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EUROPEAN PATENT WITH UNITARY EFFECT
The reform of the European patent system goes on two connected fields: it means on the one hand the establishment of the UPC, on the other hand the creation of a new European patent with unitary effect. The execution of the regulations of the “patent package”, adopted at the end of 2012, and the tasks preceding the entry into force of the agreement for establishing the UPC, concluded at the beginning of 2013, continued in 2014.
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In October 2014 the ministries of justice of Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia agreed in principle on establishing a common regional division in Budapest, operating under the system of the UPC.
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HIPO gave significant professional support to the establishment and organisation of the training centre for judges in Budapest. The training of future UPC judges started upon the ceremonial opening held on 23 February 2015. During the one-week high level training the first group of 19 candidate-judges received knowledge from the experts of the EPO and well-known European patent lawyers. The second training module will be held between 20 and 24 April 2015. In the selection procedure those candidates enjoyed priority, who had sent their applications from contracting states with smaller capacity.
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[1] Source of the data of WIPO: http://ipstats.wipo.int/ipstatv2/searchForm
[2] Source of the data of EPO: http://www.epo.org/about-us/annual-reports-statistics/annual-report/2014.html
[3] Source of the data on international (under the Madrid system) trade mark applications: http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/statistics/annual_stats.jsp?type=EN&name=3
The Hungarian applicants have the possibility to file their applications initiated under international or regional cooperation through the HIPO. In 2014 they filed 129 PCT applications (at the same time European patent applications), 11 European patent applications, 25 Community and 276 international trade mark applications this way.
Main Main figures of the activities of Hungarian applicants abroad (2010-2014)
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
PCT applications | 172 | 142 | 162 | 163 | 158 |
European patent applications | 192 | 168 | 188 | 196 | 190 |
The number of protections valid in Hungary, which should be taken into account by Hungarian organisations in their research and development and economic activities, increased almost in every title of protection. Due to the increase of the number of European patents valid in Hungary, the number of valid patents grew above 20 thousand. A significant increase can be observed in respect of every title of Community industrial property protections.
PATENT ACTIVITY
The number of international patent (PCT) applications was more than 213 thousand in 2014, which may result requests for extension to the territory of Hungary in a later phase of the procedure, when entering the national phase. The number of actual national requests deriving from earlier PCT designations was 31 in 2014. Since Hungary’s accession to the European Patent Convention in 2003 foreign patent applicants have submitted their increasing requests for validating their European patents in Hungary rather by choosing the European route. The number of these requests was around 3000 (3323), similarly to the previous years. This sudden stop of the continuous increase observed in the previous years may be explained by the waiting attitude of the applicants due to the introduction of the European patent with unitary effect expected in 2016.
Main Main figures of patent cases aimed at Hungary and filed following the national route – from from Hungary and directly from abroad – under
international cooperations (2010-2014)
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | ||
Cases filed under international cooperation |
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PCT designations | 164 341 | 182 437 | 195 334 | 205 270 | 213 568 | ||
Granted European patents designating HU | 32 803 | 40 372 | 47 485 | 53 486 | 56 021 | ||
Filing of the translation of the text of European patent (validation) | 2 635 | 3 218 | 3 342 | 3 485 | 3 323 | ||
Filing of the translation of European claims | 8 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
Cases filed following the national route |
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Domestic applications | 646 | 660 | 689 | 641 | 546 | ||
Foreign applications filed following the national route | 44 | 33 | 54 | 60 | 42 | ||
Requests for actual national procedure deriving from earlier PCT designations | 11 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 31 | ||
Total number of applications filed following the national route | 701 | 698 | 748 | 708 | 619 | ||
Hungarian patent filing activity abroad (2010-2014)
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
PCT applications originating from Hungary | 172 | 142 | 162 | 163 | 158 |
Of them: by using receiving office services of HIPO | 150 | 131 | 146 | 138 | 129 |
European applications originating from Hungary | 192 | 168 | 188 | 196 | 190 |
Of them: by using receiving office services of HIPO | 89 | 25 | 16 | 15 | 11 |
The number of patent applications filed following the national route was 619 in 2014, which means a 12% decrease compared to the previous year. The application activity of domestic customers touched the lowest point; it declined by 15% compared to 2013. This was caused by, besides the well-known low IP awareness, especially the failure in announcing the R&D tenders and the tenders to support IP protection. Although, the number of PCT applications that entered into the national phase was rather low, their number increased again (from 7 to 31). 66% of the applications filed following the national route belonged to individuals, 34% of them to institutions. It is an unfavourable phenomenon that the number of domestic patent applications filed by institutions diminished by a further 9% compared to the previous year; it was only 185, which is unacceptably low.
Breakdown of applicants filing applications for the validation of European patents in Hungary by countries of origin (2014)
Sweden, Belgium, Austria, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, France, Switzerland, United States of America, Germany
Most of the right holders filing applications for the validation of their European patents in Hungary had their place of business in Germany (22.5%) and in the USA (21.6%).
At the end of 2014 the number of patents valid in Hungary exceeded twenty thousand/20 000 for the first time since 1991. The number of valid patents increased by almost 7% in 2014, which is due to a more than 13% growth in the number of valid European patents. The amount of patents granted following the national route was 4695, that of the valid European patents was 15 731. The number of valid European patents has increased by 2.5 times in the past six years, which is more than three times larger than the number of valid patents granted following the national route. The ratio of Hungarian right holders – with 943 patents – is 4.6%.
Number of patents valid in Hungary (2010-2014)
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
Valid patents granted following the national route | 5 688 | 5 227 | 4 769 | 5 237 | 4 695 |
Valid European patents | 8 165 | 10 163 | 11 930 | 13 893 | 15 731 |
Valid patents in total | 13 853 | 15 390 | 16 699 | 19 130 | 20 426 |
Regarding the technical fields, at the end of 2014 – similarly to the previous year – the pharmaceutical patents were in the lead; both with respect to patents granted following the national route, and the validated European patents this technical field headed the list: 15% of all valid patents in Hungary concentrated on this field. This was followed by other machinery with a 4.6% ratio and chemistry (without pharmaceuticals) with 3.5%.
PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION
In 2014 the HIPO received 30 new applications for plant variety protection. At the end of last year 97 such protections were valid. Last year the Community Plant Variety Office received 3626 Community applications for plant variety protection, which is more by 10% than in the previous year. At the end of last year more than 22 thousand Community protections were valid.
SUPPLEMENTARY PROTECTION CERTIFICATE
A Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) extends the term of patents of medicinal or plant protection products. In 2014 the HIPO received 60 new applications for SPC. At the end of the year 145 such protections were valid. Out of this, in 78 cases the SPC, while in 67 cases still the basis patent was valid. 30% of the SPCs valid at the end of the year were granted in 2014.
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How can I protect my intellectual property?: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/hogyan-vedjem-a-szellemi-tulajdonomat/hogyan-vedjem-a-talalmanyomat
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
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E-SEARCH for the public: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vedjegy/hogyan-kutassunk-az-adatbazisokban/e-kutatas
IPC classification system: http://classifications.mszh.hu/ipc/
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Customer satisfaction is enhanced by the fact that submissions can also be filed outside the normal registry time, since the Office set up a round-the clock client terminal. This terminal quickly became popular among clients, and in 2014 more than 773 submissions were received by the Office through this channel.
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Accessible databases:
HUNTÉKA Onlene Catalog: http://hunteka.asp.hunteka.hu/hipo/index.jsp;jsessionid=0C33EADC538177502CCB010CBBB3EF80?lang=en
E-SEARCH: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vedjegy/hogyan-kutassunk-az-adatbazisokban/e-kutatas
IPC classification system: http://classifications.mszh.hu/ipc/
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The customer service received 98 enquiries from other authorities, nearly three-quarters of them were submitted by the National Tax and Customs Administration and concerned trade marks (60).
HIPAvilon also takes part in the customer service functions of HIPO by maintaining the relations with customers in order to gain new applicants and customers.
The services against payment of HIPAvilon for patent and trade mark search, as well as its services for IP audit and IP valuation are of great help. In 2014 HIPAvilon received 85 such orders.
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http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/szabadalom/ip-panorama
Start-up Guide: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vallalkozoknak/hogyan-kezdjek-hozza/start-up-guide
AIDA Light: Assessment and Improvement integrateD Approach: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vallalkozoknak/hogyan-kezdjek-hozza/aida
Partner Search: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vallalkozoknak/partnerkereso
Tenders: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vallalkozoknak/palyazatok
IP Valuation Forum: http://ipvaluation.hipo.gov.hu/
Information nationwide: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/vallalkozoknak/informacio-orszagszerte
Our partners
Other intellectual property sites
etc, see: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/hogyan-vedjem-a-szellemi-tulajdonomat/hogyan-vedjem-a-megjelolesemet
Office's initiatives on providing foreign patent information in the local language(s) (e.g., machine translation tools, translation of abstracts)
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10 persons participated in the basic level industrial property course, 56 persons finished the intermediate level industrial property course and passed the final exams, moreover, 49 participants of the advanced level industrial property course passed the exams successfully. Besides the employees of HIPO, the representatives of law and patent attorney offices, institutions of higher education, pharmaceutical companies and other enterprises participated in the trainings. The courses on demand were mainly attended by employees of the National Tax and Customs Administration, researchers of the institutions of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and representatives of creative industries.
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The education of intellectual property in the form of e-learning was available at Budapest University of Technology and Economics, University of Debrecen, Károly Róbert University College and College of Szolnok.
39 students from 12 universities and colleges applied to the – renewed – Ujvári János Award for diploma works announced for graduating students of higher education. 13 of them were awarded for their high level work.
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The enlargement of knowledge on industrial property and copyright, the improvement of awareness on intellectual property of enterprises – especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) – are objectives of high importance. In case of these parties it is essential that they can have personal consultation not only at the headquarters in Budapest but they also can find information points or events close to them, in their regions, where they can receive information. In this spirit, the relations with partners continued to enlarge in 2014. HIPO cooperated with 16 chambers of commerce and industry in counties and towns, 6 PATLIB centres, 7 regional innovation agencies and 2 professional organisations (HITA, SEED) in programs related to awareness raising.
In the framework of the VIVACE program improving the knowledge on industrial property of enterprises HIPO participated in the preparation, organisation and accomplishment of 18 events on awareness raising in and outside Budapest. The program was financed mainly by the projects of OHIM and EPO and from the sources of IPorta project supported by the European Commission.
A survey questionnaire was prepared on the awareness on industrial property of Hungarian SMEs with the involvement of the Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in respect of the circle of enterprises already observed in 2005 and 2009. According to 435 answers, although the level of knowledge on intellectual property has become better but the use of industrial property systems has declined, which draws the attention – in compliance with the Jedlik Plan – to the importance of the development of services.
See „Outstanding Events” in Annual Report: http://www.sztnh.gov.hu/hu/mivel-fordulhatok-a-hivatalhoz/tajekoztatas/kiadvanyok/a-hivatal-eves-jelentesei
HIPO performed English language searches and examinations in the frameworks of the cooperation agreements with the Austrian Patent Office and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. In performing the tasks deriving from its international cooperation obligations, HIPO was aided by the colleagues of HIPAvilon Industrial Property Agency, who have several decades of experience.
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