Annual Technical Report 2003 on Trademark Information Activities submitted by Russian Federation (SCIT/ATR/TM/2003/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 2003, work on technological provision for the procedure of registering trademarks, established by new trademark legislation, was basically completed.
The standard-setting documents drawn up and which entered into force cover all the procedures for the registration process: from the registration of an application received to the publication of information relating to the registration of a trademark in the official gazette.
New types of certificates came into force, for a trademark (service mark), collective mark and a well-known trademark.
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 2002 and 2003, shown in the table, indicate a slight decline in the number of such applications filed in 2003, caused by a reduction in the number of applications from Russian applicants. The reduction in the receipt of applications for registration in 2003 is linked to the fact that, in accordance with the TRIPS Agreement, the level of the fees for compliance with the requirements for the filing of applications by national and foreign applicants was adjusted.
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, and distribution of secondary sources of trademark information, i.e., trademark gazettes
Publishing, printing, copying techniques
In 2003, 30,680 announcements of trademark registration and 22 announcements of the registration 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 which 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.
An annual index to the gazette was also published (three volumes) and optical disks entitled Trademarks of the Russian Federation continued to be issued – 12 disks (one per month).
Since 2001, users have been offered a retrospective set on DVD: one disk contains an array of trademark information for the years 1991-2003. 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 arrays.
Word processing and office automation
Within the Russian Federation Trademarks Automated System, work has been completed to devise a single search system in relation to the identity and similarity of graphic elements to the designations of trademarks based on a linguistic module – the SILOIZ system. The system is brought into operation as part of the process of examining the whole array of applications received.
For the national trademark registration procedure, the work done to modernize the Russian Federation Trademarks Automated System provided the opportunity to abstain fully from using paper card files.
For the international registration procedure, from 2003 onwards individual automated procedures were introduced along with the multilateral testing of software for the paperless exchange of data on international registrations in electronic form between WIPO and Rospatent as part of the general MECA project.
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 state 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)
From January 2002 onwards, Rospatent 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 applicants 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 file is arranged on the basis of the following information arrays:
a file of designations claimed as trademarks in the Russian Federation and filed directly with Rospatent (national procedure);
a file of trademarks registered in accordance with the national procedure;
a file of international marks claimed and registered under the Madrid Agreement;
a file of figurative elements of trademarks;
a file of literary information sources.
Updating
The trademark manual search file 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 communication 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 are stored on paper, diskettes and optical disks, as well as in the form of databases or arrays.
Documentation from other offices maintained and/or considered part of the available search file
Optical disks received 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 file.
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 Trademarks 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.)
The Russian Federation Trademarks Automated System functions on the basis of a computer system set up as part of the unified local corporate PEVM network. Information on all trademarks valid on the territory of the Russian Federation and all trademarks filed for registration is inputted into the Automated System on a weekly basis.
Technology has been introduced for reviewing and processing documents at the preliminary examination and examination stages of a claimed designation, envisaging the automated preparation of all types of outgoing correspondence at the preliminary examination stage, and also decisions and examination requests for a claimed designation.
As part of the implementation of the program of complex modernization of the automated systems of Rospatent (2000-2005), the development of a new trademark search system – TM-EXAM-SEARCH – began along with its temporary integration for the exchange of data with the Russian Federation Trademarks Automated System in operation.
Work began on determining the basic components of the specification of the automated TM-ADMIN system for managing the circulation of electronic documents relating to trademarks.
Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), carriers used
Equipment used:
Compaq Proliant 5000 Server
(OM – 256 MB, processors – 2, external memory – 38 GB)
Compaq Proliant 2500 Server
(OM – 32 MB, processors – 1, external memory – 8 GB)
(OM – 64 MB, processors – 1, external memory – 3 GB)
Compaq 586, P MMX, PII, Fujitsu-Siemens workstations – 340 units.
Switching equipment:
Equipment for lines ISDN MAX 200Plus c (8/4) WAN PCMCIA
TypeII/TypeI; Smart Switch 6000
Software:
SINIX, Novell, Windows95, 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 2003, issues of trademark gazettes represented approximately 5,300 storage units on paper carriers, and 10,000 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, as well as a combination thereof, to be made.
A set of information current for 2003 was issued once a month on a cumulative basis – the first disk contained information for January 2003, while each subsequent disk contained the information from the previous disk and was updated with current information.
In 2003, users were offered a retrospective set on DVD containing trademark information for the years 1991 to 2002. 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 2003 inclusive, and which is updated monthly. In 2003, 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 2003; 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 2003, Rospatent sent its official Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin gazette to foreign countries:
in paper format, 43 annual sets to 41 countries;
on microfiches, 17 annual sets to 15 countries.
Four hundred and eighteen copies of industrial property gazettes in paper format, with sections devoted to trademarks, as well as 121 copies on optical disks, were received from 45 countries and three international organizations.
Exchange of machine-readable information
In 2003, 121 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 seminar on the “Legal protection of Marks”, a conference and round table as part of the Sixth International Industrial Property Exhibition “Archimedes-2003”, and a conference on “Modern case-law of courts and offices of the European Union for cases relating to absolute grounds for the refusal to register trademarks”. For the purposes of disseminating information on the latest changes in the sphere of intellectual property protection legislation, a specific seminar was held 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”.
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).
IX. Other relevant matters