Annual Technical Report 2004 on Trademark Information Activities submitted by Russian Federation (SCIT/ATR/TM/2004/RU)
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I. Evolution of registration activities
Changes experienced in terms of application filings and registrations with respect to the previous year
In 2004, work continued on technological provision for the processes of examining and registering trademarks, as established by amended trademark legislation.
Technologies were introduced providing for the improvement of the processing procedures for trademark registration applications. A procedure was implemented for the insertion of changes in application documents, which reduced labor-related and financial expenditure incurred, by sending replacement sheets to an applicant instead of a complete corrected decision, and also regulating the insertion of changes in application documents once a decision to refuse to register a trademark has been dispatched. The deadlines for the grant of a certificate and publication of information on the registration of trademarks have been reduced through the implementation of a new procedure — the sending to the applicant of additional notification of the need to pay and deadlines for payment of a fee for trademark registration. Technology was devised for the issue of trademark certificate duplicates, allowing the amount of work done in this operation to be reduced, by transferring and using information for the printing of duplicates in electronic form.
Trends or areas experiencing rapid changes with respect to the previous year
The data on the filing of applications for the registration of trademarks in the Russian Federation in 2003 and 2004, shown in the table (attached), show an increase in the number of such applications filed in 2004, caused by an increase in the number of applications from Russian and foreign applicants.
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, and distribution of secondary sources of trademark information, i.e., trademark gazettes
Publishing, printing, copying techniques
In 2004, 19,787 announcements of trademark registration and 16 announcements of the registrations of appellations of origin were published.
The Official Gazette is published by means of automated systems using information collected in databases. The page proofs of the original mock-up are produced and then printed on a film and the original mock-up is sent to the printshop. Trademark publications are produced by means of offset printing.
During preparation for publication of the trademark information gazette, an electronic carrier is used, produced at the examination stage.
Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of trademark information
The Official Gazette of Rospatent, entitled Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin, is published every two weeks, i.e. 24 issues a year.
The Gazette contains information on the trademarks and service marks (bibliographical data and illustrations) entered in the State Register of Trademarks and Service Marks, and also appellations of origin (bibliographical data and description). In addition, the Gazette contains announcements of changes in the legal status of certificates, as well as systematic and numerical indexes of trademark certificates, and a numerical index of certificates for the right to use an appellation of origin.
In addition to the Official Gazette, during 2004 an annual index for the previous year’s gazette (seven parts) was also prepared and issued, and optical disks entitled Trademarks of the Russian Federation continued to be issued — 24 disks (twice a month).
During 2004, work was done to translate the Official Gazette Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin for publication in electronic form. The first edition of the above Gazette has, since January 1, 2005, been issued on an electronic carrier.
Since 2001, users have been offered a retrospective set on DVD: one disk contains a file of trademark information for the years 1991 to 2004. This is distributed together with the software MIMOSA.
Mass storage media and microforms used
Data are stored on paper, diskettes and optical disks, as well as in the form of databases or files.
Word processing and office automation
In the Russian Federation Trademarks Automated System, work was completed in 2004 to devise a single search system in relation to the identity and similarity of graphic elements of the designations of trademarks based on a linguistic module — the SILOIZ system — version 1. The system was brought into industrial operation as part of the procedure for examining the whole file of applications received.
For the national trademark registration procedure, the work done to modernize the Russian Federation Trademarks Automated System provided the opportunity to avoid completely the use of paper card files.
For the international registration procedure, in 2004 automated procedures were introduced for the paperless exchange of data on international registrations in electronic form between WIPO and Rospatent as part of the general МЕСА project, on the basis of which an electronic document management system is being introduced in Rospatent. This allowed the compilation of paper card files for international registrations to be stopped and examination of claimed trademark designations to be introduced, through access to current documents on international registrations directly from the automated workplace of an examiner.
Techniques used for the generation of trademark information (printing, recording, photocomposing, etc.)
Technological equipment allowing ready printed copies to be produced in the form of printed editions and facsimiles (photocopies) is used to prepare for printing and production. This equipment comprises machines for printing processes, printing information in facsimile form, microfilming and printing microfilms (microfiches).
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)
Since January 1, 2002, Rospatent has used the eighth edition of the International Classification of Goods and Services (ICGS) to classify goods and services.
The International Classification of Figurative Elements of Marks is used to classify figurative elements.
The recommended WIPO Standard (ST60) is used to index bibliographical data.
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
In order to check classification symbols used by an applicant in a list of goods and/or services, electronic classification systems are used allowing each term presented by an applicant to be checked against the ICGS and a decision to be taken for examination purposes.
Obligation for applicants to use pre-defined terms of the classification applied
In application documents, applicants must use the terms of the ICGS.
Bibliographic data and processing for search purposes
Bibliographical data are processed for search purposes with the aid of a number of automated search systems (ASS) as part of the Russian Federation Trademarks Automated System.
IV. Trademark manual search file establishment and upkeep
File Building
The collection of trademark gazettes, published separately, is arranged alphabetically by country name and, for individual countries, in chronological order.
The trademark manual search collection is arranged on the basis of the following information files:
a collection of designations claimed as trademarks in the Russian Federation and filed directly with Rospatent (national procedure);
a collection of trademarks registered in accordance with the national procedure;
a collection of international marks claimed and registered under the Madrid Agreement;
a collection of figurative elements of trademarks;
a collection of literary information sources.
Updating
The trademark manual search collection is updated by adding trademark applications filed both under the national procedure and the Madrid Agreement, newly arrived literature, and new acquisitions of official publications of Rospatent and the WIPO International Bureau.
Machine-readable data arrive on a daily basis by electronic communications means, relating to international applications covering the whole of the territory of the Russian Federation, and the information is inputted without a keyboard, for subsequent multipurpose use within the Russian Federation Trademarks Automated System.
Storage, including mass storage media
Data stored on paper, diskettes and optical disks, as well as in the form of databases or files.
Documentation from other offices maintained and/or considered part of the available search file
Optical disks from WIPO and countries such as Germany, Japan, Republic of Korea, United States of America and so on are used as part of the search collection.
V. Activities in the field of computerized trademark search systems
In-house systems (online/offline)
Since 1991, Rospatent has used databases of published trademarks on optical CD-ROMs entitled Тrademarks of Russia. Also used are databases supplied through the Internet, which include information previously published on the above CD-ROMs and internationally registered trademark databases operating on Russian territory.
Software has been devised for work with the trilingual version of ICGS-8, integrated with the Russian Federation Trademarks Automated Examination System.
External databases
Experts use the external Questel - Orbit databases as well as those freely available on the Internet.
Administrative management systems (e.g., register, legal status, statistics, administrative support, etc.)
As part of the implementation of the program of complex modernization of the automated systems of Rospatent, in 2004:
- operational testing was completed for the prototype of the automated trademarks search system (TM-EXAM-SEARCH system - version 1), the system was deployed with the weekly migration of data from the existing Russian Federation Trademarks Automated system to the TM-EXAM-SEARCH - version 1 environment, and the system operated in the production environment for the processing of the operational features of the future system with the structural solution devised;
- the specific features of the second version of the automated trademark search system (TM-EXAM-SEARCH system - version 2) began to be determined;
- the specific features of an automated system for the electronic processing and management of electronic document flow for trademarks (TM-ADMIN system) were produced, and the concept of the system’s safety was devised and approved.
Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), carriers used
Equipment used:
Compaq Proliant5000 Server
(ОM - 256 МB, processors-2, external memory-38GB)
Compaq Proliant2500 Server
(ОM - 32 МB, processors - 1, external memory – 8GB)
(ОM - 64 МB, processors - 1, external memory – 3GB)
Compaq 586, P MMX, PII, Fujitsu-Siemens workstations - 390 units.
Switching equipment:
Equipment for lines ISDN MAX 200Plus c (8/4) WAN PCMCIA
TypeII/TypeI; SmartSWITCH 6000
Software:
SINIX, Novell, Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.
Media used:
DLTtape III, DLTtape IV, SDLT magnetic tape.
VI. Administration of trademark 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)
Collection management, preservation
The collection of trademark gazettes, published separately, is arranged alphabetically by country name and, for individual countries, in chronological order.
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)
In 2004, issues of trademark gazettes represented more than 10,000 storage units on paper carriers, and approximately 21,000 optical disks were viewed by users.
For information users in the field of trademarks, services relating to the provision of the various types of information searches are on offer.
The Federal Institute of Industrial Property (FIPS) issues information on trademarks registered in the Russian Federation, on CD-ROM and DVD. Users are provided with annual sets containing complete information in the Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin Gazette (including illustrations). Disks are distributed together with the software MIMOSA, which allows searches of bibliographical data, ICGS indexes, a list of goods and/or services, and also a combination thereof, to be made.
A set of information current for 2004 was issued twice a month.
In 2004, users were offered a retrospective set on DVD containing trademark information for the years 1991 to 2004. The set is distributed together with the software MIMOSA.
Through the Internet (www.rupto.ru) Rospatent provides access to a Russian trademarks database which contains information on Russian trademark certificates from 1991 to 2004 inclusive, and which is updated twice per month. In 2004, access was obtained through the Internet to the Appellations of Origin database and also to a database of international trademarks containing the designation Russia (from 1980 to 2004; updated monthly).
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
Within the framework of international exchange in 2004, Rospatent sent its official Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin gazette to foreign countries:
on optical disks – 58 annual sets to 54 сountries.
The All-Russian Patent Technology (VPTB) Division received trademark information both in the form of special gazettes and also sections of industrial property gazettes from 44 countries and three international organizations.
In 2004, the following were received: 522 copies on paper carriers, 389 copies on optical disks; and industrial property gazettes with sections devoted to trademarks —246 copies and 92 copies respectively.
Exchange of machine-readable information
In 2004, 92 copies of trademark gazettes and sections containing information on trademarks in industrial property gazettes were received on optical disks from WIPO and countries such as Germany, Japan, Republic of Korea and the United States of America.
VIII. Matters concerning education and training including technical assistance to developing countries
Promotional activities (seminars, exhibitions, visits, advertising, etc.)
Various aspects of trademark protection were discussed at events such as a conference and round table entitled Protection of Industrial Property Subject Matter in Russia as part of the Seventh International Industrial Property Exhibition “Аrchimedes-2004”, a seminar entitled “Enforcement of rights in intellectual property subject matter, taking into account the amendments made to the legislation of the Russian Federation. Licensing-agreement relations”, an annual scientific and practical conference entitled “problem aspects of the theory and practice of intellectual property protection” (plenary session on the subject: current issues relating to the theory and practice of legal protection for trademarks, industrial designs, inventions and utility models).
Training courses for national and foreign participants
The retraining program course entitled An A to Z of Trademarks continued at the Russian State Intellectual Property Institute (RGIIS).