Annual Technical Report 2002 on Trademark Information Activities submitted by Latvia (SCIT/ATR/TM/2002/LV)
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I. Evolution of registration activities
The amount of applications filed for trademark registration within the national registration procedure again slightly increased in the last year and reached the number of 2113 (in 2001: 2027 applications). The share of domestic applications was 1262 (in absolute figures), which meant 59.7 % of the total amount. Thereby the share of domestic applications continued to grow constantly (in 2000 - 51 %; in 2001 - 52.4 %). 1,581 trademark registrations were granted under national procedure in 2002 (in 2001 - 1660 registrations).
The activity of international trademark applicants (Madrid Agreement & Protocol) was somewhat less than in the previous year: approx. 4,900 international marks were registered for or extended to Latvia in 2002, in comparison with 5,700 - in 2001, and 4,700 in 2000. The share of the international registrations within the total amount of trademark applications in 2002 extended to 69.9 %.
The total number of registered trademarks being in force at the end of year 2002 reached 58.5 thousand, among them being 29.4 thousand national, and 29.1 thousand international marks.
II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, and distribution of secondary sources of trademark information, i.e., trademark gazettes
Each issue of the Official Gazette of the Latvian Patent Office PATENTI UN PRECU ZIMES contains publications on patents of inventions, industrial designs and trademarks; in trademarks, only those registered within the national procedure are published. The Gazette is being issued once per month and distributed on subscription, by sales and on the basis of mutual exchange with other national Offices.
Publishing, printing, copying techniques
The trademark data for the Gazette are extracted semi-automatically from the Latvian Patent Office (LPO) database PATIS, including all necessary bibliographical data, as well as scanned black & white (or grayscale) images. The layout of pages is carried out and a camera-ready copy of each issue is prepared in the LPO, using the desk-top publishing technology. The Gazette is printed in offset technique in multiple copies, by an external typographic company.
Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of trademark information
(1) REGISTERED TRADEMARKS; -
by this publication the trademarks registered after the examination procedure come into force, and are open for 3-months opposition period;
(2) TRADEMARK INDEXES:
(a) Application Number Index;
(b) Name Index of Owners;
(c) Registrations Listed by Classes of Goods and Services;
(3) CHANGES IN THE TRADEMARK REGISTER;
in particular:
full transfers and partial assignments;
changes in names and/or addresses of owners;
changes in names and/or addresses of representatives;
changes within the lists of goods and services;
renewals and cancellations of registrations;
registered licence contracts, etc.;
(4) INFORMATION ON THE DECISIONS OF THE APPEAL BOARD:
reduced versions of the decisions of the LPO Board of Appeal (trademark disputes are predominating):
(a) decisions on the appeals submitted by applicants against negative decisions of the LPO;
(b) decisions on the oppositions submitted by third persons, against the granted registrations.
Mass storage media and microforms used
Excluding the main database of the LPO, the storage media is papers. Electronic media or microforms are not yet in use within the national trademark procedure. International trademarks are not being recorded in the LPO database.
Word processing and office automation
The LPO database PATIS is developed in FoxPro for Windows.
Word processing: MS WORD for Windows 95 / MS WORD 2000 / MS WORD XP.
Edition of images: CorelDraw 5.0; ZSoft PhotoFinish.
Database PATIS is being stored in the LPO local network hard drives.
Techniques used for the generation of trademark information (printing, recording, photocomposing, etc.)
The main operations produced using database PATIS or by assistance of it, and of the built-in FoxPro Report-Writer:
- keying-in of the application data and the lists of goods and services;
- choice or keying-in of applicant/representative data;
- scanning of images and incorporation of the image files in the TM data;
- image coding (Vienna Classification);
- semi-automatic compilation and printing of the main official correspondence letters and the registration certificates;
- generation of the Gazette publications, etc.
Layout of the Gazette pages is being created by Aldus PageMaker 5.0 / Adobe PageMaker 6.5.
International trademark paper files are being created using WIPO International Bureau official notifications (on paper) and, where necessary, the ROMARIN database. Official correspondence on Madrid marks (including refusals of protection, applications for the international registration of Latvian origin, etc.) is being produced on computer-prepared forms (which correspond to the WIPO formulaires), incorporating the national TM database image files, where necessary.
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 indicate 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)
The Nice Classification is used from the very beginning of the Latvian Patent Office (LPO) activities, since 1992. It is mandatory for the applicant to classify the goods and/or services in the application; the Office is checking and correcting the classification, where necessary. Figurative marks are ex officio supplied with Vienna Classification indexes, on the level of categories, divisions, sections.
The reclassification in accordance with the latest edition of each classification system is not being executed, neither within the duration of the registration nor at the time of renewal.
Systems used:
Nice Classification - Eighth Edition;
Vienna Classification - Fourth Edition (used for the applications filed until the end of year 2002).
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
The verification of the Nice Classification and Vienna Classification indexes for English and French terms is available (NIVILO:CLASS CD-ROM). It is used not very often because the classification problems arise mainly within Latvian terms.
Obligation for applicants to use pre-defined terms of the classification applied
The use of terms (in Latvian) close to that of the Nice Classification alphabetical list is recommended, yet is not mandatory, since no official Latvian translation of this list is available.
Bibliographic data and processing for search purposes
All the bibliographic data fixed in the Register are included in the publications of the registered marks. Each data position in main publications is shortly named in Latvian and also coded by the corresponding INID code (WIPO St. 60).
Simplified computer searching possibility is available (see also Chapter V, below).
IV. Trademark manual search file establishment and upkeep
(1) Trademark files, national procedure:
- trademarks applied for registration;
- trademark applications withdrawn / abandoned / refused;
- trademarks registered (The State Trademark Register);
- trademark registrations cancelled / surrendered / invalidated / revoked.
(2) International (Madrid Agreement & Protocol) marks manual files:
- international marks with the effect in Latvia (registrations & subsequent extensions);
- international marks protection of which is refused in Latvia (provisionally / finally);
- applications for the international registration which country of origin is Latvia.
Folder files are organized accordingly to the sequence of WO registration numbers. The files are being updated continuously.
Among the other files which are used within the trademark examination procedure, the following must be mentioned: different dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks etc., of general and special reference (e.g. WHO handbook on the INNs for Pharmaceutical Substances).
V. Activities in the field of computerized trademark search systems
In-house systems (online/offline)
National trademark procedure:
the software provides for online searches within the applied / registered marks. Internal searches are available:
- on different bibliographical data of marks;
- on identity or similarity of the verbal part of marks (the printouts show the main data of marks and their status - applied, withdrawn / abandoned, registered, cancelled);
- on the applicant / owner names.
International marks:
- all kinds of searches available in the ROMARIN are ensured.
External databases
Databases used:
ROMARIN;
Paris Convention Art. 6-ter CD-ROM;
INNs for Pharmaceutical Substances (WHO), etc.
INTERNET access is available on each workstation. This opportunity is often used during the examination procedures, studying trademark information obtained from the Web-sites of WIPO, OHIM and of Offices of different countries. Decisions of the OHIM Boards of Appeal and of the Opposition Division, as well as ECJ and CFI judgments are studied. CTM-ONLINE and MADRID EXPRESS search also is used.
Administrative management systems (e.g., register, legal status, statistics, administrative support, etc.)
Administrative management systems are not yet developed; although the main data for the statistics may be extracted from the database.
Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), carriers used
The Latvian Patent Office (LPO) local network is built on ETHERNET principles, using Novell Netware Network. Currently the network includes:
- Novell Netware file server (common for all LPO procedures);
- IBM-compatible PCs used for trademark procedure: 12 PCs of Pentium type;
- several printers, including HP LaserJet 4Si/4Si MX; HP LaserJet 4M/4M Plus; HP LaserJet 8550 GN;
- a HP ScanJet IIp B-W scanner.
On the software matters see also Chapter II (Word Processing and Office Automation), above.
Latvia is participating in the Common Software Project.
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)
Trademark information services currently available to the public in the LPO:
- sales of the Gazette;
- extracts from the State Register - on request;
- verbal identity / similarity search reports from the database - on request;
- search reports from the ROMARIN or ARTICLE 6-ter CD-ROM - on request;
- any consultations on the trademark matters.
In the Latvian Patent and Technology Library there are available:
- trademark gazettes, including those of foreign countries and the WIPO Gazette of international marks;
- searching in the ROMARIN;
- CTM applications and registrations (Community Trade Marks Bulletin CD-ROM).
For the time being the LPO trademark information is not distributed by means of electronic media and is not posted on the Internet. Electronic filing is not possible.
VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of trademark documentation and information
Mutual exchange of trademark gazettes is established with about 20 Offices. Machine readable information for such exchange is not available.
VIII. Matters concerning education and training including technical assistance to developing countries
During the year 2002, several representatives of the LPO trademark staff have participated in educational activities organized by WIPO and OHIM. Specialists of the LPO have exchanged their experience with foreign colleagues at international and regional meetings on industrial property matters, e.g. at the EUROFORUM TRADE MARKS (Prague).
IX. Other relevant matters