications for Community trademark, which were transmitted to the OHIM (present name: EUIPO).
After completing formal examinations the Office issued 9,570 positive decisions concerning the grant of trademark protection rights under national procedure.
The number of trademark registration rights in force on 31 December 2015 was 236,505 (145,062 under national procedure and 91,443 under international procedure).
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
Statistics are accessed at the following URLs:
http://www.uprp.pl (Annual Reports' box)
Detailed statistics may be bespoke provided (write to http://portal.uprp.pl).
News page: http://www.uprp.pl/aktualnosci/Menu01,16,7,index,pl/
II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK 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
The PPO information and support options in 2015 included:
1) Via website: http://www.uprp.pl/przedmioty-wlasnosci-przemyslowej/Menu02,12,4,index,pl/ (all information about patents, trademarks, designs, etc. and instructions);
2) via telephone: (+48 22 579 05 55);
3) via e-mail: http://www.uprp.pl/Text01,205,161,1,index,pl,text/.
Management of the contacts in 2015 (phone + mail) was performed through a software:
1) Personal contacts (CRM system);
2) Within Register IP Info Center customer contacts (OSCC, CRM systems);
- 921 emails were received
- 21,929 calls were answered and performed (including the call back)
- 2,270 meetings took place with examiners and at the center of information
3) Identification and differentiation of customers (OSCC, CRM systems);
4) Carrying out customer satisfaction surveys (CRM system) - level of satisfaction 94.4 %;
5) Analyses of the contacts (analyses, statistics - CRM, OSCC systems);
6) Keeping records and transferring customer requests (satisfaction, complaints, suggestion for improvement) (TRX system).
The CRM system is shared between 11 departments in contact with the public. A change of version was introduced for :
- independent work with the contact, regardless of the fact who established the contact and possibility to change/edit the contact data;
- interfacing with other applications (Computer Telephony Integration, callback, meetings time and visits ) to facilitate the customer relation management. Tool for measuring the customers’ satisfaction.
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
Customers using the Online Services Portal have access to the application files sent by them electronically to the PPO. If they agree to further conduct correspondence electronically they have access to the application dossier in electronic form.
Matters concerning classifying
(i) Classification and reclassification activities; classification systems used, e.g., International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification), International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification), other classification
(ii) Use of electronic classification systems and pre-defined terms of the classification applied
The Polish Patent Office uses the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification) 10th 2015 edition as well as International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification) 6th and 7th edition.
During the procedure, the Office's staff amends the goods and services classes
Matters concerning processing of different types of non-traditional marks (e.g., three-dimensional, motion, hologram, color mark, etc.)
n/a
Other activities
III. SOURCES OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE
Main types of publications in the field of trademark information, outline of the content and medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)
In 2015, the following publications (periodicals) were issued:
- "Biuletyn Urzędu Patentowego" (first level Official Gazette - bi-weekly) 26 numbers, i.e. 2,954 copies;
- "Wiadomości Urzędu Patentowego" (second level Official Gazette - monthly) 12 numbers, i.e. 1,305 copies;
- 2014 Annual Report of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland – 1,049 copies.
Most publications are available on the PPO's website: http://uprp.pl - and continue at http://portal.uprp.pl/wydawnictwa.html (Online Services Portal)
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online, URL), etc.
Both parts of the Polish Patent Office's Official Gazettes ("Biuletyn Urzędu Patentowego": national trademark applications and "Wiadomosci Urzędu Patentowego": registered national trademarks and international registrations of trademarks approved in Poland) containing announcements regarding trademarks are forthwith available free of charge in PDF format on the PPO's Online Services Portal (http://portal.uprp.pl).
In 2015, there were 13,713 announcements on trademark applications and 7,988 announcements on registered trademarks.
Announcements regarding non-procedural matters, but coupled with the Office's activity like: general information on the PPO's tasks, references, organizational structure, HR matters are published on the Internet version of "Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej" which falls under the official PPO's web site. Many non-regular, important announcements are immediately published within the content of the website.
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
In 2015 the following information products were available to examiners:
- Online Services Portal with: IP information on trademarks, access to classifications, e-filings and patent attorney's list: http://portal.uprp.pl
- Register Plus for trademarks (free of charge) available at:
http://regservtd.uprp.pl/register/regviewer
The Polish Patent Office uses external databases, such as:
• MedNet - INN database (International Non proprietary Names) available on the pages http://mednet.who.int/inn, free of charge;
• E-Bacchus is a database which: consists of the Register of designations of origin and geographical indications protected in the EU in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, lists non-EU countries' geographical indications and names of origin protected in the EU in accordance with bilateral agreements on trade in wine concluded between the EU and the non-EU countries' concerned, lists the traditional terms protected in the EU in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007. Database is available on the page: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/markets/wine/e-bacchus/index.cfm?event=pwelcome&language=PL, free of charge;
• The DOOR - Database of Origin and Registration database includes product names for foodstuffs registered as PDO, PGI or TSG as well as names for which registration has been applied. Database is available on the page: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/door/list.html;jsessionid=pL0hLqqLXhNmFQyFl1b24mY3t9dJQPflg3xbL2YphGT4k6zdWn34!-370879141, free of charge;
• E-SPIRITS-DRINKS - is a database on geographical indications protected
in the European Community for spirits originating in Member States and third countries. Database is available on the page: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/spirits/, free of charge
• NATIONAL PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION - COBORU (www.coboru.pl), free of charge;
• COMMUNITY PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION - CPVO (www.cpvo.europa.eu), free of charge.
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
PPO provides access to trademark data in the reading room where external users can also search free of charge in online databases and databases on CD and DVD.
Information provided upon payment include:
- bibliographic data of trademark applications and registered trademarks
Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
In order to make entries on the legal status of exclusive rights protected on the territory of Poland, the trademark register is held. The register includes information necessary to establish the subject and scope of protection (f. ex. date of filing, title), entity (or entities) entitled to rights concerning a given subject of protection (f. ex. holders, licensees, securities, seizure) and other useful information (f. ex. applications for revocation). Every person who submits relevant application and pays a fee to the account of the Office can obtain excerpts from the register.
Legal status information is also available in Register Plus at:
http://regservtd.uprp.pl/register/regviewer
Other sources
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements
ACSEPTO is a primary search and examination system for trademarks, tool that integrates many types of IT resources to conduct searches of trademarks registered through the national route, international registrations, Community Trademarks, appellations of origin, pharmaceutical names, materials under Article 6ter of the Paris Convention. BackOffice is the main system for managing the procedures for granting and maintaining the rights of trademarks and industrial designs in the Polish Patent Office. BackOffice is the source system for many databases (search engines) and it is linked to other systems in PPO.
Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
PPO uses thin clients, workstations and notebooks with Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows 7 Professional, Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro, Microsoft Windows 10; multimedia tablets with Apple iOS, Google Android and Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro; physical and virtual servers with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard & Enterprise, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard & Enterprise, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard & Enterprise, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard & Enterprise, Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10/11/12, CentOS Linux 5/6/7, Oracle Linux 5/6/7, Debian GNU/Linux 6/7/8 and Ubuntu Server LTS; hypervisor servers with VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 R2.
In 2015 PPO was in the middle of the migration process of expiring operating systems such as Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows Server 2003.
All of thin clients, workstations, notebooks and servers are secured by McAfee antivirus and antispam system.
All network connections are based on Cisco, McAfee and Extreme Networks equipment with 200 Mb/s access to the Internet.
Server infrastructure for the Online Portal includes 9 application servers; 5 database servers; 10 TB build-up array; back-ups for HP Data Protector, Fujitsu FI-5900C scanner, 125 packages for the purposes of qualified signatures. On-Line Portal servers are supported by local UPSs and they are also hooked to Main power supply unit for the PPO.
Main IT infrastructure units are located in a secure server room equipped with fire alarm, CCTV system, redundant air-conditioning and technical floor.
Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
Trademark data are stored on the specialized, regularly updated internal databases, where image information and bibliographic details are held, for example:
- BackOffice – system replaced Marpol and Marmad;
- databases supporting the process of publication of trademarks.
Most production databases are hosted by Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Enterprise and MySQL Server 4/5/6.
Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
CTM, IR and 6ter data are stored and accessed via Acsepto search system.
Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
Off-line systems provide information to examiners, lawyers and the accounting staff (payroll and finance-accounting system).
Other matters
PPO has continued implementation of new Intranet site based on Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Enterprise software.
PPO has maintained professional call center service based on Unify OpenScape Contact Center Enterprise software and new system of customer relationship management based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2015 software.
EZD system has been integrated with BackOffice in the field of exchange of correspondence and information about entities.
PPO has launched the registers containing lists of requests about public information and public information provided.
PPO has conducted configuration of Kofax application to allow the use of OCR (Optical Character Recognition) with the Polish language. The PPO has prepared a new version of the list of patent attorneys.
The leading office software used for word processing and spreadsheet is Microsoft Office 2003 Standard, Microsoft Office 2007 Standard, Microsoft Office 2010 Standard & Professional Plus, Microsoft Office 2013 Standard & Professional Plus and Apache OpenOffice 4.
V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION
Office's library (if deals with trademark information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
n/a
Publications related to different business procedures and trademark information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
Within promotion of knowledge on industrial property the Patent Office issues various publications such as guides, informational-promotional brochures addressed to wide audience, among others to entrepreneurs, students, school youth. Those publications are available free of charge both in electronic version and PDF format as well as on paper on the premises of the Office.
Publication titles are as follows: Your world of intellectual property, What is intellectual property, Inventor's guide, Trademarks in MSEs activity, Use the past to create future, Industrial protection in a nutshell, Inventions in your house, to name a few.
In 2015 the PPO continued implementation of the project aimed at preparing and distributing 22 booklets on different aspects of intellectual property. The booklets were distributed as training and conference materials at different events and were also posted on the Internet Educational Platform.
Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
The Patent Office collaborates with various institutions in the scope of promotion of knowledge on Intellectual Property (organisation of conferences, workshops, trainings, granting patronage of the PPO President over numerous initiatives etc.).
In 2015 the Office collaborated with the following entities, to name a few:
- collaboration with universities (Jagiellonian University in Kraków, University of Warsaw, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Łódź University of Technology, Kielce University of Technology, Warsaw University of Technology, Wrocław University of Technology, AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, etc.);
- collaboration with science and business related institutions, including: Polish Federation of Engineering Associations, Association of Polish Inventors and Rationalisers, Polish Patent Attorney Chamber; National Information Processing Institute, National Chamber of Commerce, Polish Agency for Enterprise Development;
- collaboration with governmental administration institutions: Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Regional Development.
Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
In 2015, within industrial property protection the PPO organised or participated in the following events:
- International Conference on World Intellectual Property Day "Success of the brand. Brands of success. Role of trademark in entrepreneur’s activity" organised in Warsaw in cooperation with WIPO;
- 11th International Symposium "Industrial Property in Innovative Economy. Science-business-profit-development: Building effective innovation ecosystem" held in Kraków;
- 34th Seminar for Patent Attorneys of Schools of Higher Education in Cedzyna;
- Trainings on industrial property protection for MSEs and business-related institutions;
- PPO competition for a poster, short film and media information in the scope of intellectual property protection;
- 2nd edition of the competition “Ambassador of school innovativeness” organised in collaboration with the Polish Academy of Children;
- Ceremony of prize award in the 13th edition of the competition for the best artistic poster as well as post-doctoral, doctoral, master's and student's theses on the subject of intellectual property organized by the Patent Office;
- Lectures within 19th Science Festival in Warsaw;
- Workshops organised within research project implemented with WIPO “Intellectual property and socio-economic development”.
In 2015 the PPO continued implementation of the project Internet Educational Platform (ipe.uprp.pl) which constitutes compendium of knowledge on intellectual property issues. The target group comprises enterprises (especially SMEs) business related institutions (including schools of higher education) and other entities.
- The Knowledge Zone includes information, publications and other materials addressed both to entities with advanced knowledge on IP issues and those looking for basic information on IP protection, procedures and management.
- Training Zone comprises e-learning course divided into 10 modules on intellectual property protection. Each module ends with a test to verify the acquired knowledge.
PPO has also implemented a new e-learning platform, IP Panorama, aiming at broadening and promotion of knowledge about the protection of intellectual property. It is available at http://ippanorama.uprp.pl.
Within the EU systemic project, in 2015 the PPO organised on its premises a series of advisory-informational meetings with renowned experts in the field of intellectual property, which gathered in total 244 guests.
Other activities
VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION
International exchange of trademark information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)
Community Trademark information is downloaded using the XML data which is then passed to PPO's search systems.
XML trademark files are downloaded from WIPO and are also passed to PPO's search systems.
Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to trademark information
Following the creation of the Visegrad Patent Institute (WIP), the PPO staff in cooperation with other national offices participated in the developing of website design
and necessary functionalities of application designated to handle the affairs of the Institute.
Assistance to developing countries
n/a
Other activities