Annual Technical Report 2003 on Industrial Design Information Activities submitted by Norway (SCIT/ATR/ID/2003/NO)
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The expression "industrial designs" covers industrial designs and models. Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in this series of Annual Technical Reports.
I. Evolution of registration activities
The national design applications are filed in a standardized paper form, which can be printed from NPO’s web site. If filed by telefax, the original document must promptly follow in the mail.
Numbers of national applications filed in 2002: 814
Numbers of national applications filed in 2003: 714
The trend the last few years shows an even and modest decrease in design applications:
The Office examined 447 applications (738 in 2002).
The number of design applications granted was 334 (549 in 2002).
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, and distribution of industrial design documents and of secondary sources of industrial design information, i.e., official gazettes
The design application journal and design register are done manually for design applications filed before March 31st 2003. For design applications filed after that date, the register and handling of documents and procedure of the applications are done electronically.
The NPO publishes a design gazette every fortnight, Norsk designtidende (The Norwegian Industrial Design Gazette). The Gazette contains bibliographic data and images of the registered designs. It also contains announcements in respect of designs extended for a new period of protection and other proceedings under the Designs Act.
The bibliographic data of the Gazette is entered in a Microsoft Word file. The file is then imported into Adobe Page Maker, where it is merged with the design reproductions, which are being scanned. The pdf-file is published on the Internet. From January 1, 2002, the Design Gazette is available in electronic format only from the NPO’s web site www.patentstyret.no . We have no longer a subscription service and we do not send paper copies of the Gazette to patent offices, libraries or others.
III. Matters concerning classifying, reclassifying and indexing of industrial design information according to the classification systems applied
Norway is a member of the Locarno Classification Agreement, and the search files are
classified in accordance with the agreement. There is no Norwegian translation of the Locarno
Classification list of goods. A list of classes and subclasses with explanatory notes is translated into Norwegian and published.
For design applications and registered designs filed after March 31st 2003, Norwegian Patent Office now has an electronically accessible database.
IV. Search file establishment and upkeep
NPO has an electronic search file for applications and registered designs filed after March 31st 2003. The database contains all bibliographical data, as applicant or holder, product specification, priority and images of the design. Concerning applications and registrations filed before March 31st 2003, the search files are done manually. Both search files are updated on a daily basis.
V. Activities in the field of computerized search systems for industrial designs
The already mentioned electronic design register, which also includes the official document/correspondence journal, is kept on a server in a local network of PCs, and allows searches on words and Locarno classes. Pictures of the designs are scanned, and kept in the electronic design register as images in tif or jpeg-format. They are viewable on screen, but at present the searches also have to be performed manually when they concern designs filed before March 31st 2003.
The SANT programme will also make information on design rights electronically accessible to our customers, but provisionally it is an in-house system.
VI. Administration of industrial design services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, registering designs, assisting clients with search procedures, obtaining official publications and registry extracts)
The Norwegian Patent Office is situated in Oslo. The Office is open to the public, and is most
frequently used by agents/attorneys for information purposes. The official design register is
open to the public inspection Monday - Friday between 0900 and 1500. The Info Centre and library can answer questions and give general information concerning industrial property rights to the public. The search files and applications are available to the public, except the applications for which publication has been deferred. Customers may visit the Office to examine the search files, or they may send an inquiry to the Office. The NPO has a Search and Examination Service, which provides searches for a fee. In addition there is a documentation service where the public may obtain register transcripts from the official registers or copies of defined registrations for a small copy fee.
More specific information on the services is on the web site: www.patentstyret.no
VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of industrial design documentation and information
The Norwegian Patent Office still receives official design gazettes from some national offices. No paper copies of the Norwegian Design Gazette are distributed to patent offices in other countries.
Samples from the other Nordic countries are circulated weekly among the executive officers in the Office. The Office does not forward any machine-readable information. The Office also exchanges our final decisions with respect to registration of design applications with the other offices of the Nordic countries.
VIII. Matters concerning education and training including technical assistance to developing countries
The NPO has exhibits at fairs for industry, trade and oil/gas in order to promote protection of intellectual property, the use of design information and other industrial property rights. The NPO carried out 30 courses and seminars, covering all aspects of intellectual property rights.
For the third year in a row, the NPO arranged a training programme on industrial property rights for representatives from developing countries. In 2003, 20 participants attended a 7-day course, where trademark was the main theme. These courses are carried out in association with WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization).
In 2003, the NPO initiated a campaign to attract the attention of the media to the significance of industrial property rights. In the second quarter of 2003, we started to measure the effect of these efforts, and found that we have had 29 interviews/articles in a variety of media. Our web site now includes pressroom, an email newsletter and FAQ.
In 2002 we signed a cooperation agreement with the Norwegian Design Council and Abelia. The Commercial Services Department has worked particularly towards establishing contacts in research environments in Norway. We have succeeded in establishing contact with science parks, and have arranged several special courses for them, resulting in an increasing demand.
IX. Other relevant matters
The SANT-project
In 1998 the Norwegian Patent Office launched the SANT programme (Case handling with the use of New Technology), a comprehensive IT project aimed at establishing a complete system for electronic case handling (workflow based) and electronic document management (Documentum®).
Information on industrial rights will be electronically accessible to the public.
The project aims to make the case handling, the document handling, handling of case officer portfolios and the access of the public more efficient, and to simplify the exchange of information with other patent authorities and/or international IP organizations, such as WIPO.
The main vendor of the new case handling system is the French company SWORD S.A. The NPO launched the first step of the SANT programme on March 31st 2003 for design applications.
The Takisai® - Project
The NPO’s Takisai® project is a project for secure communication between the NPO and others. The project is based on “Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)”.
Public Key Infrastructure ensures that 1) availability, 2) authentication, 3) confidentiality, 4) non-repudiation, 5) traceability, 6) authorization and 7) integrity of a communication/document is maintained. Based on the PKI we will therefore have a fully secure communication channel between a party and the NPO.
The Takisai project will be an integrated part of the SANT system.