Annual Technical Report 2008 on Industrial Design Information Activities submitted by Estonia (SCIT/ATR/ID/2008/EE)
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.
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 Estonia it is possible to apply for protection of industrial designs pursuant to the Industrial Designs Protection Act, which entered into force on 11 January 1998. Since 1 May 2004 the legal acts of the European Community on industrial designs, including the Council Regulation 6/2002/EC of 12 December 2001 on legal protection of the Community designs, have been in force in Estonia. Pursuant to this Regulation besides the existing ordinary possibilities for registration all industrial designs disclosed to the public within the territory of the European Community shall automatically have a 3-year protection against copying.
Since 1 April 2004 the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs has been in force. In order to protect an industrial design via the Hague system an application should be filed with the International Bureau of WIPO in Geneva either in English or French, designating the countries, where the applicant wants to obtain protection.
On 18 April 2008 an amendment, according to which it is possible to file international applications also via the patent office, entered into force.
Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Denmark out of the Nordic countries have acceded with the Hague system. Norway, Finland and Sweden are preparing for accession. Low level of WIPO fees, which did not cover the expenses of the offices, prevented the Nordic countries from accession until now. Since 1 January 2008 there has been a new structure of fees, which meant an increase in expenses for the applicants, but should also increase the number of countries participating in the system.
In Estonia industrial designs are registered by formal registration system. The Estonian Patent Office does not examine the industrial design as to its novelty, individual character, industrial applicability or the right of a person to file the application. The rights of the owner of the registered industrial design may be contested in court.
On 4 December 2008 electronic filing of applications for registration of industrial designs in the Estonian Patent Office via a portal of electronic filing of applications for legal protection of industrial property. The address of the portal is http://online.epa.ee/. The Estonian ID card is required for the entry into the portal.
Changes experienced in terms of application filings and grants (registrations) with respect to the previous year
An industrial design application can be compiled by anyone, who has entered the portal. But an application can only be filed with the Estonian Patent Office when it is digitally signed by the applicant or the patent attorney. Upon request the Estonian Patent Office issues a notification of the acceptance of the patent application, which can be saved or printed out.
Industrial design registration applications filed with the Patent Office in 2008 numbered 94, which is 22% less than in 2007. 45 international industrial design registrations were received under the Hague Agreement, which is significantly (35%) less than last year (70 in 2007).
Although the number of applications decreased in 2008, interest in industrial designs did not decrease. 52 people had consultations in the Estonian Patent Office (55 in 2007). Besides, many more received assistance by phone or e-mail. Presentations on industrial designs were made at the intellectual property seminars in Kullamaa, Viljandi, Võru, Hiiumaa and Tallinn.
The Estonian Patent Office made altogether 185 decisions on registration of industrial designs. 21 notifications of refusals were sent to the WIPO, as there is a requirement in Estonia that an application may include only one industrial design, variants of an industrial design or a set of industrial designs. Refusals can be avoided by dividing an international registration into separate applications to meet the requirement.
At the end of 2008 the number of pending national registration applications was 14 and the number of pending international registrations was 26. The average duration of the processing of an industrial design is 1 to 2 months.
The number of industrial designs entered in the register of industrial designs in Estonia was 1010 on 31 December 2008. Legal protection in Estonia was granted to 652 international registrations of industrial designs. In addition to them there were 359,480 registered Community designs (see http://oami.europe.eu/en/office/stats.htm), including 106 from Estonia, and unregistered Community industrial designs.
Trends or areas experiencing rapid changes with respect to the previous year
In 2008 the most popular designed products at registration of industrial designs were construction materials and framing elements (25%), furniture (17%), packages (7%) and watches (6%).
By countries the majority of the applications and international registrations were filed from Estonia (60%), followed by Germany (12%), Switzerland (7%), and Finland (5%).
TOP 5 countries
(Registered industrial designs in 2008)
Estonia 87
Finland 42
Ukraine 3
Spain 1
France 1
TOP 5 countries
(International registrations of industrial designs entered into force in Estonia in 2008)
Switzerland 97
Germany 6
Spain 3
France 2
Turkey 2
TOP 5 countries
(Registrations of industrial designs valid in force in Estonia in 2008)
Finland 455
Estonia 390
Germany 21
Sweden 18
Holland 15
Denmark 15
TOP 5 countries
(International registrations of industrial designs valid in Estonia on 31 December 2008)
Switzerland 612
Germany 7
Hungary 7
Turkey 6
Spain 5
Liechtenstein 5
URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide statistics related to industrial designs
http://www.epa.ee/ul/doc/statistics/2008_tdtaotl1.pdf
http://www.epa.ee/ul/doc/statistics/2008_tdtaotl2.pdf
http://www.epa.ee/ul/doc/statistics/2008_tdmen1.pdf
http://www.epa.ee/ul/doc/statistics/2008_tdmen2.pdf
http://www.epa.ee/ul/doc/statistics/2008_tdmen3.pdf
http://www.epa.ee/ul/doc/statistics/2008_tdreg1.pdf
http://www.epa.ee/ul/doc/statistics/2008_tdreg2.pdf
http://www.epa.ee/ul/doc/statistics/2008_tdreg3.pdf
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, and distribution of industrial design documents and of secondary sources of industrial design information, i.e., official gazettes
Publishing, including printing, copying techniques and electronic printing
The official publication of the Estonian Patent Office is the Estonian Industrial Design Gazette.
The Estonian Industrial Design Gazette is published 4 times a year.
Since 1 January 2003 The Estonian Industrial Design Gazette of the Estonian Patent Office are available also electronically (in pdf-format, http://www.epa.ee/default.asp?id=515 ):
Editing and printing is done with PCs, including the certificates and preparation for the printing of the Industrial Design Gazette.
Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of industrial design information
The Estonian Patent Office homepage at www.epa.ee was currently updated. The homepage enables access industrial design registration information both in Estonian and English. It also contains all legal acts, regulations and international agreements by the Government of the Republic and Minister of Economic Affairs, and other legislation as well as material on legal protection of industrial designs, relevant links, current news and the public databases.
52 people had consultations in the Estonian Patent Office (55 in 2007). Besides, many more received assistance by phone or e-mail. Presentations on industrial designs were made at the intellectual property seminars in Kullamaa, Viljandi, Võru, Hiiumaa and Tallinn.
Databases and office automation
Database of Industrial Designs at http://www2.epa.ee/Patent/design.nsf/SearchEngl?OpenForm contains data on registered industrial designs and industrial design registration applications filed in the Republic of Estonia and international registrations of industrial designs filed for registration according to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs since 11 January 1998 to the extent specified in the Industrial Design Protection Act.
The data on industrial design registration applications filed in the Republic of Estonia for registration according to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs is available in the database as on the date the International Bureau sent the copy of the publication of the international registration to the Estonian Patent Office. The database does not include changes made later in the international registration. Information on the international registrations of industrial designs is available in a bulletin accessible at the web page of WIPO.
Information on industrial design registration applications is presented as filed by the applicants.
The numbers of applications contain 10 digits (e.g. D200300045) and the numbers of registrations contain 5 digits (e.g. 00581).
Search in the database is free. The user needs a browser supporting JavaScript (Netscape 4.08, Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or more recent versions).
The database is informative and does not have legal effect. Search results do not ensure the protectability of industrial designs and are not binding on the Estonian Patent Office in processing the industrial designs. For specifying the data and for the release of information or the issue of official extracts from the files of registration applications and of their processing or from the Register of Industrial Designs, please contact the Receiving Department of the Estonian Patent Office.
URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide access to online industrial design gazettes and to other sources of industrial design information, including download of bulk industrial design data
http://www.epa.ee/default.asp?wa_id=651
III. Matters concerning classifying, reclassifying and indexing of industrial design information according to the classification systems applied
Classification and reclassification activities; Classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification (please indicate whether industrial designs are classified by your Office and, if so, which classification is used)
The Estonian Patent Office uses the International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Agreement). The Republic of Estonia became party to the said Agreement on Oct. 31, 1996.
WIPO Standard St. 80 is used for bibliographic data coding.
Bibliographic data and processing
WIPO Standard St. 60 is used for bibliographic data coding.
IV. Search file establishment and upkeep
The Estonian Patent Office does not use the manual search files.
V. Activities in the field of computerized search systems for industrial designs
The Estonian Patent Office maintains a computerised in-house database (applications, registered designs, international registrations).
The Common Software (CS) is used in the Patent Office for administering the procedures of the examination. It has already been used for more than 10 years and it is regularly updated. Now Version 3.3.1 is in use.
Electronic filing of the industrial design registration applications at the Estonian Patent Office via a portal of electronic filing of applications for legal protection of industrial property at the address https://online.epa.ee/ started on 4 December 2008.
The Estonian ID card and its reader are required for the entry into the portal. An industrial design utility model registration application can be compiled by anyone, who has entered the portal with the Estonian ID card. But an application can be officially filed with the Estonian Patent Office only when it is digitally signed by the applicant or the patent attorney. Upon request it is possible to receive a notification of the acceptance of the industrial design registration application, which can be saved or printed out from the Estonian Patent Office.
VI. Administration of industrial design information products and 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)
The computerised Estonian industrial designs database can be exploited at the reading room of the Estonian Patent Library. The searches are carried out at the request of the users and the customers pay a moderate price for the computerised services.
Information services available to the public (including computerized services and search files contained in libraries remote from your Office and industrial design information posted by your Office on the World Wide Web)
The computerised Estonian industrial designs database can be exploited at the reading room of the Estonian Patent Library. The searches are carried out at the request of the users and the customers pay a moderate price for the computerised services.
URLs of web pages of the Office's website for electronic filing of industrial design applications
https://online.epa.ee/
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 industrial designs; opposition and appeal procedures related to industrial designs; etc.
http://www.epa.ee/client/default.asp?wa_id=934&wa_object_id=1&wa_id_key=
URLs of web pages of the Office’s website that provide a description of information products and services offered by the Office (e.g., industrial design search service(s) and industrial design databases), as well as information on how to access and utilize them
http://www.epa.ee/client/default.asp?wa_id=917&wa_object_id=1&wa_id_key=
VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of industrial design documentation and information
The Estonian Patent Library receives gazettes containing the information on industrial design from 19 IP offices, by international exchange of publications.
At present information concerning the Estonian industrial design on machine-readable carriers is not being forwarded to our exchange partners.
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.)
Like in years 2006 and 2007 also in 2008 Small-Sized Enterprise Support Division of the Estonian Patent Office did cooperation with the developing centres of the counties. Cooperation is essential in order to support the regional development of Estonia and its goal is to rise awareness of innovation also outside big cities. In 2008 the Division arranged info days on intellectual property in Viljandi, Võru and Kärdla. Besides lecturers from the patent office also local entrepreneurs shared their experiences and a patent attorney told about the services his office provides. The audience in these 3 events was numerous. There was lively discussion and many questions were asked.
Training courses for national and foreign participants
In 2008 the impact of the seminars held in the classroom of the Estonian Patent Office rose. Need for such seminars has remarkably grown compared with the previous years.
Besides the above-mentioned also cooperation with several institutions has still been essential. A student conference was held in Kullamaa to distribute the knowledge on intellectual property to the students.
In October 2008 a subsequent Tallinn Entrepreneurship Day was arranged, where the Estonian Patent Office in cooperation with the Patent Library participated. On both days the Patent Office had an info desk providing consultations on intellectual property and distributing informative publications. A seminar “Necessity, Chances and Risks of Intellectual Property” was arranged in the framework of the Entrepreneurship Day.
Traditionally two larger seminars were arranged for the small-sized entrepreneurs in Tallinn.
In April a 2-days seminar " Intellectual Property in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Their Competitiveness". The seminar differed from the previous ones for a broad circle of topics.
In October a traditional seminar "Protected Intellectual Property Brings Success“ for small and medium-sized enterprises was held in Viru conference centre.
Libraries related:
1. Seminar “Design as a Strategic Competitive Advantage” (Estonian Association of Designers), 24.03.-25.03.2008, Tallinn (library 1 participant).
2. Seminar “Role of Designers in the Process of Creating National Cultural Value” (Estonian Association of Designers), 26.09.2008, Tallinn (library 1 participant).
3. Seminar “Communication and Information Design” (Estonian Design Centre), 06.11.2008, Tallinn (library 2 participants).
4. Seminar “Identity of public space (Estonian Design Centre), 12.11.2008, Tallinn (library 2 participants).
Customer training activities of the Estonian Patent Library in 2008.
1. Seminar “Estonian Patent Library 45: collections and services” 19.09.2008, Tallinn (65 participants)
2. Training courses for students (5 courses). The subject matter of these courses is constantly revised and modified.
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 industrial designs
http://www.epa.ee/client/default.asp?wa_id=934&wa_id_key=#7
contain the Annual Report of the Office
http://www.epa.ee/client/default.asp?wa_id=922&wa_object_id=1&wa_id_key=
contain industrial design-related news regarding the Office
http://www.epa.ee/news.asp?wa_site_id=2
X. Other relevant matters
The library published a brochure “The Estonian Patent Library: development of patent collections and services in Estonia”.