Annual Technical Report 2007 on Trademark Information Activities submitted by Australia (SCIT/ATR/TM/2007/AU)
Where URLs are requested below, it is preferred that either URLs which are likely to remain stable over time (three years or more) are provided, or home (main) page URLs are provided with a short explanation of how to access the corresponding information.
I. Evolution of registration activities
Changes experienced in terms of application filings and registrations with respect to the previous year
Total Applications:
2006: 100623
2007: 108487
+ 7.8%
Applications Madrid:
2006: 18790
2007: 21142
+ 12.5%
Registrations:
2006: 69865
2007: 77245
+ 10.6%
Trends or areas experiencing rapid changes with respect to the previous year
Applications filed through the Goods and Services pick-list continue to increase, while paper applications continue to decrease significantly.
URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide statistics related to trademarks
ipaustralia.gov.au
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, and distribution of secondary sources of trademark information, i.e., trademark gazettes
Publishing, printing, copying techniques
The Australian Official Journal of Trade Marks (the Trademark Gazette) is published weekly. There are 50 issues per year - the Easter and Christmas weeks being excluded. The Journal is available on-line, free of charge, via the IP Australia Internet site and contains both bibliographic text and images. Hard copy journal publication has been discontinued.
Standard Notices and Letters are produced via the Trade Marks mainframe business application as XEROX XICS output.
Examination Reports are generated in Word format
Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of trademark information
The Official Journal contains the following announcements:
- Applications Filed
- Applications Accepted for Registration
- Amendments and Changes
- Applications Lapsed Withdrawn and Refused
- Trade Marks Registered
- Assignments, Transmittals and Transfers
- Cancellation of Entries in Register
- Renewal of Registration of Trade Marks
- Opposition Proceedings
- Removal for Non-use Proceedings
- Official Notices
The IP Australia web-site also provides access to a variety of forms and publications, IP Legislation, Official Notices, Hearings Decisions, Practice & Procedure Manuals, etc
Mass storage media and microforms used
The Office's bibliographic data is maintained on an ADABAS Natural (zOS) mainframe. Trade Mark images (devices) are stored in a Unix file directory. The Office also utilises an e-case (Electronic Document Management System) repository which contains all documentation relating to the prosecution of applications.
Word processing and office automation
Journal production is fully automated, apart from the inclusion of ad-hoc notices which are produced in Word. Examination reports are composed in Word using a set of word processing standard paragraphs. Standard notices for administrative actions are automatically despatched from the Trade Mark mainframe system.
Techniques used for the generation of trademark information (printing, recording, photocomposing, etc.)
As mentioned above, bibliographic data (ADABAS as XEROX XICS output) and images from Unix are merged for Journal production.
URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide access to online trademark gazettes and to other sources of trademark information, including download of bulk trademark data
The Australian Offical Journal of Trade Marks can be accessed at the following URL: http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/epublish/content/olsEpublications.jsp
III. Matters concerning classifying, reclassifying and indexing of trademark information
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 (please indicate whether goods and services for the registration of marks and whether the figurative elements of marks are classified by your Office and, if so, which classification(s) is (are) used)
Australia classifies goods and services according to the Nice Classification. Australia implemented the 9th Edition of Nice on 1 January 2007, with all applications filed on or after that date being classified according to the 9th Edition. No reclassification of applications/registrations filed prior to 1 January 2007 was undertaken.
Australia does not use the Vienna Classification scheme to classify the figurative elements of marks. Rather, figurative elements are classified (and searched) according to a glossary of device terms developed by the Office. For example, the WIPO device is indexed as follows:
1 ANNULUS 2 CONCENTRIC
3 HAND 4 PEN
5 BOOK,OPEN 6 GRAIN,EAR
7 VIOLIN 8 WHEEL,GEAR
9 MUSICAL-INSTRUMENT
10 CIRCLE+
11 ROUND 12 ROUND+
Each device term may then be used as a search criteria, either singularly or in combination, in order to locate marks with similar device characteristics.
Use of electronic classification systems to check the classification symbols furnished by an applicant and which are contained in the lists of goods and/or services
Applicants are not obliged to use pre-defined classification terms. Checking of goods or services statements is performed manually where the statement is furnished by the applicant.
In 2005, Australia introduced a new on-line application form (e-form) which allows selection of goods/services relating to a Trade Mark via a set of pre-defined classification terms (Pick-list). In March 2007, a reduced fee was introduced for applicants who specify their goods/services by use of the Pick-list. The fee reduction has resulted in over 50% of electronic filers using the Pick-list functionality. Goods and services statements provided via the Pick-list functionality require no manual checking.
The terms in the Pick-list are also those which form the basis of the Goods and Services help within the Trade Mark database, ATMOSS.
Obligation for applicants to use pre-defined terms of the classification applied
There is no obligation for applicants to use pre-defined terms. As mentioned above, the Trade Mark e-form gives applicants the choice to use a pre-defined set of terms (Pick-list) at reduced cost or alternatively to specify their own goods/services.
Bibliographic data and processing
Bibliographic data is stored against each trade mark application in the ADABAS Natural business administration system. Transaction history records are created as this data is updated during the life-cycle of the trade mark. The business administration system allows access to this data via a variety of search utilities. Whilst the search utilities are used primarily for internal purposes, some of IP Australia's larger customers (mainly trade mark attorneys) access a sub-set of these utilities via a terminal emulator over the internet. Additionally, data from the ADABAS Natural system is carried in real time to the Australian Trade Marks On-line Search System (ATMOSS) – a mid-range ORACLE web-server application. ATMOSS allows both internal and public access to bibliographic data, and trade mark images, via the IP Australia internet site, and most customers now use this application in preference to the mainframe.
IV. Trademark manual search file establishment and upkeep
File Building
The EDMS e-case file is established for each trade mark application on filing. The EDMS has been developed in-house using a proprietary Australian EDMS product, Objective. The system is known as TRACS; the Trade mark Records, Applications and Correspondence System.
Updating
The TRACS e-case file is updated (added to) as correspondence is received from the applicant/agent or third party, and additionally, as it is generated by the Office. TRACS also contains the search material considered by the examiner during the course of substantive examination, and will also contain information relating to Opposition matters if the application proceeds along such a path.
Storage, including mass storage media
The TRACS case file stores a variety of Word, Adobe pdf, and XML files.
V. Activities in the field of computerized trademark search systems
In-house systems (online/offline)
Searching for conflicting marks can be conducted via the mainframe application or ATMOSS. All searching by examiners is conducted through ATMOSS with search extracts then forming part of the search file in TRACS.
External databases
The Office has developed a simple utility to search a number of external databases - principally dictionaries, gazetteers, reference titles, etc - so as to streamline distinctiveness searching. Examiners routinely search the Internet for the same purpose.
Administrative management systems (e.g., register, legal status, statistics and administrative support)
As mentioned previously, the primary business system is the ADABAS Natural mainframe application, TMARK, running on IBM zOS. TMARK interfaces to a number of satellite applications, eg Word for production of reports, XICS for publishing output, a couple of mid-range applications for EDI under the Madrid Protocol, an automated data capture utility (ADC) for capturing data received electronically, and ATMOSS. Document management is handled via TRACS.
All processing relating to the life-cycle of a trade mark (apart from financial processing) is conducted within this environment. The Trade Mark Office, along with the Patent and Design Offices in IP Australia is in the process of transitioning our business applications from the mainframe to our strategic server infrastructure environment. This environment includes Sun Solaris, Oracle RDBMS, J2EE, BEA Weblogic, and Objective EDMS.
Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), carriers used
The Canberra Office has an ethernet-based LAN providing high speed bandwidth for each user desktop connection. A frame relay-based WAN provides connections from Canberra to each State Capital. A DMZ-based, DSD approved firewall using IAN ports (Internet IEFT Assigned Numbers) provides the secure means to allow access from internal systems/users to external entities such as the Internet or public/private organisations.
The current SOE includes Windows XP with Office SE 2003, IE 6.0 SP1, and Lotus Notes.
VI. Administration of trademark information products and services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, registering trademarks, assisting clients with search procedures, obtaining official publications and registry extracts)
Planning, administration, automation, security
IP Australia has State Offices in each of the Australian State Capitals providing public access to a range of services, including filing, searching, official publications, registers and general advice and information. Increasingly, IP Australia is using its web site as a means of providing an alternative means of public access to these services, as well as new services such as electronic filing (currently approximately 55% of trade mark applications are filed online) and trade mark searching via ATMOSS. IP Australia is currently finalising the design of a system to support business-to-business data exchange of patents, industrial designs and trade marks transactions with its high volume clients (Patents and Trade Mark Attorneys). This system will be consistent with WIPO electronic filing and National e-commerce standards.
Collection management, preservation
All Australian Trade Mark records/documents are handled in accordance with Office procedures set down under Australian Law and archiving practices.
Information services available to the public (including computerized services and search files contained in libraries remote from your Office and trademark information posted by your Office on the World Wide Web)
Information services are available on the IP Australia website and at State Offices.
URLs of web pages of the Office's website for electronic filing of trademark applications
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/apply_index.shtml
URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide information on business procedures such as: filing, publication, examination and registration procedures related to trademarks; opposition and appeal procedures related to trademarks; etc.
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/resources/forms_trademarks.shtml
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/resources/manuals_trademarks.shtml
URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide a description of information products and services offered by the Office (e.g., trademark search service(s) and trademark databases), as well as information on how to access and utilize them
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/process_index.shtml
VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of trademark documentation and information
International or regional cooperation in the exchange of trademark information, e.g., in the form of official gazettes
Largely restricted to the Official Gazette which is available to all on-line.
Exchange of machine-readable information
SGML/XML (MECA) exchange between IP Australia and the IB.
VIII. Matters concerning education and training, including technical assistance to developing countries (please indicate URLs of web pages of the Office’s website wherever appropriate)
Promotional activities (seminars, exhibitions, visits, advertising, etc.)
Some of IP Australia’s promotional activities included:
• Holding a successful seminar series in capital cities about the Chinese IP systems. The target audience was Australian companies thinking of conducting business in China. The objective was to increase businesses understanding of the administration and enforcement of IP in China.
• Hosting an APEC 2007 symposium, Trading Ideas – The Future of IP in Asia-Pacific. Speakers from around the region provided unique insights into the IP challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region and broader international community. Approximately 500 delegates representing Australian business, the IP professionals, governments from around the region, universities and research centres attended the event. Over 30 countries were represented at the event.
• Promoted the theme of IP at a major floral festival which attracted over 370,000 people.
• Participation in a number of national small business summits and conferences.
• IP Australia organised a number of initiatives for World IP Day, including: promotional activities on major national television and radio networks; an on-line forum; and events at all State Offices which attracted over 1000 people.
• IP Australia re-branded and launched TM Headstart, a pre-application service for TM applicants.
Training courses for national and foreign participants
• In 2007-08 IP Australia provided training for two trade mark examiners from the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO). The aim of the training placement was to better understand Australia’s search, examination and administrative practices to help inform improvements to TIPO practices and trade mark legislation.
IP Australia worked jointly with WIPO to host a workshop titiled “How to Enhance Intellectual Property Competitiveness in Select Industries in ASEAN”. The workshop was held in Cambodia from 5-6 November. The focus of this activity was to enhance the ability of Chamber of Commerce organisations and IP offices within the ASEAN to improve the understanding of IPR issues among their members.
Assistance to developing countries (sending consultants and experts, receiving trainees from developing countries, etc.)
• IP Australia, with the IP offices of Singapore and Hong Kong, implemented part of a four year APEC-funded project which aims to enhance the public education and awareness skills and resources of all APEC Member Economies.
• IP Australia provided office equipment and computers to help Tonga reconstruct their IP Office which had been destroyed.
IX. Other general information related to the Office that is available on the Internet -- URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that:
provide information on legislation related to trademarks
Act: http://www.timebase.com.au/IPAust/index.cfm?fuseaction=Content.Main&id=1400&date=2007-08-03
Regs: http://www.timebase.com.au/IPAust/index.cfm?fuseaction=Content.Main&id=2900&date=2008-07-03
contain the Annual Report of the Office
http://www.innovation.gov.au/Pages/A2ZIndex.aspx?keyword=annual%20reports
contain trademark-related news regarding the Office
http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/resources/lists_index.shtml