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PREPARATION OF LEGISLATION
The HPO performed its functions and responsibilities concerning the preparation of intellectual property-related legislation and analysis of legal practice with initiative and in a comprehensive and efficient manner. The majority of the tasks concerning the preparation of legislation focussed on codification and supplementary duties related to Hungary’s membership of the European Union, the European Patent Organisation and the World Intellectual Property Organization as well as on the preparation of amendments to legislation affecting the HPO and connected with the restructuring of governmental organisations. Also an important objective was to streamline and refine procedural rules, based on legal practice, in order to satisfy the needs of clients more efficiently.
The HPO prepared the bill on the amendment of certain industrial property laws, which resulted in the adoption of Act XXIV of 2007 amending certain acts on industrial property. The amendment entered into force on 1 May 2007. It re-regulated the legal status of the HPO and laid down rules necessary for the implementation of certain European Community regulations.
A Government decree was adopted containing rules on the electronic filing of patent, utility model and design applications and requests for the renewal of trademarks: Government decree 147/2007. (VI. 26.) Korm. on the detailed rules of the electronic filing of certain industrial property applications entered into force on 1 July 2007.
Hungarian Design Council
The Hungarian Design Council (hereinafter referred to as “HDC”), as an advisory body for the coordination of interests and opinions, follows with attention and evaluates the legal situation of design protection and contributes to the improvement of competitiveness and the quality of life by using the tools of design culture.
The HDC manages the Hungarian Design Award and the Moholy-Nagy design grants. In 2007 the Hungarian Design Award received 222 applications. Works competed in four categories: product, concepts, visual communication and student work. On the basis of the decision of the selection committee, 6 works were granted the Hungarian Design Award by the Ministry of Economy and Transport, 5 works were granted special prizes. For the Moholy-Nagy design grant competition announced by the National Office for Research and Technology, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the HPO received 32 applications. Eight career-starting designers received grants.
The fourth annual Design Week was organised by the Design Terminal non-profit organisation under the patronage of the HDC. With the participation of 12 countries, a series of programmes, entitled “Design: not by chance”, held from 8 to 14 October attracted 55 000 visitors. The “Composites-on-Tour-2” project, supported by the European Commission, was the outcome of the cooperation of eight organisations, among them the HDC and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The purpose of the project comprising exhibition, workshops and publications was to acquaint designers with composite materials and their use.
The HDC, as a member of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) and the Bureau of European Designers’ Association (BEDA), took an active part in the work of these international organisations, thus promoting the recognition of Hungarian design. The director of the Office of the HDC has been re-elected member of the Executive Board of ICSID for a further two years.
OFFICIAL ACTIVITY
The number of international design applications, and that of designs included in the applications, filed under the Hague Agreement and designating Hungary also decreased. The number of applications for Community plant variety rights having effect also in Hungary was equal to the number in 2005.
The number of designs included in design applications filed following the national route increased by 3.4%.
The amount of domestic design applications remained approximately at the previous year’s level.
The number of Community design applications filed by Hungarians rose by 61%.
Although as a result of Hungary’s accession to the European and Community protection systems, a decreasing tendency could be noticed in the number of foreign applications filed directly with the Hungarian Patent Office, the amount of protection obtained by foreign applicants and extending to the territory of Hungary increased in total. Hungarian enterprises producing for the domestic market have to respect Community and European protection effective in Hungary as well. Accession to Community and European protection systems has generated new official tasks.
The HPO has performed the tasks of a receiving office deriving from the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), from the accession to the European Patent Convention on 1 January 2003 and from the accession to the European Union on 1 May 2004. Hungarian applicants file their foreign applications increasingly with the HPO as a receiving office: domestic applicants filed 130 PCT applications, 7 European patent applications, 438 international (Madrid) trademark applications, 33 Community trademark applications, 8 design applications and 2 applications for Community plant variety rights.
DESIGNS
Both the number of international design applications under the Hague Agreement and that of the included designs decreased (by 19% and 17%, respectively) compared with the previous year. The HPO received 301 applications, which included 1267 designs. At the same time the amount of Community design applications with an effect extending also to Hungary rose by 9% and that of the included designs by 11%: 77 007 designs were included in 19 204 Community applications.
The HPO received 209 new design applications filed following the national route, which included 755 designs. The upturn in the applicants’ activity is shown by the fact that the number of designs increased by more than 3% compared with the previous year. Applicants availed themselves of the possibility of applications containing more designs: the average number of designs included in the applications was 3.6, 29% up on the previous year. 74% of domestic applications came from individual applicants. However, as a consequence of the Community design system, only 10 foreign applications were filed with the HPO.
In national granting procedures 335 cases were completed, which concerned 1078 designs; the number of registrations was 274, 3 applications were rejected, 3 withdrawn and 55 considered withdrawn. In 2007, the HPO received 2 requests for invalidity and 1 for a declaration on non-infringement. 2 invalidity procedures were terminated, and 7 cases are pending before a board. In international granting procedures (under the Hague Agreement) 1267 designs were registered.
At the end of the year, there were 1737 valid national design registrations in Hungary, which means that their number decreased by 467. The number of designs included in the registrations was 3619. 80% of the valid designs were owned by Hungarian, 7% by US and 3% by German right-holders. The majority of valid designs, 69%, were 5 years old or younger.
COURT REVIEW OF THE DECISIONS OF THE HUNGARIAN PATENT OFFICE
The number of requests for review, in the case of designs, a continuous decrease has been experienced since 2001.
Table_2007_D.doc - MS Word97 185 kB
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, and distribution of industrial design documents and of secondary sources of industrial design information, i.e., official gazettes
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