Annual Technical Report on Trademark Information Activities in 2019 submitted by Cyprus / Department of Registrar of Companies & Official Receiver (DRCOR)

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

Drafting new law and promotional activities regarding the changes and transposition of the EU Directive

Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of trademark information activities and expected time frames for their realization

Contacted several user seminars and advertising

New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks

  • Seminars for users for informative reasons - Partners EUIPO (to create awareness).
  • Advertising to the public via media - Partners EUIPO (to promote IP rights)

Main areas of trademark information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year

Development of new trademark law as an attempt to modernize all trademark procedures.  The law changes will affect all trademark procedures and areas.

Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and registrations with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes

  • 2019 applications: 1406 - Slight increasing trend compared to previous year
  • 2019 registrations: 1084 - Increasing trend

Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.

CY IPO website https://intellectualproperty.gov.cy/

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO TRADEMARK INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

CY IPO went through various seminars related to Trademark information

Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) - URLs

The above is planned for the year 2020

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

Application dossier is considered to be confidential data.  As a result, a register is created containing the valid data of the trademark application and all changes related to the trademark.  The online register is available through the tool TMView and our section's online trademark register available on our website.


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

  • No reclassification activities
  • We follow Nice classification and we use the tool TMClass.  Regarding the coding of the figurative elements, we follow Vienna classification which is used in our search tool and Ascepto (back office system).

Matters concerning processing of different types of non-traditional marks (e.g., three-dimensional, motion, hologram, color mark, etc.)

For the year 2019 and regarding non-traditional marks, only 3D marks could be filed according to the provision of the national legislation.  For the 3D marks it is mandatory to file at least 3 sides of the mark.

Other activities

Other non-traditional marks will be filed under the new law which will be entered in force in 2020.

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)

Publication of trademark information is available on paper and online on the Governmental Printing Office and on our website.  Our website also contains other informative material.

Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online, URL), etc.

Announcements regarding trademark application data and changes are published on the Official Gazette on paper and online once a month.  It is also available on our website.

Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases

Online tools like TMView and national register search tool are available for the public and examiners.  Examiners also use the back office system and databases provided by EUIPO.

Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)

All information products and online services to external users are available on our website free of charge.  For online applications it is mandatory for the user to be registered in the governmental portal.  Search in our register can also be performed on our premises after paying a prescribed fee.

Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)

Information provided to the users and the public is limited to trademark data and procedures.

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

We use a back office system to file applications and data and execute all workflows.  A new back office system is planned to be developed which will be a common platform for all the sections of the office and will be more flexible, modern and paperless.

Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

Personal computers (PCs).

Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources

We use the database of our back office system which is linked with other systems (TMView etc).  We also use other databases such as databases provided by EUIPO and WIPO.

Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file

Online tools are updated daily with the insertion of new data and changes of the existing ones.

Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)

No administrative management electronic systems are available.  Administration rights exist in our back office system providing advanced statistical reports for the management.

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

Office's library in our website.

Publications related to different business procedures and trademark information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.

An annual report is issued once a year containing several information regarding the Department.  Any other information or specific procedures are available online through our website.

Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.

Not available for the year 2019.

Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.

Seminars are performed on the context of the law changes.

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)

Not available

Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to trademark information

Participation in activities organized by EUIPO and WIPO assembly

Assistance to developing countries

Not available

Other activities

-

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS

-