Annual Technical Report on Trademark Information Activities in 2014 submitted by the State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania
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I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADEMARK INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
2014 has been a successful year for the State Patent Bureau: a record-breaking
number of registration applications for designs, trademarks
has been received.
2014 reflects the end of another major development at the State Patent Bureau – introduction
of the integrated online submission of applications for the protection of intellectual property,
and expansion of the range of applications than can be submitted electronically.
Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of trademark information activities and expected time frames for their realization
In 2014 the SPB successfully participated
in the projects of OHIM Cooperation
Fund.The Cooperation fund covers work in collaboration between OHIM and national officies. Main objectives of this project are: harmonization of practices, adaptation to the digital environment, improvement of technical system.The State Patent Bureau decided to participate in CF projects in order to adapt to the internal European and modern digital market.
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
In 2014 the SPB implemented the
pilot project Case Law Collection and Analysis.
New electronic services such as tm-efiling, ds-filing and e-services were deployed as a result of
cooperation of the IT Division with the Trademarks Division and the OHIM.
The new Online filing plug-in for applications for supplementary protection certificates has been
deployed in cooperation with the EP Office.
The capacity of Netapp data storage facility has been expanded in the process of increasing
database security. Register databases have been migrated from the old Sun SPARC architecture
servers into new x86 architecture servers operating in the virtual environment.
Physical security of the databases has also been increased: blinds have been installed on windows,
surveillance cameras have been installed, a new cooling system has been deployed.
Main areas of trademark information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
Back office - the full implementation of this project is planning in the second quarter of 2015 and the State Patent Bureau is in the process of completion of the final stages of this project. The Back Office is a workflow-based system for handling trademarks and designs throughout the whole life cycle of the process from application to registration and publication.It streamlines the work process and helps users to create and monitor correspondence with applicants. It calculates fees, handles files, organizes correspondence.
Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and registrations with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
At the end of 2014 75,713 registrations of trademarks, applications for which have been filed via
the national and the international ways, and 1,090,351 Community trademarks registered in
the Register of Community Trademarks of the EU were in effect in Lithuania.
In the year 2014, 22 trademarks were registered, the applications of which contained a request
claiming the conventional priority.
In the year 2014, 476 transfers of rights and 61 license agreements, 1,837 changes at the Register,
1,709 renewals, 167 securities of mark rights (withdrawals of securities) and 146 seizures
(withdrawals of seizures) were entered into the Register of the Trademarks of the Republic of
Lithuania, 3,109 registrations were cancelled, including 3,035 that were cancelled without the
extension of the registration effect time.
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
Statistics are accessed at :
http://www.vpb.gov.lt/docs/20150206_1.pdf
II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) - URLs
Current SPB information and support options are:
1. Via website: http://www.vpb.lt/index.php?l=EN
2. via telephone: +370 5 278 0290, fax: +370 5 275 0723
3. via e-mail: info@vpb.gov.lt
4. personally, in Patent Information Centre (PIC) which is a depository library of industrial property documents, official publications, literature and periodicals on industrial property of Lithuania, foreign countries and international organizations, the centre of publishing of patent documentation and patent information services in Lithuania.
The centre provides free and fee-paying services: patent documents are lent out and provided for usage in the reading room, visitors are consulted on the issues of patent search; patent clinic; bibliographical patent and applicants' searches, patent family and legal status searches, searches for trademarks and designs, monitoring of patent technologies, legal status of patents, monitoring of trademarks
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
Together with the new system the electronic services have been extended; now the applicant can not only submit the application for registration of a new IP right, but also can make requests for other actions, review the status of the documents, find the history reports.Electronic applications, signed by the person or his representative, have the same legal effect as paper-based documents. SPB issued documents will also be submitted electronically and signed with an electronic signature. For the submission of electronic documents, no special electronic equipment is required. The electronic application can be made via the SPB secure access website http://www.vpb.gov.lt/ or e-government gates http://www.epaslaugos.lt/.
Matters concerning classifying
(i) Classification and reclassification activities; classification systems used, e.g., International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification), International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification), other classification
(ii) Use of electronic classification systems and pre-defined terms of the classification applied
The State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania uses the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification ) 10th edition and International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification) 7th edition.
Matters concerning processing of different types of non-traditional marks (e.g., three-dimensional, motion, hologram, color mark, etc.)
N/A
Other activities
N/A
III. SOURCES OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE
Main types of publications in the field of trademark information, outline of the content and medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)
In 2014, the following publications were issued:
2013 Annual Report of the Patent Office of the Republic of Lithuania
Statistics of the year 2013 on the legal protection of industrial property in the Republic of Lithuania
12 official bulletins of the SPB have been published in 2014
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online, URL), etc.
http://www.vpb.lt/index.php?l=en&n=245
12 official bulletins of the SPB have been published in 2014
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
In 2014 the following information products were available to examiners:
Database of the Trademarks of the Republic of Lithuania has been accessible on SPB website (http://www.vpb.lt/index.php?l=en&n=300).
Internal database: Common Software (CS) v. 3.31
External databases:
CTM ONLINE database on OHIM's web-site;
TMview database on OHIM's web -site
Designview database
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
Database of the Trademarks of the Republic of Lithuania has been accessible on SPB website free of charge (http://www.vpb.lt/index.php?l=en&n=300).
Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
The bibliographic data and images are stored in our administrative management system Common Software (CS)
Other sources
N/A
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements
A publishing system with Epson scanner, a laser printer HP Laser Jet, PC Intel Pentium Based with Windows XP. All data including figurative elements are extracted from our administrative management system CS
Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
Common Software (CS) v. 3.31
Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
Common Software (CS) v. 3.31
Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
N/A
Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
Database of the Trademarks of the Republic of Lithuania has been accessible on SPB website (http://www.vpb.lt/index.php?l=en&n=300).
The SPB website Trademark Database has been an exact copy of the data stored in the Register of Trademark of the Republic of Lithuania and contained data on trademarks registered and applications filed directly with the State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania
Other matters
N/A
V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION
Office's library (if deals with trademark information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
Lithuanian Technical Library (LTL) also offered for visitors the opportunity to get acquainted with a wide range of Lithuanian publications (SPB Official Bulletin, etc.), Official Gazettes of foreign states and intergovernmental organizations.
The visitors of LTL had been consulted on the spot as well as by phone or e-mail and had an opportunity to order trademark search.
Search for the international and Community trademarks and other services also have been provided by Patent Information Centre of LTL (http://www.tb.lt/PIC/PIC.htm).
Publications related to different business procedures and trademark information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
As every year, in 2014 the SPB prepared an annual review publication containing statistics for
2013. The publication “How to Protect Industrial Property in Lithuania” in Lithuanian and
English, the memo “Patent Search: What Should Inventors Know?” have been published.
Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
Workshops on intellectual property assessment in universities were
held at Kaunas University of Technology and Klaipėda University in December 2014; the workshops
were organized at the initiative of the World Intellectual Property Organization and the
State Patent Bureau.
Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
As part of the projects implemented in the framework of Bilateral Cooperation Agreement with OHIM , round table discussions
on the subject of intellectual property were organized in Kaunas, Alytus and Panevėžys. Experts
of the SPB used the events as a venue to raise awareness about legal possibilities for trademark
and design protection available in Lithuania and the European Union, explain how to use trademark
and design databases of the SPB, OHIM and WIPO, run a trademark/design search and
present the most recent industrial property legislation of the Republic of Lithuania
Other activities
N/A
VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION
International exchange of trademark information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)
SPB Official Bulletin has been published in an electronic format and has been accessible on SPB website (http://www.vpb.lt/index.php?l=en&n=245).
Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to trademark information
In 2014 the SPB participated in the projects of the OHIM Cooperation Fund (CF) . Part of the projects is related with development of electronic services, access to industrial property information and its simplification.
Assistance to developing countries
N/A
Other activities
N/A
VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS
N/A