Annual Technical Report on Patent Information Activities in 2019 submitted by the Russian Federation/ Rospatent

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

Within the frameworks of the federal project “Information infrastructure” of the national program “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation” Rospatent implements activity to create and operate an information system for informatization of IPRs registration and protection procedures.

As a result of this activity implementation, it is envisaged to create by December 2021 14 information systems for informatization of IPRs registration and protection procedures.

In 2019, along with activities of the Federal project “Information infrastructure” there were conducted activities aimed at reducing the time for the provision of state services on state registration of objects for IPRs protection; activities aimed at increasing the indicator, reflecting “a share of citizens, using digital mechanism of public services”.  Further work on optimization of the Office workflows and the development of electronic services will allow achieving significant results.

In 2019, the work aimed at increasing the indicator, reflecting “a share of citizens, using digital mechanism of public services” was continued.  The conducted activities were focused on the improvement of functional range of personal accounts for electronic services and information user support, including answers for questions, incoming through the technical support service.  There were conducted relevant regular meetings on how to work with digital services, to update the information, published within the “Filing application” section at FIPS webpage https://new.fips.ru/ podacha-zayavki.

The above-mentioned activities allowed to achieve in 2019 that 81 % of all national applications were filed electronically.

The above-mentioned activities allowed in 2019 to achieve an electronic filing rate for inventions of 49%, for utility models 29% of all national applications were filed electronically.

Consulting products and services

FIPS Project Office is constantly expanding its range of products and services, trying to cover as many business problems as possible that require patent analytics.

In addition to the products which have become classic ones (such as domain-specific patent landscape and patent technology intelligence), new analytical products were launched in 2019.  The most important 2019’s new products are:

1. Comprehensive support in acquisition of new technologies

This product includes a variety of services, the final set of which is determined by the results of expert meetings with the customer.

The services include:

-  identification of potentially patentable solutions based on R&D materials, initial design data and other technical documentation;

- comparison of the customer’s technologies with those of leading industry companies;

- monitoring of technical solutions of competing companies;

- search for target companies which hold the technologies that are profitable for the customer to purchase;

- assessment of the prospects for commercialization of the customer’s technologies, combining patenting and know-how for thorough legal protection of commercially attractive technologies of the customer;

- support for technology transfer in Russia and abroad (with the involvement of specialized foreign companies.

2. Advanced patent landscape

Advanced patent landscape is an extension of the Express patent landscape with some important features of the domain-specific patent landscape.  In contrast to the Express patent landscape, the extended patent landscape involves thorough domain modeling, a detailed search strategy, semi-automatic quality control of the patent collection, selective tagging, and description on 2 model bases.  Some restrictions are imposed on the number of patent families in the collection and on the search depth.  At the same time, the research time is reduced to 2.5 months (which is twice as fast as the domain-specific patent landscape), while the cost of work is reduced by 2.5 times compared to the cost of the domain-specific patent landscape.

One of the directions that has emerged in the development of patent information activities is filling in missing documents in the State Patent Collection (SPC) from PatSearch and Open Registers.  This work began in mid-2018 and is continuing to this day.  More than 40,000 missing documents have been identified.

On the site of Rospatent, the goals, objectives and plans of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property are published in the section "Plans":  http://www.rupto.ru/ru/about/plans.

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

As a result of 2019, it was planned to create 11 SIS, 2 IS, 7 SHS and 1 supporting IS in the volume of the 1st stage.

2019 results:

1. SIS “Management of formal checks on the possibility for performing legally important actions”

The system has been developed and is ready for commissioning in January 2020 in the volume of the first stage (there are implemented a function for formal checks at the stage of formal examination of applications for registration of trademarks and appellations of origin, as well as a designer of technological regulations for formal checks).

2. SIS “Smart examination system for means of individualization”

The system has been developed and is ready for commissioning in January 2020 in the volume of the first stage (there are implemented a function for search by description by words of trademarks and optical characters recognition of individualization means filed for registration).

3. SIS “Decision-making support system in the field of Intellectual Property”

The system has been developed and is ready for commissioning in January 2020 in the volume of the first stage (there are implemented analytical panels:

- Director General panel based on information on the execution of a state task

- Regional panel based on patent information and reflecting various territorial, temporal, and species sections).

4. SIS for document management

The system has been developed and is ready for commissioning in January 2020 in the volume of the first stage (there are implemented basic functions for managing processes and documents, registration and processing of incoming and outgoing correspondence, as well as functionality focused on the registration procedure of trademarks and appellations of origin).

5. SIS “Single state digital register for results of intellectual activity”

The system has been developed and is ready for commissioning in January 2020 in the volume of the first stage (there is implemented a function that is prescribed by the administrative regulations of Rospatent for recording to the State register the information on registrations of trademarks and appellations of origin).

6. SIS for documents storage management

The system has been developed and is ready for commissioning in January 2020 in the volume of the first stage (there is implemented functioning of a system focused on the storage of the information on the current workflow for registration of trademarks and appellations of origin).

7. SIS “Distributed ledger of objects for IPRs protection and means of individualization, occurring in circulation”

The system has been developed and is ready for commissioning in January 2020 in the volume of the first stage (there is implemented functioning of a system for turnover and management of rights to trademarks).

8. SIS “Single information workspace for internal interaction”

There is implemented a function of employee workspace with the integration of technological user services such as e-mail box, access to network file system.

9. SIS for integration and management of legal and reference information

The system has been developed and is ready for commissioning in January 2020 in the volume of the first stage (there is implemented functioning of subsystems for internal interaction on the integration of information systems and software services for maintaining legal and reference information as well as the administration).

10. SIS “Omni-channel interaction of Rospatent with stakeholders when providing public services, services under international agreements and treaties, publication of publicly available information on activities in the field of registration and protection of intellectual property in the form of open data”

The system has been developed and is ready for commissioning in January 2020 in the volume of the first stage (there is implemented functioning of a subsystem “Personal account”, a subsystem for maintaining omni-channel interaction, and administration subsystems for supporting seven public services:

- State registration of transfer under a contract of an exclusive right to an invention, utility model, industrial design, trademark, service mark, registered integrated circuit topography, computer program, database;

- Amendment to state registers of inventions, utility models, industrial designs of the Russian Federation, as well as to patents for an invention, utility model, industrial design;

- Extension of the exclusive right to a trademark, service mark, collective mark;

- Restoration of a patent for an invention, utility model, industrial design;

- Amendment to state registers for trademarks and service marks, appellations of origin of the Russian Federation, to the List of well-known in the Russian Federation trademarks, as well as to certificates for a trademark, service mark, collective mark, for an exclusive right to appellation of origin).

11. SIS for supervision of the use of rights to results of intellectual activity

There is implemented a function of subsystem for preparation of control and supervision activities, and a subsystem for administration.

12. IS “Infrastructure to search for patent information and means of individualization”

The system has been developed and is ready for commissioning in January 2020 in the volume of the first stage (there is implemented a prototype of an open search platform and a prototype of a search service. The main purpose of these prototypes is the testing and approbation of technological solutions that form the basis of the system).

13. IS “Management of centralized maintenance and support of information technology infrastructure and users”

The system has been developed and is ready for commissioning in January 2020 in the volume of the first stage (there is implemented user maintenance requests management).

14. The procurement and commissioning of the supporting hardware and software systems were made:

- “System of secure remote access”;

- “System for ensuring the continuity of operation”;

- “Integrated information security system”;

- “Software-defined data processing center”;

- “Basic information technology systems and services”;

- “Automated workplaces of FIPS”;

- “Automated workplaces of Rospatent”.

15. Supporting IS for digitalization

The system has been developed and is ready for commissioning in January 2020 in the volume of the first stage (there is implemented functioning of a system focused on the digitalization of information contained in incoming paper materials of applications and correspondence).

The above-mentioned projects focus on the establishment of a comfortable information environment in the field of IP for citizens, businesses, state organizations, and federal executive authorities.

The implementation of these services will allow applicants interacting with Rospatent absolutely digitally, including the issuance of digital protection documents.

It is also worth noticing that the SIS “Decision-making support system in the field of Intellectual Property” will make it possible to conduct an analysis of patent activity based on various indicators in Russia and all over the world, in particular in terms of priority areas for the development of science and technology.  This system will allow forecasting the development of priority areas of the economy both in Russian and its distinct regions, as well as assessing the progress in reaching set targets of national and federal projects relating to the field of IP.

In order to optimize technological processes in maintaining electronic workflow on applications for inventions and utility models, in 2019 it has been made possible to provide the following:

• automatic registration and processing of electronic applications for inventions and utility models received from the electronic service, AWS Registrar, as well as maintaining legally significant correspondence relating to applications filed through the Personal Account of the AWS Registrar service;
• automatic processing of incoming correspondence signed electronically, received from the personal accounts of the FIPS website;
• phasing out printing of a second copy of outgoing correspondence relating to applications under expert review, for subsequent addition of the copies of outgoing correspondence to the paperwork of applications for inventions and utility models;
• based on the wishes of experts in electronic workflow on applications for inventions and utility models, opportunities to work with electronic documents have increased, the windows for viewing documents have been enlarged, and it is now possible to annotate pages while viewing, etc.

As a result of the automation of technological processes in the digital document management system for the examination of inventions and utility models in 2019, it became possible to switch to the automatic generation of search reports in the ST.96 format in order to further switch to the publication of relevant information in a structured form, to complete work on fully functional support of technological processes providing examination and interaction with applicants on electronic applications for inventions and utility models, to accomplish work to bring decisions on the recognition of applications as withdrawn in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 23, 2017 No. 1151.

In order to enable electronic prosecution during the provision of State services, the following work was undertaken at the Federal Institute of Industrial Property (hereinafter referred to as FIPS) in 2019:

-  operability and fitness for purpose of FIPS information systems and resources was ensured, including the Electronic State Registers for Inventions and Utility Models (hereinafter referred to as EGR).

-  a system for official Internet publication of information on intellectual property subject matter from the EGR was implemented and trialed.

-  Software functionality for examiner’s departments ensured to the preparation of electronic correspondence and electronic signing thereof in the automated information system of paperless prosecution of invention examinations.

- operability of the service of electronic filing of applications for inventions and utility models is ensured.

In 2019, operation continued of an automated paperless prosecution system for examining applications to amend entries in the registers for inventions and utility models (including extending and renewing the validity of a patent) (Patent Prosecution).

The transition to paperless prosecution has had a positive influence on the work of expert staff and interaction between subdivisions involved in registration activities.  The transition to electronic prosecution has seen a gradual decline in the use of paper-based information, a reduction in the time taken to process documents and search for required information, thereby leading ultimately to increased productivity and better public awareness of patent rights and amendments thereto, as well as the status of patent documents.

In 2019, the following electronic registers were filled with records: the State register of inventions (ESR of IN), the State register of utility models (ESR of UM).

As of 31.12.2019 digital registers contained:

- ESR of IN – 440140 patents;

- ESR of UM – 118157 patents.

OLD AND NEW BUSINESS TASKS 

The extension of the product line has led FIPS Project Office to an extension of the range of business tasks solved with the help of patent analytics.  The most important business tasks have been worked out within complex industry projects. 

Business needs and solutions:

- analysis of promising areas of testing: comparison of different technological areas, detailed technological analysis of the most valuable industry technologies, identification of technologies aimed at solving industry problems (service life, accuracy, sensitivity, etc.);

- modern go-to-market strategies: analysis of the scope of patent strategies of global leading companies, analysis of the pace and gaps of technology protection in different countries, technologies that are most important for industry leading companies;

- new areas of application of technologies: analysis of the scope and application areas of leading companies’ products, identification of specifications with contrasting modes and methods of application (different voltage, low temperatures, etc.).  To provide the completeness of foreign documentation submitted and uploaded to the PatSearch system, incoming documentation is constantly being monitored.  As gaps in the documentation arrays are revealed, a request is promptly sent to a relevant foreign patent office; receipt of data is constantly being monitored.  During 2019, work was carried out on populating data; after formal verification for the purpose, completeness, and compliance with specifications on the website, some errors were identified.  After verifying downloaded data during  2019, errors were detected in the arrays of Australia, China, the Republic of Korea, France, Austria, Canada, WIPO and EPO (111,621 documents in total).  All errors were corrected by re-uploading the data.  In the framework of the previously signed agreements with foreign offices on data exchange and other written agreements, the work is ongoing to ensure the quality and completeness of the uploading to the system.  To provide the completeness and quality of provisioning of the State Patent Collection on electronic carrier, the PatSearch system and Open registries on the FIPS website, as well as the preparation of the in-office list of patent documents published by Rospatent (WIPO Circular C.CWS 111-03) in 2019, VPTB Division carried out work on the analysis and filling of gaps.  19,906 descriptions of inventions to author’s certificates and patents of the USSR were revealed and prepared for digitization.  The work on the project was continued to include into the National Electronic Library (NEB, http://нэб.рф) domestic patent documentation from the State Patent Collection (SPC), which allowed users to get a new way of access to patent information not only for patent searches but also to solve scientific and educational issues.  To achieve the goals set in the “Information Society Development Strategy in the Russian Federation for 2017–2030”, access to the national patent documentation of the SPC is provided through the NEB.  About 2.5 million Soviet and Russian patent documents for inventions and utility models from 1924 to 2019 were loaded into the NEB, which constitutes up to 50% of the total array of documents in the NEB.  It's possible to enter the NEB through the FIPS website, and access to information using mobile applications is organized through the NEB platform.  In order to popularize the documents of the State Patent Collection among the general public, five thematic collections of Russian patent documents were prepared and placed in the National Electronic Library: “Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov (1853–1939), an outstanding Russian scientist and engineer”; “The driving force of change: women in the field of innovation and creativity”; "Intelligence at the service of the theater"; “Young inventors: at the beginning of a long way”; "Lev Termen: the inventor of termenvox".  To expand access channels to patent information, an array of national patent documents is kept available in the Scientific Electronic Library eLIBRARY.RU, the largest Russian information and analytical portal in the field of science, technology, medicine and education, as well as at the Yandex.  Patents service as the part of the new joint project of Rospatent and Yandex launched in March 2019.  During 2019 work was carried out on updating and supplementing the materials posted on the FIPS website in the “All-Russian Patent and Technical Library (VPTB) Division” section, updating was carried out quarterly.

http://new.fips.ru/about/vptb-otdelenie-vserossiyskaya-patentno-tekhnicheskaya-biblioteka/index.php 

Changes and additions were made to the “Internet navigator for patent information resources”, the Internet links were updated (it contains 5,760 links as of December 31, 2019).  The structure was improved, five new sections were added, the design of the resource was changed.  Changes were made to the electronic version of the “Guide to the FIPS VPTB Collections and Internet Resources”: the sections “Legislation” and “Search Systems” were supplemented with new information, as well as the annexes to the Guide; the Internet links were updated (there are 10,770 links as of December 31, 2019).  Monthly lists of recommended bibliographies for Russian regions in three thematic areas were posted.  36 lists in total were prepared in 2019.  Along with the introduction of actual information the material was updated in the following sections – Thematic meetings, Bibliographical indexes and lists, Search systems and databases etc.  The translations of the EPO publications ‘Patent Information News’ into Russian were prepared and posted (№ 1-2 / 2019).

The official website of Rospatent (www.rupto. ru) focuses on the provision of state services in the field of intellectual property, informing on legal regulation of issues related to supervision, control, and functioning of the Russian system for protection and enforcement of intellectual property.

In 2019, the following sections of the website were created in the Russian version: “Recommendations on IP management in the regions”, “Legislative site map”, “Target programs”, “Open Rospatent tools”, “Rospatent annual report for 2018”, “Work with reference groups”, “Staffing”, “Civil protection”, “Register of patent attorneys in the Russian Federation”, “Schedule of qualification examinations for patent attorneys in the Russian Federation”, “Tutorials”, “Methodology of Project office FIPS for the development of patent landscapes”.

The Rospatent Payment Search service has been updated.  Work is continuing on the “Rospatent Electronic  Services” section.

Special attention has been given to improving methodological support for the delivery of government services related to the state registration of intellectual property and means of individualization.  Guidelines covering administrative procedures and actions performed within the context of government services have been posted in the “Regulatory Legal Acts” section.

The “Patent of the Week” section, which is devoted to the most interesting patents received by Russian inventors, published 38 technical designs which, in the opinion of experts from the Federal Industrial Property Institute, have great potential for implementation and commercialization.

The Federal Intellectual Property Service took first place in the 2019 rankings by the Infometer Project Center: Federal Executive Government Bodies – Open Data, with an openness score of 100% and it is the leader in terms of open data among 72 Russian federal executive government bodies.

In 2019 the Rospatent website was visited by 62043 unique users monthly, which was 40 % more visitors in contrast to 2018.

The FIPS official website (www.fips.ru) was actively developed along with the Rospatent website in 2019.  It provides access to a wide range of databases, including official electronic bulletins.  The following new sections were created on the FIPS website: Patent Analytics, “Appeal to patent disputes chamber”, “Materials for self-education” and other. 

The following sections were modified “Patent disputes chamber”, “Statistics on Intellectual Property use”, “Application filing”, “Glossary”, “About us”, “Scientific activity”, “Structure and administration”, “Innovative library as a center for working with scientific youth”, “Learning”, and other.

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

In 2019, the number of requests for the provision of public services (hereinafter referred to as requests) for registering applications for inventions filed with Rospatent electronically increased by 8.93% compared to 2018.  The list of measures aimed at increasing applicants’ interest in applying electronically for the provision of government services is as follows:

1. Expanding the functionality of electronic interaction services.

In 2019 a new version of the Registrar AWS (Automated Work Station), which provides a comfortable environment for filing and managing applications, was made available to users of the service.

2. Conducting monthly thematic meetings for FIPS specialists with users of electronic filing services for applications for inventions and utility models, applicants and representatives thereof, as well as all those wishing to participate in the process of electronic interaction with Rospatent and FIPS when submitting and reviewing applications.

3. Posting of educational video materials and programs on the FIPS website.  Users become more interested in e-filing mechanisms and digital interaction, this brings the increased number of views under tutorial videos, posted within the “Application filing” section, that exceeded 15800 views.

4. The FIPS technical support service is conducting a review of requests from users of electronic services.  In 2019, about 5,000 requests were considered.

5. Any interested person may obtain the necessary knowledge and practical experience in preparing documentation electronically for applications for the grant of a patent for an invention or utility model.  One-to-one training is conducted in the computer room of the patent library, and is free-of-charge.

In 2020 there are plans to continue work on the development of electronic filing services and promoting the use of electronic filing and electronic communications among applicants and patent attorneys.  This will make it possible to expand the circle of users of electronic filing services and maintain growth in the number of applications filed.

In 2019, the following electronic registers were filled with records: the State register of inventions (ESR of IN), the State register of utility models (ESR of UM).As of 31.12.2019 digital registers contained: - ESR of IN – 440140 patents; - ESR of UM – 118157 patents.

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

Inventions

Data relating to the filing of applications and the grant of Russian Federation invention patents for 2018-2019 are presented in Table 1.

Table 1

As can be seen from table 1, in 2019 compared to 2018 there was a decrease in the number of applications filed (by 6.44%), as well as a decrease in the number of patents granted (by 4.94%).

The invention patents granted in 2019 were distributed according to the IPC sections as follows:

Table 2

The largest number of patents for inventions granted in 2019 was to Russian applicants for Section A of the International Patent Classification (IPC) – HUMAN NECESSITIES, the section B was in the first place for foreign applicants - PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING.

The least popular Section among Russian and foreign applicants alike remains Section D – Textiles and Paper.  The number of patents granted for this Section in 2019 amounted to less than 1 per cent of the overall number of patents granted for inventions.

Utility models

Тable 3

In 2019, there was an increase in the number of applications for utility models.  The number of applications filed increased by 3.99%, while the growth was observed at the applications of domestic applicants (by 4.91%), while in foreign countries there was a decline (by 13.61%).  The total number of patents granted, on the contrary, decreased (by 10.33%).

Data on the distribution of patents for utility models by IPC Section are presented below.

Тable 4

The leading IPC Section in 2019 remained Section B – Performing Operations and Transporting – while second place was taken by Section A – Human Necessities.  As in 2018, Section D – Textiles and Paper – continued to be the least in demand, with the lowest number of certificates granted.

For 2019, 20,209 applications for inventions and utility models were submitted in electronic form: according to inventions - 17,271 (48.64% of the total number of applications for inventions), by utility models - 2,938 (28.99% of the total number of applications for utility models).

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

The following pages of the Office’s websites contain:

Information on patent legislation- Regulation section: http://www.rupto.ru/ru/docs;

Office Annual Report- Rospatent Annual Reports section: http://www.rupto.ru/ru/about/reports

Statistical information- Statistical Data section: http://www.rupto.ru/ru/about/stat;

Monitoring of the quantitative and qualitative indicators for the main activities of FIPS in 2019 is provided on the FIPS website in the FIPS Main Activities section:

https://new.fips.ru/about/deyatelnost/;

State services: https://rupto.ru/ru/stateservices;  

Links section: https://rupto.ru/ru/sourses/links;

Rospatent News: http://www.rupto.ru/ru/news

FIPS News: http://new.fips.ru/news/;

In the reporting year, the VPTB FIPS automated library system on the basis of “Irbis64” library automation system was put into production operations.  The electronic catalog of legal and patent literature and scientific and technical literature was integrated and posted on the FIPS website, its search and service capabilities were expanded (as of December 31, 2019, contained 352,086 records).

https://www1.fips.ru/about/vptb-otdelenie-vserossiyskaya-patentno-tekhnicheskaya-biblioteka/elektronnyy-katalog-k-fondu-patentno-pravovoy-literatury.php

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

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

One of the most important tasks of a patent office, including Rospatent, is to provide an environment conducive with filing patent applications for industrial property subject matter, thereby promoting inventive activity in the country.

The main measures aimed at addressing this issue include:

- posting instructional materials necessary for preparing and filing applications for all types of industrial property on the Rospatent website;

- providing advice on matters relating to the registration and filing of applications;

- providing opportunities for all categories of users to work with the State patent collection (SPC) and other patent information products available in the Library free-of-charge;

- holding thematic meetings between Rospatent and FIPS heads and specialists and patent attorneys and other business community representatives about acquaintance with new normative legal acts in the field of intellectual property and their practical applications, about patent search systems usage and thematic meetings about learning to use electronic application filing services;

- holding internships and training for work with patent documentation, electronic application filing services for the grant of patents for inventions and utility models and for trademark registration etc.

Users of the FIPS website have access to user and technical documentation on setting up and operating an electronic application filing service for the grant of patents for inventions and utility models, and corresponding electronically using the ‘AWP “Registrar":’ service: http://new.fips.ru/podacha-zayavki/podacha-zayavki-na-tovarnyy-znak/

Answers to frequently asked questions are posted on a section of the FIPS website.

Service users may contact the Technical Support Service during working hours at helpdesk@rupto.ru to obtain professional help from technical specialists.

The web page addresses of Office websites providing information on filing applications are as follows:

State registration of inventions, and grant of patents in respect of inventions, and duplicates thereof:

http://www.rupto.ru/ru/stateservices/gosudarstvennaya-registraciya-izobreteniya-i-vydacha-patenta-na-izobretenie-ego-dublikata;

State registration of utility models, and grant of patents in respect of utility models, and duplicates thereof:

http://www.rupto.ru/ru/stateservices/gosudarstvennaya-registraciya-poleznoy-modeli-i-vydacha-patenta-na-poleznuyu-model-ego-dublikata;

Access to documents for patent applications for inventions, utility models, industrial designs, and issuance of copies of said documents:

http://www.rupto.ru/ru/stateservices/oznakomlenie-s-dokumentami-zayavki-na-vydachu-patenta-na-izobretenie-poleznuyu-model-promyshlennyy-obrazec-i-vydacha-kopiy-takih-dokumentov;

Methodical recommendations on the examination of applications for inventions and utility models:

http://new.fips.ru/to-applicants/inventions/metodicheskie-rekomendatsii-i-informatsionnye-pisma.php;

section "Forms of documents":

http://www.rupto.ru/ru/documentforms;

Specimen Applications and Requests, and Completed Examples section heading:

https://new.fips.ru/documents/formy-dokumentov/index.php;

Filing Applications section:

http://new.fips.ru/podacha-zayavki/;

The ‘Personal Office’ service facilitates correspondence on stage of prosecution for applications filed both in hard-copy, and using the electronic application filing services:

http://new.fips.ru/podacha-zayavki/lichnyy-kabinet-dlya-perepiski-po-zayavkam/index.php

• Fees section: http://www.rupto.ru/ru/activities/dues;
• Fee calculator: http://new.fips.ru/podacha-zayavki/kalkulyator-poshlin/index.php
• Patent Law subject matter section: http://www.rupto.ru/ru/objects-of-patent-rights;
• For Beginners section: http://new.fips.ru/to-applicants/dlya-novichkov/;
• Frequently Asked Questions section: http://new.fips.ru/faq/

Details of seminars and other similar events held in 2019 can be found  in Part 5(d,e).

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

Also on the Internet, users are granted free access to information on applications for the grant of Russian Federation invention and utility model patents.  Information on the prosecution of applications is available for applications received after January 1, 2007.

In 2019, the FIPS website provided access to the Open Registers information resource, an information reference source which can be used by any person to search for information concerning a patent granted, or the stage of prosecution for applications filed at Rospatent.  Reference information is structured by patent number, or application registration number by: 

- registers of Russian patent documents relating to inventions and utility models;

- registers containing information on the prosecution of applications filed in 2007-2019 for the grant of invention and utility model patents.

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

After the completion of the subsequent version (2020.01) of the International Patent Classification (IPC) in 2019, Rospatent prepared a new full Russian version of the IPC.  This version is used both in the internal search system of Rospatent “PatSearch”, and is published on its website for external users of patent information.

Within of the IPC revision framework conducted by WIPO in 2019 comments and proposals on the following projects had been prepared by Rospatent:

С498 (D03D 15/00), F115 (A42B1/00, 1/04), F106 (A61B 5/04), F127 (A61M1/10)

Because of financial restrictions the reclassification process from IPC.2018 to IPC.2019 was not carried out.

During the 2019 FIPS examiners in parallel to the IPC assigned the СPC symbols on all current patent documents both inventions and utility models.

In the classification, FIPS examiners use the complete IPC scheme, including indexing codes for classifying additional information on national patent documents.

As usual in 2019 Rospatent took part in the work of the WIPO Committee of Experts of the IPC Union.

In 2019, 33,239 applications for inventions and 9,594 applications for utility models were assigned a preliminary classification index before being forwarded to the appropriate examination divisions.

International applications received by the International Patent Cooperation Division of Rospatent in its role as an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examining Authority are assigned a preliminary IPC index classification, which determines the appropriate examination division for each application.  In 2019, 3,939 international applications were assigned a preliminary classification index before being forwarded to the appropriate examination divisions for the purposes of conducting an international search.

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

In 2019, abstracts continued to be published in Russian and English for RF patents granted for inventions as part of the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette and posted on the FIPS website.

With the aim of providing examiners and other categories of users with comfortable conditions when working with foreign patent documentation, immediate translation assistance is provided for patent documentation, both from Russian into other languages and from other languages into Russian, in both written and oral form.

VPTB performs translation from foreign languages and prepares summaries of foreign legal and patent literature.  In 2019, the titles of articles and books were translated into Russian and prepared summaries of 4480 publications of interest to specialists in legal protection of intellectual property. 

The results of this work are entered into the VPTB electronic catalog of legal and patent literature, containing details of publications dating since the beginning of the 19th century to the present day.  The electronic catalog is available on the FIPS website in the section ‘VPTB Division’, and is accessible to remote users online.  In total, this catalog of legal and patent literature and scientific and technical literature was comprised 352,086 documents as of December 31, 2019.

http://irbis.fips.ru:8080/cgi-bin/irbis64r_out/cgiirbis_64.exe?LNG=ru&C21COM= F&I21DBN= FIPS&P21DBN=FIPS

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)

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

Тable 5

During 2019, the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette has been posted on the website of the Federal State Budgetary Institution, the Federal Institute of Industrial Property (FIPS), which is subordinate to Rospatent, in the Official Publications section, and is freely available, constituting a functional and comprehensive information source.  The ISSN number is 2313-7436.

Gazette documents are in PDF format. 

Since January 10, 2017 the system of continuous publication of data on trademarks, service marks and appellations of origin in the official bulletins immediately after making entries in the State Register of Inventions and the State Register of Utility Models is introduced.

All Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette for 2005-2019 available at:

https://new.fips.ru/publication-web/bulletins/IZPM

The web page addresses of the Office’s websites providing information concerning Office publications are as follows:

• Regulations on the official publications of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property:

http://new.fips.ru/upload/iblock/7fd/Pologenie_105.pdf;

• Official Publications section: https://new.fips.ru/publication-web/
• Catalog of Publications and Databases in the Patent Information Products section:

http://new.fips.ru/vse-uslugi/patentno-informatsionnye-produkty/

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

The Official Gazette, Inventions and Utility Models, is published three times per month.

The forms of notifications on inventions and utility models published in the Rospatent Official Gazette, Inventions and Utility Models, are presented in Table 6:

Table 6

The addresses of web pages of the Office’s site providing access to online publications:

• Regulations on the official gazette Inventions. Useful Models:

http://new.fips.ru/documents/npa-rf/prikazy-rospatenta/Pologenie_IZ.pdf

• Inventions and Utility ModelsOfficial Gazette:

https://www1.fips.ru/publication-web/bulletins/IZPM

• International Classifications: 

https://www1.fips.ru/publication-web/classification/mpk?view=index

• Open Registers of Russian Patent Documents:

http://new.fips.ru/registers-web/.

From the above page, a user may refer to the following resources by means of the appropriate link:

Register of Inventions of the Russian Federation

Register of Utility Models of the Russian Federation

Register of Applications for the Grant of a Russian Federation Invention Patent

Register of Applications for the Grant of a Russian Federation Utility Model Patent.

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

Examiners primarily gain access to patent information through the in-house search system, PatSearch.  The search files of the PatSearch system include patent documents from Russia and the USSR going back to 1924, of the CIS countries, foreign countries in the PCT minimum documentation, other countries` documentation machine translated in English (Lexis-Nexis file) as well as a DWPI file.  If the information contained in the PatSearch system is insufficient, examiners may use freely available Internet patent databases (mainly Espacenet, PATENTSCOPE, EAPATIS, and other national patent offices’ databases).  In order to view Japan and Korea applications’ file wrappers, examiners can access the AIPN and K-PION databases, respectively.  Examiners also have access to information regarding Indian traditional knowledge, contained in TKDL database, in accordance with the agreement between CSIR and Rospatent.

When necessary, examiners could perform searches in the STN databases.  In 2019, more than 850 searches in STN were carried out.

In addition, examiners may perform searches in any source freely available on the Internet.

Commercially acquired non-patent literature electronic resources are available for examiners of the Office through the interlibrary loan service and the documents electronic delivery system.

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

VPTB users have access to Rospatent’s automated information search system PatSearch, the Eurasian Patent Office’s EAPATIS search systems, the European Patent Office’s Global Patent Index, Questel company’s database Questel Orbit, Scopus abstract database and ScienceDirect full-text database of Elsevier publishing house, National Electronic Library (NEB), the Digital Dissertation Library of the Russian State Library, Web of science and KluwerIPLaw search platforms etc.

In 2019, patent information subscribers were presented with the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette, based on official Rospatent information, with full descriptions of inventions and utility models for RF patents on electronic CD/DVD carrier with search system.  They are distributed with a frequency of 36 issues (disks) per year. 

For new subscribers, and also for the purposes of keeping patent collections up to date, the series of the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette with full descriptions of Inventions and Utility Models for RF patents published in previous years (2016-2018) were offered on CD/DVD.

In addition, in the interests of users, the following information products were distributed:

- Annual retrospective sets of invention descriptions for USSR authors certificates and RF patents, from 1924 to 2018, on DVD / USB Flash Drive (a total of 120 disks and 4 USB flash drives ), as well as the Retrospective set of descriptions of inventions for 2018 by FTP (File Transfer Protocol );

- An information-search system for invention descriptions for RF patents in Russian and English, from 1994 to 2019, on DVD and via FTP - quarterly and cumulative;

- Title pages of utility model descriptions for RF documents providing protection, from 1994 to 2019, on DVD and via FTP - quarterly and cumulative;

- Descriptions of utility models for RF documents providing protection from 1994 to 2018 on DVD (21 disks).

In addition, the Report of Rospatent for 2018 was published on CD.

Also, users on the site were offered free access to the International Patent Classification (2019 edition. Complete scheme).

Products on CD/ DVD / USB Flash Drive and via FTP were distributed with MIMOSA software, allowing all forms of patent searches to be carried out.

On the basis of official information relating to inventions and utility models, thematic databases are produced for users on CD/ DVD on special request.

In 2019, access to the electronic version of the Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette was provided on the FIPS website, while the registers of Russian inventions and utility models continued to be updated, and details of the legal status thereof were provided.

Rospatent Internet resources are compiled in the following databases:

- a database of published applications for inventions (contains information on 541,000 applications for inventions from 1994 to 2019 inclusive, updated daily);

- a full-text database of Russian inventions (contains information on 822,000 invention patents from 1994 to 2019 inclusive, updated daily);

- a retrospective database of Soviet and Russian patent documents in facsimile form (contains information on 1,431,000 patent documents for inventions from 1924 to 1993 inclusive);

- an abstracts database for Russian inventions (contains information on 822,000 patents for inventions from 1994 to 2019 inclusive, updated daily);

- an abstracts database for Russian inventions in English (contains information on 717,000 invention patents from 1994 to 2019 inclusive, updated daily);

- a full-text database of Russian utility models (contains information on 195,000 Russian utility model certificates and patents from 1996 to 2019 inclusive, updated daily);

- an abstracts database for Russian utility models (contains information on 195,000 Russian utility model certificates and patents from 1996 to 2019 inclusive, updated daily);

- “Perspective Inventions” database (contains information on 2,388 patents for inventions that are recognized by FIPS as promising, updated once per quarter);

- “International Patent Classification” data base (IPC);

- a database of invention applications filed from 2007 to 2018 (contains information on the prosecution of 497,000 applications, updated daily);

- a database of utility model applications filed from 2007 to 2018 (contains information on the prosecution of 146,000 applications, updated daily).

Users’ work with the information-search system

Office examiners are given the possibility to work with all inventions and utility models databases. 

Access for external users to full-text inventions and utility models databases is granted on a contractual basis.

In 2019, as part of the cooperation agreements between Rospatent and relevant organizations, access was granted:

in relation to full-text inventions and utility models databases, to:

• 153 organizations, as part of the Rospatent Program of Cooperation with regions of the Russian Federation
• 36 organizations participating in the implementation of the State project to develop nanotechnologies
• 207 Technology and Innovation Support Centres
• 2 organizations of State Corporation Rostekh

in relation to all FIPS databases, to:

• 189 organizations of the Federal Service of Court Bailiffs
• 717 organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
• 101 organizations of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service
• 16 organizations of the Ministry of Defense
• 96 organizations of The Federal Tax Service

­• 60 users of the Court for Intellectual Property Rights

• 2 users of The Federal Agency for Procurement of Weaponry
• 2 organizations of the Federal Customs Service
• 12 users of The Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies, and Mass Media.

External users are provided free of charge with the following databases:

in relation to inventions:

 - abstracts databases in Russian and English,

-  a database of published invention applications,

 - a “Perspective Inventions” database,

 - a full-text database containing information on RF invention patents No.2503161, published in the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette;

- the IPC database

in relation to utility models:

- a database containing information on RF utility model patents No.136275, published in the Inventions and Utility Models Gazette;

- an abstracts database;

-  the IPC database.

User access to “Open Registries” of Russian patent documents

Users have free access to all documents contained in the “Open Registries”.  In 2019, users viewed the page “Open Registries” more than 135,608 thousand times, of which:

-  More than 1778 thousand views by internal users;

-  More than 133830 thousand views by external users.

Information on subscribing to patent information products – in the Patent Information Products section: Catalog of Publications and Databases:

http://new.fips.ru/vse-uslugi/patentno-informatsionnye-produkty/;

How to carry out a search – in the  Information-Search System section:

http://new.fips.ru/elektronnye-servisy/informatsionno-poiskovaya-sistema/;

Open Registers: http://new.fips.ru/registers-web/;

Inventions and Utility Models Official Gazette, in the Official Publications section:

https://new.fips.ru/publication-web/bulletins/IZPM

Patent databases- Databases subsection in the Information-Search System section:

http://new.fips.ru/elektronnye-servisy/informatsionno-poiskovaya-sistema/bazy-dannykh.php;

Information on how to access and use resources – in the Information-Search System section, subsection :

Instructions for Using an Internet resources FIPS:

https://new.fips.ru/iiss/Инструкция по работе с информационными ресурсами.doc

Support:

http://new.fips.ru/elektronnye-servisy/informatsionno-poiskovaya-sistema/podderzhka-polzovateley-informatsionno-poiskovoy-sistemy.php.

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

All patent documents in Russian databases contain information on current legal status that is updated three times a month.

The Automated Database (ADB) subsystems to determine legal status use the given official publications containing information on new registrations of protection titles and changes.  Following publication of each Gazette, data on legal status are displayed on the Rospatent site in the Information Resources section.  For inventions and utility models patent status may be “valid”, “may terminate validity”, “validity terminated, but may be restored”, and “validity terminated”.

Information on the legal status of inventions and utility models is published in the Rospatent’s Official Gazettes “Inventions.  Utility Models” on CD/DVD and on the Rospatent site:

- information on the grant of RF patents for inventions and utility models;

- information on amendments to the published information on applications for inventions and to entries in the State Registers of Inventions and Utility Models (Notifications section of the Gazette).

Information is provided in the Information Resources section of the Office’s website on registrations with an indication of the legal status or stage of prosecution of the registered subject matter in the Open Registers: : https://new.fips.ru/registers-web/

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

In order to improve the accessibility of State services provided by Rospatent, a hardware and software system was put into commercial operation which enables remote examination of claims and objections in the Chamber for Patent Disputes for inhabitants of the regions.  Participation in the hearing is provided through a browser, and no additional software installation is required for external participants.  Implementation of the system received a favourable response among patent attorneys.

In 2019, Rospatent examiners used the Information-Search System, PatSearch, for invention and utility model examinations.  The PatSearch system is a professional search system for patent office examiners to perform searches when examining inventions and utility models.  As a result, a wide range of functions and services has been introduced into the system.

Below is a list of the main functions of the system:

- Search in selected arrays

- Index browsing when preparing a request

- Sample analysis (statistics on search results)

- Document viewer (with highlighting of search terms)

- Two-window document viewing

- Print documents

- Export documents

- Consideration of IPC reform and subsequent reclassification

- Search based on the IPC and СPС, as well as the Thomson Reuters (Derwent) classification.

- Search based on the SPS classification

- Work with bilingual Russian-English classification СРС

- Full-text search in English-language arrays of patent documents Lexis-Nexis

- Multilingual machine translation (including translation of a selection of the document or the whole document, and separate translation of query)

- Analysis of search results (including cluster analysis and construction of semantic networks)

- Espacenet search

- E-Library search

- Scopus search

- Amino acid and nucleotide sequence search in the European data bank, EMBL.

In 2019 examiners using the PatSearch system were given new capabilities to perform an automated preliminary search in Russian-language data arrays in response to applications received for review.  These new capabilities are based on the use of artificial intelligence methods (artificial neural networks, decision trees, machine learning) in the patent search.

In addition to PatSearch, all examiners use free access to all foreign patent office search databases, and to several databases of non-patent literature.

Extensive use has been made of the opportunity to document search histories, including an indication of search arrays, search query transcripts, and the number of documents located and viewed, as well as a list of documents included in the examiner’s final selection.

Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

Equipment used:

Fujitsu M10-4S server

(RAM – 96GB, processors – 20, external memory – 40 TB)

HP DL380 server – 46 units

(RAM – 4GB, processors - 2, external memory – 300 GB)

HP DL360 server – 20 units

(RAM – 128GB, processors - 2, external memory – 600 GB)

HP DL580 server – 18 units

(RAM – 16GB, processors - 4, external memory - 600 GB)

HP, IRBIS  workstations – 955 units.

Switching equipment:

Cisco 9500, Cisco 6509, Cisco 6503, Cisco 4507, Cisco 2960

Software:

Solaris, Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 10, AstraLinux, Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008 Server, Windows 2012 Server operating systems.

Carriers used:

LTO-7 magnetic tapes.

Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources

In 2019, the main search tool was Rospatent’s in-house search system, PatSearch, which is available at each examiner’s workstation.  The search array of PatSearch includes patent documentation from Russia, the USSR, CIS countries, about 100 other countries, and DWPI array.  Full texts of patent documents not available in PatSearch may be viewed via direct link to Espacenet.

The PatSearch system supports non-patent literature searching in external sources: genetic sequences searching in the European Bioinformatics Institute databases and non-patent literature searching in Elsevier’s SCOPUS database and in the Electronic Scientific Library of the Russian Foundation of Basic Research (eLIBRARY.RU).

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

One of the main sources of information for the principal functions of Rospatent is the State Patent Collection (SPC).

The main source for establishing the State Patent Collection (SPC), including its electronic PatSearch system content, is the international exchange of patent documentation.  At present, international exchange continues to exist and evolve in a new format using new information technology based on PatSearch requirements and ensures the SPC is updated free of charge.

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

In 2019, information was uploaded onto the PatSearch system from all arrays of patent documentation from PCT minimum countries and full-text arrays of Lexis-Nexis patent documents.  Arrays of patent documentation have been uploaded onto the system from the USSR and Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), PCT, the European Patent Office (EPO), the United States of America, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Australia, ARIPO, OAPI, and the Republic of Korea, and English-language abstracts and patent documents from Japan and other countries. 

The system provides viewing of complete descriptions of documents not yet uploaded to the system, but located under the DWPI index, through built-in online access to the arrays of the EPO.  Non-patent literature may be searched through built-in access to the external Russian digital library, E-library and the world's largest database of non-patent literature SCOPUS.

System search arrays

DWPI array

Descriptions of USSR inventions from 1924 to 1993

Descriptions of RF inventions from 1994 to date

Claims of RF utility models from 1994 (No. 1) to date

Claims of Russian invention applications

Unpublished Russian invention applications

Abstracts of patent documents from the world’s leading countries in English (DWPI)

Descriptions of inventions from PCT minimum countries, including:

PCT applications

EPO

United States of America

Japan

Germany

United Kingdom

Canada

France

Austria

Australia

Switzerland

Republic of Korea

China

ARIPO

OAPI

Descriptions of inventions from CIS countries with abstracts in Russian (CISPATENT)

Full-text arrays of Lexis-Nexis patent documents

A total is of more than 210 million patent documents.

VPTB users also enjoy access to the GPI EPO system, databases QUESTEL and EAPATIS, and electronic non-patent literature resources: the Digital Dissertation Library of the Russian State Library (DDL RSL) and the National Electronic Library (NEL), Scopus references database and Elsevier’s ScienceDirect full-text database, Web of Science and KluwerIPLaw search platforms.

The SPC is one of the most accessible and highest-quality patent collections in the world.  The patent documentation of SPC is provided on all carrier types – optical disks, local networks, paper, and micro-carriers.

A significant part of the SPC is available on optical disks - 75,889 optical disks as at December 31, 2019 (the amount has changed due to the restructuring of the collection).  The collection is formed, mainly, from traditional international exchange of patent documentation with foreign patent offices.  The patent collection on optical disks contains patent documentation from Russia, the PCT minimum countries, CIS, the international organizations, WIPO, EPO, and EAPO, as well as Denmark, Spain, Serbia, Slovenia, and Finland, etc.; patent documentation is made available to all categories of users in the VPTB computer room.

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

Information downloaded from the FTP servers is temporarily stored on the local network before being subsequently uploaded onto PatSearch.

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

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

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

The electronic prosecution system for the examination of inventions (AS EA), supports the following functional capabilities:

upload and download electronic documents to Applications e-Work;

plan examiners’ work, draft master plans and portfolios of examiners’ applications;

capture statistics;

provide access to Applications e-Work and application components and bibliographical information;

prepare outgoing correspondence and sign decisions on issuance of patents by electronic signature;

verify and revise the electronic package of application elements intended for publication;

application search function;

developed user administration system.

System AS EA integrated with ABD.

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

As at December 31, 2019, the SPC comprised 142 077 944 documents overall. 

In order to assist VPTB readers, both general and specialized reading rooms are provided:

- computer room (for optical disks and remote databases);

- paper and micro-form patent documentation;

- information and bibliography services.

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

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

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

A total of 220,400 persons consulted SPC in 2019.  Usage statistics are included for VPTB information products on the FIPS site: 136,777 appeals in 2019.

In 2019, users (including examiners) were issued with over 31.4 million exemplars of patent documents: over 30.3 million exemplars on optical disks and from remote databases; about 1,1 million exemplars on paper, and 10,900 exemplars on micro-carrier.

The patent information services of VPTB are provided to remote users on request, including performing patent information searches and factual references, providing certified copies of patent documents and translations of patent documents, etc.

Overall, during the course of the year, over 1,600 patent information services were provided at the request of remote users.

FIPS examiners consider the collection of applications and contracts for intellectual activities results and individualization tools especially important for their work.  The collection includes applications for inventions, utility models, industrial designs, computer programs, databases, integrated circuits topologies, trademarks and service marks, appellations of origin, as well as contracts for inventions, utility models, industrial designs and appellations of origin.  As of December 2019, this collection of applications and contracts constituted 1,412,897 copies on paper, microcarrier and in electronic form.

The Russian patent office does not have a regional network of patent libraries, although in 2019, as part of the project to create Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISC), it cooperated with Russian libraries in providing patent documentation.

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

The VPTB offers a unique collection of legal and patent, and dictionary and reference literature (PPL collection), which is an important constituent part of the SPC is available.  The PPL collection on paper and electronic information carriers includes publications on a wide range of theoretical and practical issues of intellectual property protection in the Russian Federation and abroad, including issues relating to the creation, legal protection, and commercialization of the results of intellectual activity, jurisprudence, protection of intellectual property on the Internet, activity of international organizations, and international cooperation in the field of intellectual property, etc.

The PPL collection contains various types of information source: legislative acts, international and intergovernmental agreements, treaties, regulations, as well as instructions, orders, rules and other documents; comments and reviews; guidelines and study aids; standards in the field of patent and scientific and technical information; annual reports of patent offices; symposium and conference materials; collections of court decisions; collections of statistics; bibliographical publications, industry, terminology and language dictionaries, reference books and encyclopedias.

At present, the PPL collection comprises approximately 92,000 publications, with the oldest publications dating from 1810. 

Aside from the above-mentioned information sources, all categories of users are provided with access to Kluwer IP Law (Wolters Kluwer - Kluwer Law International B.V. publishing house) containing information on different aspects of legal protection of IP in the world, Edward Elgar and MyLibrary electronic books and to the editions of the National Electronic Library (NEL).

The Office examiners are also provided with access to non-patent literature through interlibrary lending and electronic document delivery systems.  In order to meet examiners’ requirements, the collections of 8 specialized Moscow libraries are used, as well as databases QUESTEL, STN International,  the Digital Dissertation Library of the Russian State Library, Elesevier’s Scopus references database and ScienceDirect full-text database, the National Electronic Library (NEB), Web of Science and KluwerIPLaw search platforms etc.

An electronic catalog has been created based on an analysis of publications entering into the PPL collection, bibliographies, publications posted on the Internet, and other sources.  The catalog is a comprehensive information resource of patent and legal information and is a search-reference tool for the PPL collection.  The catalog contains bibliographical descriptions in the original language, and Russian translations of titles and/or abstracts, and as of December, 31 2019, there were approximately 178,8 thousand bibliographic records.  The catalog also contains 10,503 links to full-text documents posted on the websites of copyright holders.

The VPTB Division posts various information products and materials on the FIPS website.  These are prepared on the basis of the State Patent Collection, and obtained as a result of identifying and studying global patent-information resources.  During 2019, the VPTB Division section was updated and supplemented with materials.  The following are updated quarterly: Guide to the VPTB Collection and Internet Resources, Internet Navigator for Patent Information Resources and translations into Russian of the EPO publication «Patent Information News».  Bibliography lists are made available on a monthly basis to help regional specialists with current issues regarding protection of intellectual property subject matter and jurisprudence, and issues in the commercialization of the results of intellectual activity and means of individualization.

Overall in 2019 105,800 users consulted the information available in the VPTB Division section of the FIPS website and 137,000 pages were viewed by them.

http://www.rupto.ru/ru/sourses/publications

Reference information on the stages of prosecution in patenting subject matter of patent law is published on the Rospatent website in the Subject Matter of Patent Law section:

http://www.rupto.ru/ru/objects-of-patent-rights.

In order to ensure the uniform practical application of the provisions of Part IV of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation regulating the grant of legal protection to the subject matter of patent legislation and means of individualization, a range of guidelines have been posted on the FIPS website in the Inventions and Utility Models section:

http://new.fips.ru/to-applicants/inventions/metodicheskie-rekomendatsii-i-informatsionnye-pisma.php

To assist the patent subdivisions and the State services of the science and education sector and organizations of the national nanotechnology network, a range of method-related materials are available on the website:

http://new.fips.ru/about/deyatelnost/sotrudnichestvo-s-regionami-rossii/rekomendatsii-po-perechnyu-literatury-dlya-patentnykh-podrazdeleniy-obrazovatelnogo-sektora-i-organi.php

In the "Search" section, in the Open Registers, information is provided on registering intellectual property subject matter with an indication of its legal status or state of prosecution: 

http://new.fips.ru/registers-web/

Internet publications from the All-Russian Patent and Technical Library Division are available on the FIPS website in the State Patent Collection and VPTB Information Products sections at:

https://www1.fips.ru/about/vptb-otdelenie-vserossiyskaya-patentno-tekhnicheskaya-biblioteka/index.php

Presentation of patent information analysis capabilities using Office information products:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/publishing_activities/present.

For novice users of patent information, links can be found to WIPO publications in Russian under the “What is Intellectual Property?” heading in the For Beginners section:

http://new.fips.ru/to-applicants/dlya-novichkov/

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

During the reporting year series of works related to the improvement of quality translation for foreign documents using the PROMT system were achieved.

The text translation system was updated with the latest version of PROMT PTS-20.  The new version of the PROMT system is integrated into the internal search system PatSearch and also placed on the server.  These features were widely used by examiners for information search.

The new version of the system was tested.  Based on the test results, suggestions for improving the PROMT system functions were formulated and implemented.

The functions of translation profiles were improved.  The number of profiles was changed according to the IPC classes.  The number of dictionaries in each profile was increased.  That improved the quality translation due to more precise adjustment of the system for translating texts of examiners’ topics.

Work with user dictionaries was continued.  Taking into account IPC Scheme on narrow examiner topics, new dictionaries were created and existing ones were replenished.  Then they were integrated into the PROMT system.

Trainings and consultations were conducted for examiners to ensure confident use of the PROMT translation system and other translation tools.

In 2019, users were given the opportunity to work with the new hybrid profile of English-Russian translation, combining the capabilities of machine translation based on classical linguistics and innovative technology for the statistical processing of parallel texts.

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

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

In 2019, 29 thematic meetings with the participation of the administration of Rospatent and FIPS and leading specialists were held for applicants, copyright holders, patent attorneys, IP specialists, representatives of the business community and other stakeholders.  6 of them were on the topic "Filing electronic applications for trademarks, inventions, utility models, appellations of origin using ARM Registrator."

Others were on the following topics: "Features of using the search engine of the FIPS website to search for information on various IP objects", "Use of patent analytics in patenting inventions, utility models and industrial designs", "Examining applications in the field of IT technologies", "Using technological analytics for taking part in state development programs", "Methodology of preparing analytical reports on inventive activity, intellectual property and technological development for regional and sectoral administrations", "List of nucleotide and amino acid sequences in the characterization of inventions in the field of biotechnology", "WIPO's "WIPO Sequence" software for preparing sequence listings for application materials in accordance to WIPO Standard ST.26", "Third Patent Analytics Room: Patent Citation", "Fourth Patent Analytics Room: Technology Transfer", "Fifth Patent Analytics Room: Dates", "Sixth Patent Analytics Room: Software patent related" and so on.

In total these events were attended by 2,428 persons from Moscow, Moscow region and 25 other cities, and 527 via video conferences organized on the basis of 11 entities with TISC status.

In 2019, VPTB FIPS implemented the following youth educational projects (information on them is available on the FIPS website).  The work is carried out in several areas:

1. Interaction with network organizations working with gifted children in the field of technical creativity: the Quantorium Federal Children's Network of Technoparks, Sirius Educational Center, "Step into the Future" Program, "School Patent", etc.  In 2019, 3 full-time on-site seminars for students were held, as well as 8 webinars on IP for children and mentors of technology parks covering the following topics: "Information Resources", "Patent Search", "Information Resources of DesignView and TMView", "Legal Protection and Security of the Project", "Algorithm of filing an application for invention", "Think as inventor" (results of the competition and granting FIPS certificates to the winners), "Trends in children-inventors' innovative ideas", "Civil Code of the Russian Federation, part 4", "Search, examination and registration of inventions", presentations of exhibition projects "Opening a new era for natural sciences" and "Arctic: driver of economic growth", "What does an inventor need to know?", "Patent analytics as an inventor's instrument".  There were more than 340 connections of technoparks to webinars.  At the Fourth meeting of young inventors "Intelligent Alarm Clock" in Kazan, FIPS organized a seminar on IP and other issues.  In total 1349 persons took part in these events.
2. Educational projects in the field of promoting knowledge in the field of IP among youth, for students of secondary and higher educational institutions of the country with the involvement of state FIPS examiners and other specialists in the field of IP.  Two large projects of VPTB FIPS are being implemented: "Inventors NEXT" and "To Scientific Youth about Intellectual Property".  The meetings were attended by students of Moscow colleges of the Department of Education of Moscow (in collaboration with the City Methodological Center of the Department of Education of Moscow) in the areas of technosphere security, service and light industry, industrial equipment and communication systems, as well as by students of Moscow universities: Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, Russian State Social University (RGSU), Moscow Technological University (MIREA), Russian State Academy of Intellectual Property (RGAIS), RANEPA Institute of Business Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University and the College of Law).  In total, 18 meetings were held in 2019, attended by 664 persons.
3. Interaction with the libraries community.  4 webinars were organized on the platform of the Russian State Library for Youth, where 7 reports were presented: "Exhibition projects based on the library's collections as an element of the library's educational activities", " VPTB FIPS Exhibition Project "The Driving Force of Change: Women in the Field of Innovation and Creativity""; "Young inventors are the engine of progress", "IP alphabet for public", "Inventions for libraries from a legal point of view", "Patent information", " VPTB FIPS Information products".  Webinar materials are available online and were viewed 4,553 times in 2019. Also VPTB FIPS specialists took an active part in conferences, seminars, forums organized by Russian libraries.
4. A new project "IP at the Height 56" was launched, within the framework of which a series of lectures and master classes was held on the following topics: "Time to learn about IP", "Three pillars of IP"; "Trends in children-inventors' innovative ideas", "What is a patent, what is its importance?"; "Trademark as a means of promoting youth entrepreneurship", "Young inventor's success case"; "How to navigate in the world of patent and non-patent information (databases)" and the master class "Patent search on a given topic" plus "Algorithm of filing an application" case.
5. Conducting various educational events at the FIPS site.  In 2019, 414 persons took part in the following meetings:

 - meetings with teachers and students of the Moscow State Art and Industry Academy named after S. G. Stroganov and with students of the Moscow State Institute of Cinematography, a round table and an excursion in the framework of the practice for first-year students of the Russian State Academy of Intellectual Property (RGAIS) and for participants of the RGAIS retraining program;

-  meeting with representatives of Non-profit Partnership "Wikimedia RU"; meeting with representatives of the National Electronic Library (NEB) and a practical lesson "NEB search opportunities";

- Rospatent Museum excursion and a practical lesson on patent search for representatives of the state corporations Roscosmos and Rosatom;

 - Russian Language Day at Rospatent "Russian is the language of innovation".

1. Educational seminars on intellectual property for the youth audience and the scientific research community within the framework of Russian and international forums, conferences, design and technology schools with the participation of VPTB specialists and FIPS experts.  In 2019, public lectures, seminars and master classes were held at third-party platforms as part of 26 events, including the following:

-  XXII Moscow International Salon of Inventions and Innovative Technologies "Archimedes 2019", conference "Inventive, Rationalization and Patent Licensing Activities in the Digital Economy", Moscow;

  - Fifth international professional forum "Book. Culture. Education. Innovations" ("Crimea 2019"), Sudak. Within the framework of the Forum, a special event "Rospatent Day" was held on the topic "IP Field Digital Transformation"

-  XXIII International Conference and Exhibition "LIBCOM 2019". "Information Technologies, Computer Systems and Publishing Products for Libraries", Suzdal;

  - International military-technical forum "Army 2019", Kubinka;

  - X Public Awards Ceremony "For Contributing to the Development of IP". Young inventors panel discussion "School Patent: Leaders of Inventing" within the frame of the XII St. Petersburg International Innovation Forum, St. Petersburg;

  - II Annual Summit of Young Scientists and Engineers "Great Challenges for Society, State and Science", Sochi;

  - Scientific and practical conference and the 3rd Interregional IRBIS School. Seminar "Searching opportunities of the National Electronic Library", St. Petersburg;

-  XI Forum "IP Days in the North-West Federal District", St. Petersburg;

  - 73rd International Youth Scientific Conference "Oil and Gas 2019" (Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas);

-  International scientific and practical conference "Rumyantsev Readings 2019" (RBA);

-  International Forum Festival "IP for the Future", St. Petersburg;

-  International Scientific and Practical Conference "Science, Technologies and Information in Libraries (LIBWAY-2019)", Irkutsk (via Skype);

-  IV Biblioforum (XI International Scientific and Practical Conference) "Information Technologies in Medical Libraries" (Aktobe, Republic of Kazakhstan);

  - Round table "Museum as an educational space" organized by the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas and the Russian Academy of Education within the framework of the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements;

  - Conference on Intellectual Property "Registration of a trademark as a way to protect the intellectual property of a company or an individual entrepreneur" jointly organized by OOO "Serkons" and FIPS;

-  International Forum "Digital Transformation: Focus on IP";

-  "Nauka 0+" All-Russian Science Festival in Moscow and Russian regions.

In 2019, VPTB FIPS organized, held and/or took part in more than 100 educational events with the total number of participants of more than 12.6 thousand people, including online viewers, from 8 federal districts.

In 2019, a range of events was organized to propose new FIPS analytical products in the field of information and analytical support for the implementation of the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation, determining the scientific and technological priorities of economic sectors, high-tech companies, and Russian scientific and educational organizations.  In order to highlight and promote modern methodological approaches and analytical tools, FIPS has developed a training program on patent analytics for participants in the Russian innovation system.

In order to reveal the nuances and breadth of scope of patent analytics the Project Office held 6 Patent Analytics Lounge seminars on the following topics:

1. Technological disclosure
2. Patent families
3. Patent citation
4. Technology transfer
5. Dates
6. Patenting IT solutions

Complete videos of Patent Analytics Lounge are available for free of charge on the Project Office’s Facebook channel.

One of the promising areas of development of the Project Office is the growth of expertise in the field of modern technology management.

In 2019, we started working with enterprises in Russia and abroad (France, Sweden, Singapore) in related areas of technology management, such as marketing research, technology transfer support, corporate know-how, financial audit, asset valuation, etc.

This collaboration provides us with a wide scope of expertise in technology management, including closing the last mile of technology transfer, which is documentary and legal support of transactions with foreign companies for direct (purchase) and reverse (sale) technology transfer.

In order to scale up technology consulting based on patent analytics, a network of franchisee centers is being developed in the regions of Russia.  Such centers perform research in the field of patent analytics (mainly Express patent landscapes) with established quality indicators and under the supervision of the FIPS Project Office.

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

Further professional training for FIPS specialists

One of the key objectives of the Federal Institute of Industrial Property development is a continuous improvement of the professional skills of FIPS employees as a part of a Unified education system based on the continuity principle, starting from the first day of employment.

The main tool for this task in 2019 was a system of studies for various categories of FIPS employees following the introduction of new normative legal acts regulating rules and procedures for the provision of public services.

This task was carried out by training employees under technology training sessions directly in the departments of FIPS and in group lessons.

In accordance with the Consolidated Plan on Internal Training of Employees in 2019, signed by the Head of FIPS, 7 group sessions were organized with 420 FIPS specialists attending.  Moreover, 252 sessions were organized directly in FIPS departments.  In 2019, the main focus during the study organizational process was placed on studying new normative legal acts in the field of providing public services, as well as on the amendments to the Provision on patent and other fees.

FIPS, by implementing a balanced human resource policy, draws particular attention to the training of employee pool of state intellectual property experts.

The key element of this training is an “Expert-intern” program, during which young specialists receive extensive theoretical and practical experience by working in expert units under the guidance of experienced mentors, and go through training under specially developed advanced programs:

“Training of expert interns under the program “Training of experts conducting application examination for inventions and utility models” (232 academic hours).

The first intake of the “Expert-intern” education program graduated in 2017, and in total, the number of students who received the training under the above-mentioned programs amounted to 25 students in 2017, 122 students in 2018, 88 students in 2019.

The vast majority of expert-interns are assigned on a full-time basis to expert departments of FIPS upon receiving the training, and as a result, the training and advanced training programs for expert staff of FIPS are showing their effectiveness.

Organization of supplementary vocational training at FIPS for specialists of organizations

To satisfy the national economy’s need in specialists with a high level of professional competence in the field of intellectual property, Administration of Rospatent and FIPS made a decision to enhance the educational activities of the Federal Institute of the Industrial Property, taking into account the high professional competence of the expert staff of FIPS.

Activity on realizing the supplementary vocational programs is based under license series 77Л 01 № 0008944 (reg. № 038110), issued 19 December 2016 by the Moscow Department of Education; educational activity is carried out since 2017.

In this period during the sessions of the Scientific and Technological Council of FIPS there were developed and approved 25 advanced training programs and 3 professional retraining programs, all aimed at improving the level of the professional competence of employees in the intellectual property field.  Leading FIPS state IP experts, as well as external specialists and practitioners, are invited to teach.

In order to coordinate the educational activity of FIPS, a Scientific Educational Center was created.

In 2019 the Center trained 1092 specialists, with 1069 of them under advanced training programs (55 specialists through distance learning); 23 specialists under professional retraining program “Legal protection of the results of intellectual activity and their rights management”.

Therefore, the number of graduates from the FIPS Center programs in 2019 compared increased two and a half times compared to 2018 and more than twelve times compared to 2017.

In 2019 Rospatent participated in the organization and holding of 2 international exhibitions and 2 international  salons of inventions and new technologies in 4 regions of the Russian Federation:  

• March 26–29: “Archimedes – 2019” XXII Moscow International Salon of Inventions and New Technologies (Sokolniki Exhibition and Convention Center, Moscow); 
• July 8–11: “Innoprom – 2019” annual International Industrial Exhibition (Yekaterinburg); 
• September 26–28 – “New Time” XV International Salon of Inventions and New Technologies (Sevastopol); 
• November 18–22: “LIBCOM – 2019” XXIII International Exhibition (Suzdal, Vladimir Province).

In 2019 Rospatent participated in the organization and holding of 148 conferences, seminars, and round tables in 40 regions of the Russian Federation.

The addresses of web pages of the Office’s site containing information about training, seminars and conferences:

- the "Training. Аdvanced professional training. Retraining":" section

http://new.fips.ru/about/deyatelnost/obuchenie/index.php;

  - a plan of thematic meetings of the employees of Rospatent and FIPS with representatives of the business community dedicated to acquaintance with new by-laws for 2019.:

https://new.fips.ru/about/vptb-otdelenie-vserossiyskaya-patentno-tekhnicheskaya-biblioteka/tematicheskie-vstrechi/plan-provedeniya-tematicheskikh-vstrech-na-2019-g.php

 - conferences and seminars in the regions of the Russian Federation in 2019:

https://new.fips.ru/about/deyatelnost/konferentsii-seminary/plany-provedeniya/plan-provedeniya-konferentsiy-i-seminarov-v-regionakh-rossiyskoy-federatsii-v-2019-g.php

- еducational videos:

 https://rupto.ru/ru/sourses/multimedia/video#training-video

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

Further professional training for FIPS specialists

One of the key objectives of the Federal Institute of Industrial Property development is a continuous improvement of the professional skills of FIPS employees as a part of a Unified education system based on the continuity principle, starting from the first day of employment.

The main tool for this task in 2019 was a system of studies for various categories of FIPS employees following the introduction of new normative legal acts regulating rules and procedures for the provision of public services.

This task was carried out by training employees under technology training sessions directly in the departments of FIPS and in group lessons.

In accordance with the Consolidated Plan on Internal Training of Employees in 2019, signed by the Head of FIPS, 7 group sessions were organized with 420 FIPS specialists attending.  Moreover, 252 sessions were organized directly in FIPS departments.  In 2019, the main focus during the study organizational process was placed on studying new normative legal acts in the field of providing public services, as well as on the amendments to the Provision on patent and other fees.

FIPS, by implementing a balanced human resource policy, draws particular attention to the training of employee pool of state intellectual property experts.

The key element of this training is an “Expert-intern” program, during which young specialists receive extensive theoretical and practical experience by working in expert units under the guidance of experienced mentors, and go through training under specially developed advanced programs:

“Training of expert interns under the program “Training of experts conducting application examination for inventions and utility models” (232 academic hours).

The first intake of the “Expert-intern” education program graduated in 2017, and in total, the number of students who received the training under the above-mentioned programs amounted to 25 students in 2017, 122 students in 2018, 88 students in 2019.

The vast majority of expert-interns are assigned on a full-time basis to expert departments of FIPS upon receiving the training, and as a result, the training and advanced training programs for expert staff of FIPS are showing their effectiveness.

Organization of supplementary vocational training at FIPS for specialists of organizations

To satisfy the national economy’s need in specialists with a high level of professional competence in the field of intellectual property, Administration of Rospatent and FIPS made a decision to enhance the educational activities of the Federal Institute of the Industrial Property, taking into account the high professional competence of the expert staff of FIPS.

Activity on realizing the supplementary vocational programs is based under license series 77Л 01 № 0008944 (reg. № 038110), issued 19 December 2016 by the Moscow Department of Education; educational activity is carried out since 2017.

In this period during the sessions of the Scientific and Technological Council of FIPS there were developed and approved 25 advanced training programs and 3 professional retraining programs, all aimed at improving the level of the professional competence of employees in the intellectual property field.  Leading FIPS state IP experts, as well as external specialists and practitioners, are invited to teach.

In order to coordinate the educational activity of FIPS, a Scientific Educational Center was created.

In 2019 the Center trained 1092 specialists, with 1069 of them under advanced training programs (55 specialists through distance learning); 23 specialists under professional retraining program “Legal protection of the results of intellectual activity and their rights management”.

Therefore, the number of graduates from the FIPS Center programs in 2019 compared increased two and a half times compared to 2018 and more than twelve times compared to 2017.

In 2019 Rospatent participated in the organization and holding of 2 international exhibitions and 2 international  salons of inventions and new technologies in 4 regions of the Russian Federation:  

• March 26–29: “Archimedes – 2019” XXII Moscow International Salon of Inventions and New Technologies (Sokolniki Exhibition and Convention Center, Moscow); 
• July 8–11: “Innoprom – 2019” annual International Industrial Exhibition (Yekaterinburg); 
• September 26–28 – “New Time” XV International Salon of Inventions and New Technologies (Sevastopol); 
• November 18–22: “LIBCOM – 2019” XXIII International Exhibition (Suzdal, Vladimir Province).

In 2019 Rospatent participated in the organization and holding of 148 conferences, seminars, and round tables in 40 regions of the Russian Federation.

The addresses of web pages of the Office’s site containing information about training, seminars and conferences:

- the "Training. Аdvanced professional training. Retraining":" section

http://new.fips.ru/about/deyatelnost/obuchenie/index.php;

  - a plan of thematic meetings of the employees of Rospatent and FIPS with representatives of the business community dedicated to acquaintance with new by-laws for 2019.:

https://new.fips.ru/about/vptb-otdelenie-vserossiyskaya-patentno-tekhnicheskaya-biblioteka/tematicheskie-vstrechi/plan-provedeniya-tematicheskikh-vstrech-na-2019-g.php

 - conferences and seminars in the regions of the Russian Federation in 2019:

https://new.fips.ru/about/deyatelnost/konferentsii-seminary/plany-provedeniya/plan-provedeniya-konferentsiy-i-seminarov-v-regionakh-rossiyskoy-federatsii-v-2019-g.php

- еducational videos:

 https://rupto.ru/ru/sourses/multimedia/video#training-video

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

FIPS experts continued to actively participate in the work of the Task Forces in order to develop new and improve the adopted WIPO Standards.

Rospatent as the leader of the 3D Task Force has drafted a questionnaire on the use of 3D among industrial property offices.  Rospatent plans to analyze the received results, and as a result to present at the next session of the Committee on WIPO Standards draft recommendations on 3D models and images when working with objects for IPR protection.

As the co-leader of the Blockchain Task Force Rospatent in cooperation with IP Australia continued to work out draft recommendations and a guideline on the implementation of this technology when working with objects for IPR protection and present it at the next session of the Committee on WIPO Standards.

At the 7th session of the Committee on WIPO Standards Rospatent experts proposed to amend the WIPO Standard ST.3 “Two-letter codes for the  representation of states, other entities and organizations” and ST. 60 “Bibliographic data relating to marks” that were adopted by the Committee.

Within the frameworks of the revision of WIPO Standard ST.96 “Processing of Industrial Property information using XML” the development of new XML-schema components for GI and AoO has been continued.  The work on inclusion of proposed changes into the XML components of the Hague system has been continued as well.

Within the frameworks of transition from WIPO ST. 25 to WIPO ST.26 “Presentation of nucleotide and amino acid sequence listings using XML” FIPS experts tested the WIPO Software “WIPO Sequence” and submitted their proposals on modification of interface and functions of this tool.  In order to raise awareness among stakeholders that the Office will transit from ST. 25 to ST.26 a special meeting dedicated to issues of presentation of nucleotide and amino acid sequence listings in accordance with this Standard were conducted.

Since March 2019 authority files in XML format in accordance with WIPO Standard ST.37 are available on FIPS Internet portal.

In 2019 the representatives of Rospatent took part in the sessions of PCT Working Group,  Meeting of International Authorities and PCT Quality Subgroup.

Since a considerable part of items on the agenda of the above mentioned PCT working bodies were taken over from the previous meetings, Rospatent continued to support in particular the following issues which were also of interest to the BRICS countries :

- exploring ways in implementation of Pilot on Netting of PCT Fees including alternative methods of transfer of PCT fees;

- establishing a Fee Policy to Stimulate Patent Filing by Universities;

- revising and improving Criteria for Fee Reductions to Certain Applicants from Certain Countries, notably Developing and Least Developed Countries;

- the use of PCT Online Services including the implementation of e-SearchCopy.

Another area of interest for Rospatent as an International Authority were the issues relating to enhancing the quality of international searches and preliminary examination.  In this respect Rospatent awaits with interest final results of the on-going Pilot on PCT Collaborative Search and Examination. 

Among other questions which could facilitate the improvement of search and examination quality Rospatent sees the following:

- evaluation of different approaches to sharing search strategies;

- review of the PCT minimum documentation;

- proposal to Transmit the Annexes to the International Preliminary Examination Report as Separate Documents;

- availability of the File Held by the International Preliminary Examining Authority;

- making Written Opinions and Chapter II Correspondence publicly available.

Rospatent supported the proposal to appoint the Eurasian Patent Office as an International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authority and agreed to submit an evaluation report for the forthcoming session.  

Rospatent continued its efforts to make preparations for joining two WIPO sponsored projects: WIPO Case and DAS system.

In cooperation with the International Bureau of WIPO Rospatent held 2 seminars in industrially developed cities of the Russian Federation in order to encourage a wider use of PCT filing system by Russian applicants.

In 2019 Rospatent took part in the work of the WIPO Committee of experts of IPC Union.

During 2019 the cooperation between the Rospatent and foreign patent Offices under the Patent Prosecution Highway program (PPH) has been further extended.  The bilateral PPH program (PPH and PCT-PPH) between the Rospatent and the European Patent Office, between the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) were extended.  The new bilateral PPH program between the Rospatent and the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI) commenced in 2019.  By the end of 2019 there were 26 patent offices including the Rospatent participating in the Global PPH program.

The number of applications considered for various types of PPH program significantly increased each year.  By the end of 2019, 4845 requests for participation in the PPH program were filed at the Rospatent acting as an Office of Second Filing/Office of Later Examination since the inception of the PPH program.

The data exchange between the Rospatent and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) both acting as an Office of Earlier Examination or as an Office of Later Examination  was made on applications participating in various types of PPH program.

In 2019, the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding between Rospatent and WIPO for the creation of TISCs in the Russian Federation continued to be implemented: 

1. 17 cooperation agreements were concluded, including the main provisions on the organization of TISCs activities of the 1st level (including 11 renegotiated);
2. 4 trilateral agreements were concluded between FIPS and 1st and 2nd level TISCs on creating 2nd level TISCs.

For the purpose of TISCs activities information support free access to the FIPS databases is provided (login and password).

To make it possible to file TISCs applications electronically for IP objects (inventions, utility models, trademarks and service marks, appellations of origin, computer programs and databases) and to receive the key certificate for electronic signature 15 supplementary agreements were signed.  Within the framework of the supplementary agreement to the 2018 TISCs creation agreement, TISCs issued 36 electronic signature verification keys, including contracts of the early period.

TISC Development Conception 2019-2024 was adopted.

“TISCs Map” was updated containing detailed information on the TISC network in 2019.  Using the regional TISCs’ activities monitoring data TISCs effectiveness rating was formed with top 15 TISCs detected.

On May 30-31, 2019, the 7th TISC Congress was organized and held in Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University, Veliky Novgorod, Russian Federation.  93 TISCs, heads of regional authorities and business entities from 47 federal subjects of Russia and representatives of Belarus and Uzbekistan took part in the Congress.  41 speakers spoke within the five sessions of the Congress dedicated to issues of strategy, regions, image, youth education and business.  During the Congress the exhibition “From idea to technical solution” was held, at which developments of Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University's inventors, Novgorod oblast enterprises and children's technology parks were presented.  For the first time at the Congress special events were organized: WIPO national training workshop for TISCs “Using public domain information for the purposes of economic development” and the public lecture for state and municipal employees “IP in the digital economy era” given by the rector of Russian State Academy of Intellectual Property I.A. Bliznets within the frame of executing the order of the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation V.I. Matvienko on organizing training for state and municipal employees.  The proposals presented during the work of the Congress were included into the draft of its resolution.

In 2019, 2 seminars on the issues of R&D commercialization and electronic filing were organized and held, a working meeting was organized on the issue of managing IP (the total number of participants in the events was 100 persons), individual training workshops were held as part of the TISC project to train employees of the Centers to work in FIPS information and search system databases and to file applications for industrial property objects online.

In order to comply with paragraph 1.2.1. of the Protocol No. 2 dated 06/26/2018 of the Solemn Joint Meeting of the Scientific and Technical Council (NTS) of Rospatent and FIPS and the expanded Presidium of the All-Russian Society of Inventors and Rationalizers dedicated to the Day of the Inventor and Rationalizer, to raise awareness of the younger generation in the field of opportunities and their rights in the field of intellectual property, the All-Russian Contest of Educational Projects among the TISCs of the Russian Federation “Intelligent Hash Track” was organized.

In order to spread information about the activities of the TISC network, a TISC presentation booklet was issued for interested departments and individuals, a brochure entitled “Best Practices of the Technology and Innovation Support Centers” was prepared: TOP-15 TISCs that took leading positions in 2018.

In order to ensure access to technical information for users, the regional TISCs provided information on their project activities in the defined areas (youth initiatives, business initiatives, educational projects), the accumulated data will be posted on the TISC page of the FIPS website.

Within the framework of cooperation with WIPO, proposals were made for a project to create a certification system for TISC employees in relation to their skills in providing services, and the necessary information was provided to create an online service with the ability to exchange information regarding the effective collecting, analysing and managing of data received from the TISC network of the Russian Federation.

In 2019, FIPS staff made presentations at the following events for TISC organized by WIPO: National Training Seminar in Uzbekistan (March 26-27, 2019, Tashkent); National Training Seminar in Kyrgyzstan (June 18-19, Bishkek); WIPO Interregional Meeting on the Integration of TISCs as part of the National and Institutional Strategy in China (September 2-3, 2019, Hangzhou) together with the TISC representative of Kazan Energy University; National training seminar in the Republic of Kazakhstan (November 26-29, 2019, Nur-Sultan).

As part of the spring / autumn session of the WIPO Academy, 218 employees of the TISC regional network were trained.

As of December 31, 2019 in the Russian Federation, TISCs operate on the platform of 170 business entities from 69 regions in 8 federal districts.

A complete list of business entities providing services in the TISC activities field is available on the Internet at the FIPS official website (www.fips.ru) in the section “Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs).”

In 2019 in accordance with the Agreements on TISC establishment, sets of Russian patent documentation were sent on optical DVD-ROMs (917 discs in total) to the Centers and the following information products and materials prepared by VPTB Division and posted on the FIPS website were regularly updated: “A Guidebook on VPTB collections and Internet resources”, the electronic catalog of patent and legal literature “IP legal protection: national and foreign publications”, “Internet navigator for patent and information resources”, lists of suggestive bibliography for regions, etc.

During 2019, Rospatent hosted 29 thematic meetings on vital intellectual property issues.  In total, 2,428 persons took part in these events, including 527 persons in videoconferencing mode organized by 11 regional TISCs.  The most active participants from TISCs were GPNTB SO RAN (Novosibirsk) – 12 meetings, Peter the Great Polytechnic University (Saint Petersburg) – 8 meetings, and Belgorod National Research University – 5 meetings.

From March 26 through 29, 2019,  the “Archimedes – 2019” XXII Moscow International Salon of Inventions and New Technologies was held at the Sokolniki Exhibition and Convention Center in Moscow with the support of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, the Moscow City Government, WIPO, Rospatent,  the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the All-Russian Society of Inventors and Innovators.  Representatives of more than 300 participating organizations from 35 countries and 44 regions of the Russian Federation attended the “Archimedes – 2019” Salon, and they presented over 800 inventions and innovative technologies.   

On March 27, 2019, as part of the “Archimedes – 2019” XXII Moscow International Salon of Inventions and New Technologies, a Rospatent international scientific and practical conference on “Invention, Innovation, and Patenting and Licensing Activity in the Digital Economy” was held.  Specialists from WIPO, Rospatent, FIPS, the Russian Export Center, and the Russian State Academy of Intellectual Property, as well as foreign inventors and representatives of Russian higher education institutions spoke at the conference.  The conference was attended by patent attorneys, representatives of scientific and industrial organizations, instructors from educational institutions, the press, as well as representatives of the Rospatent system. 

Assistance to developing countries

In accordance with the Agreements between Rospatent and the International Bureau of WIPO, Rospatent, acting as an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority, prepares search reports with preliminary examination reports on applications filed with the International Bureau of WIPO by developing countries.  In 2019, Rospatent received no such applications and no search reports were prepared.

Other activities

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS

Section "International Cooperation" on the website of the Office:

http://www.rupto.ru/ru/international-cooperation.

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.