Annual Technical Report on Trademark Information Activities in 2015 submitted by the State Patent Bureau of Lithuania
Please fill in your items before submitting your report
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.
I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADEMARK INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of trademark information activities and expected time frames for their realization
Last year we have also seen the tendency of decrease in the amount of notifications about international trademark registrations expanded in Lithuania.
In 2015, we focused on the improvement of the SPB services: expanded the list of electronic services, developed the possibility of two-way electronic communication, simplified the procedure for submitting authorisations, renovated the trademark and design register administration software, and optimised the SPB activity processes. These results allow us providing the services to the users more conveniently, faster, and simpler.
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
In 2015 the SPB successfully participated in the projects of OHIM Cooperation Fund (CF):
- Project Backoffice was successfully implemented, which resulted in a new trademark and design register administration software introduced in SPB;
- Forecasting, the tool for prognosis of industrial property object registration statistics, was introduced;
- Call Center, the database of frequently asked questions, was introduced;
- In 2015, while implementing the project Enforcement Database, contact persons of the institutions responsible for protection of intellectual property (the police, the customs office) were determined and their data was transferred to OHIM;
- While implementing the OHIM project Anti-Counterfeiting Intelligence Support Tool (ACIST), SPB cooperated with the police department in providing the data about confiscated goods to OHIM;
- The pilot project Case Law was implemented in 2015: key civil cases of the Lithuanian courts heard between 2006 and 2015 in the field of copyright were selected and analysed as well as criminal intellectual property cases and trademark cases of 2015. Publicly available court judgments and their summaries were submitted for publication in the database of the European Intellectual Property Violation Monitoring Centre.
Main areas of trademark information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
Back office - the full implementation of this project was on the second quarter of 2015 . The Back Office is a workflow-based system for handling trademarks and designs throughout the whole life cycle of the process from application to registration and publication.It streamlines the work process and helps users to create and monitor correspondence with applicants. It calculates fees, handles files, organizes correspondence.
Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and registrations with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
In 2015 the tendency of decrease in the amount of notifications about international trademark registrations expanded in Lithuania was noticed.
At the end of 2015, 75,260 registrations of trademarks, applications for which have been filed via the national and the international ways, and 1,502,862 Community trademarks registered in the Register of Community Trademarks of the EU were in effect in Lithuania.
Improvement of SPB services lead to a shorter period until the start of trademark examination by 7 percent (down to 6.5 months) in 2015.
Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
Statistics are accessed at :
http://www.vpb.gov.lt/docs/20150206_1.pdf
II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) - URLs
Current SPB information and support options are:
1. Via website: http://www.vpb.lt/index.php?l=EN
2. via telephone: +370 5 278 0290, fax: +370 5 275 0723
3. via e-mail: info@vpb.gov.lt
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
Together with the new system the electronic services have been extended; now the applicant can not only submit the application for registration of a new IP right, but also can make requests for other actions, review the status of the documents, find the history reports.Electronic applications, signed by the person or his representative, have the same legal effect as paper-based documents. SPB issued documents will also be submitted electronically and signed with an electronic signature. For the submission of electronic documents, no special electronic equipment is required. The electronic application can be made via the SPB secure access website http://www.vpb.gov.lt/ or e-government gates http://www.epaslaugos.lt/
Matters concerning classifying
(i) 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
(ii) Use of electronic classification systems and pre-defined terms of the classification applied
The State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania uses the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification ) 10th edition and International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks (Vienna Classification) 7th edition.
Matters concerning processing of different types of non-traditional marks (e.g., three-dimensional, motion, hologram, color mark, etc.)
N/A
Other activities
III. SOURCES OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE
Main types of publications in the field of trademark information, outline of the content and medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)
In 2016, the following publications were issued:
2015 Annual Report of the Patent Office of the Republic of Lithuania
Statistics of the year 2015 on the legal protection of industrial property in the Republic of Lithuania
12 official bulletins of the SPB .
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online, URL), etc.
http://www.vpb.lt/index.php?l=en&n=245
12 official bulletins of the SPB
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
A new trademark and design administration system Linra, including new TMView and DesignView versions, data filing with the international databases, uploading the data of international trademarks, appeal and opposition data, and automatic generation of design and trademark bulletin was introduced in cooperation with OHIM. All data was transferred from the former patent application administration system (Common Software).
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
Database of the Trademarks of the Republic of Lithuania has been accessible on SPB website free of charge (http://www.vpb.lt/index.php?l=en&n=300).
Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
A new trademark and design administration system Linra
Other sources
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements
The operating system of the computer network management was upgraded (Windows Server 2012 instead of Windows Server 2003, which is no longer supported).
A new version of the document management system Avilys was installed.
Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
Windows Server 2012 instead of Windows Server 2003, which is no longer supported
Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
A new trademark and design administration system Linra, including new TMView and DesignView versions, data filing with the international databases, uploading the data of international trademarks, appeal and opposition data, and automatic generation of design and trademark bulletin was introduced in cooperation with OHIM. All data was transferred from the former patent application administration system (Common Software).
Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
A new trademark and design administration system Linra
Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
Database of the Trademarks of the Republic of Lithuania has been accessible on SPB website (http://www.vpb.lt/index.php?l=en&n=300).
Other matters
V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION
Office's library (if deals with trademark information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
Lithuanian Technical Library (LTL) also offered for visitors the opportunity to get acquainted with a wide range of Lithuanian publications (SPB Official Bulletin, etc.), Official Gazettes of foreign states and intergovernmental organizations.
The visitors of LTL had been consulted on the spot as well as by phone or e-mail and had an opportunity to order trademark search.
Search for the international and Community trademarks and other services also have been provided by Patent Information Centre of LTL (http://www.tb.lt/PIC/PIC.htm).
Publications related to different business procedures and trademark information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
As every year, in 2016 the SPB prepared an annual review publication containing statistics for2015.
Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
Seminars and discussions Possibilities of legal protection of trademarks and design in Lithuania and the European Union were organised in trade, industry, and crafts houses of Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Kaunas, and Vilnius. The main target audience of these seminars and discussions was the representatives of small and medium businesses
Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
Videos and brochures informing about search tools TMView and DesignView as well as electronic SPB services for online registration of trademarks and design were prepared with the purpose of introducing the EU design and EU trademark systems. Videos are intended to be the means of encouraging small and medium-sized innovative companies, start-ups and young creators to discover and use these tools in creating trademarks and design in an attractive form and modern style (videos are available in the SPB Youtube channel SPB Lithuania).
Other activities
VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF TRADEMARK INFORMATION
International exchange of trademark information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)
SPB Official Bulletin has been published in an electronic format and has been accessible on SPB website (http://www.vpb.lt/index.php?l=en&n=245).
Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to trademark information
In 2015 the SPB participated in the projects of the OHIM Cooperation Fund (CF) . Part of the projects is related with development of electronic services, access to industrial property information and its simplification.
Assistance to developing countries
Other activities