Annual Technical Report 2004 on Industrial Design Information Activities submitted by Czech Republic (SCIT/ATR/ID/2004/CZ)
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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
In 2004, 597 industrial design applications were filed, representing a decrease in comparison with 2003 (683 applications). There were 173 foreign applications in 2004 representing a decrease compared to 2003 (264). The majority of foreign applications were from Germany (41). Most of the applications concerned packages and containers (98), means of transport or hoisting (57), building units (45) and household goods (44).
Legal protection of the design of industrial products through registration in the national register of industrial designs was slightly influenced by a similar legal regulation on the Community level in 2004. This is evidenced by a slight decrease of the number of local applications as compared to the previous year. It can be explained by the transfer of a part of the application potential for the benefit of the industrial system of the Community.
In 2004, 622 new industrial designs were registered, 386 of which belong to domestic holders; the total number of newly registered model variants was 2.329.
By the end of 2004, 4.930 national industrial designs were valid in the territory of the Czech Republic as well as more than 70 thousand industrial designs registered with the European Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market.
The average time taken for industrial design application proceedings became shorter in 2004 - it was 6 to 7 months (8 months in 2003).
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 Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic (IPO CZ) carries out the substantive examination of industrial design applications. The subject of the application is not published during the examination procedure. Subjects of negatively settled applications are also never published.
Industrial design information is accessible in the public reading room and in the Official Bulletin. The Official Bulletin of the IPO CZ (Vestnik UPV) is issued monthly (Part A - Inventions, Utility Models, Industrial Designs, Topographies of Semiconductor Products; Part B - Trademarks, Designations of Origin and Geographical Indications). The Bulletin A was issued in 220 copies, the Bulletin B in 250 copies.
As from No. 1/2000, the Official Bulletin is available on the web site of the IPO CZ as an electronic book in PDF format.
The standard content of the chapter "Industrial Designs" in part A was the following:
- List of registered industrial designs (numerical series with classification symbols)
- Registered industrial designs arranged according to the Locarno Classification (announcement contents, representation and bibliographic data)
- List of owners of registered industrial designs provided with the number of the registration and its classification
- Official decisions and announcements
III. Matters concerning classifying, reclassifying and indexing of industrial design information according to the classification systems applied
The 8th edition of the Locarno Classification has been used since January 1, 2004; the new files were created according to this new edition.
In 2004 the IPO CZ started to work on the reclassification of all designs in accordance with the current - 8th - version of the international classification of industrial designs.
IV. Search file establishment and upkeep
The industrial design search file of the IPO CZ comprises the industrial design collection of the Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia and official bulletins of foreign offices containing registered industrial designs.
V. Activities in the field of computerized search systems for industrial designs
The national search industrial design database contains basic bibliographic data including image information is operational. This database is accessible online via the web site of the IPO CZ. It can be used free of charge (http://isdvapl.upv.cz/pls/portal30/vz.vzfrm).
The IPO CZ has completed entering retrospective data in the search database of registered industrial designs, which is now completely accessible in this database. Now the database contains bibliographic as well as pictoral elements of approx. 50 thousand registered industrial designs while the oldest data come from the 1966/67 turn of the year.
In January 2004, the standard operation of the new information system for application proceedings and for keeping registers of subject matters of industrial rights (IS SyPP) was started. The aim of the project was to create a modifiable and extendable information system over one unified database and to replace two originally separated systems with different conceptions, designed separately for patents, utility models and designs and separately for trademarks. The system is equipped with electronic archiving of incoming and outgoing files. The system makes it possible to receive data of European patents, and processes data of proceedings for the database and for publishing in the Office Bulletin.
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)
An information centre operates during the working days. It provides the public with general information concerning design protection.
In the public reading room industrial design collections are available. Personal assistance and consultation for beginners are carried out by the staff. Clients can order searches as a charged service.
VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of industrial design documentation and information
Official Bulletin, Part A (containing also industrial designs) was distributed to almost 200 clients in the Czech Republic and in foreign countries.
Industrial design applications can be filed in paper or in electronic form.
VIII. Matters concerning education and training including technical assistance to developing countries
Various courses and seminars were organized for the students and representatives of SMEs or research institutions; Groups of university students were accepted in the premises of the IPO CZ.
In 2004, the two year study course of industrial property rights was conducted within the Office's own educational facility - the Industrial Property Training Institute.
The IPO CZ presented its information activities and products at the following exhibitons and trade fairs:
- International Machinery Trade Fair (Brno, CZ)
- MACH 2004 (Prague, CZ)
- FOR ARCH 2004 (Prague, CZ)
- Innovation 2004 (Prague, CZ)
- IENA - Exhibition of Inventions and Innovations (Nurnberg, DE)
- Exhibition of Inventions (Geneva, CH)
- PATLIB 2004 (Vilamoura, PT)
- EPIDOS 2004 (Prague, CZ)
The IPO CZ co-operated with Regional Patent Information Centres (PATLIB) in information product dissemination or providing training and education.
The IPO CZ issued the Industrial Property Journal every two months.
IX. Other relevant matters