The focus within the Industrial Design Office was on continued improvement of the International application process and enhancements to the e-services introduced at the end of 2019. These had importance in 2020 specifically because of the COVID-19 pandemic which changed dramatically the way our clients do business with us.
Outline of main policies and plans aimed at development of industrial design information activities and expected time frames for their realization
Further to the implementation of The Hague Agreement for the International Registration of Industrial Designs focus in 2020 was to further implement procedures and processes for the registration of International applications.
Industrial design information activities for 2020 were to continue to maintain dialogue with our stakeholders in order to benefit from stakeholder feedback on the changes implemented as part of the implementation of the Hague Agreement as well as continuing to improve online services.
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies(plans) mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
The practice of meeting with representatives of the IP profession was continued within the context of the Industrial Design Office Practice Committee, which consists of representatives of the IP profession and CIPO. The objective of this committee is to strengthen communications between CIPO and its stakeholders in order to identify and discuss issues and improvements to the industrial design office practices and services to clients.
Main areas of industrial design information activities and related information and communication technology (ICT) practices which were in the focus of attention last year
The information concerning IT activities are found on a release notes page that identifies all changes to the industrial designs online services.
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr04752.html
Statistics: changes in terms of application filings and grants (registrations) with respect to previous year; trends or areas experiencing rapid changes
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Other matters and useful links (URLs): annual report of the Office, news page, statistics, etc.
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Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) - URLs
Industrial designs guide: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr02300.html
Industrial design office practices: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr00256.html
How your industrial design application is processed: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr00255.html
Filing or amending an application online: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr03953.html
Roadmap of the application process: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr04357.html
Industrial designs – Fact sheet: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr04316.html
Industrial designs – Learn the basics: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr04697.html
CIPO Calendar of events: https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/crmsri/cipo/events/?lang=eng
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
Industrial design applications are not currently available electronically. An applicant or its agent may order a copy of the application through CIPO’s website: https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr02468.html
Classification and reclassification activities; classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification
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Other activities
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Main types of publications in the field of industrial design information, outline of the content (industrial design applications, design patents, registrations, etc.) and medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)
Industrial design registrations or applications that have been made available to the public are available for consultation on the Canadian Industrial Designs Database. This online database provides bibliographical data relating to the application or registration and a representation of the design.
https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/id/bscSrch.do?lang=eng&wt_src=cipo-id-main&wt_cxt=toptask
An industrial design guide is available online to learn what industrial designs are, why they are important for business, and what makes them a key element of a comprehensive intellectual property strategy. The guide allows the reader to find out why they would want to register an industrial design, and how to apply for registration in Canada and abroad.
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr02300.html
The Industrial Design Office Practice Manual provides information on the Industrial Design Office's operational procedures and examination practices; it is the primary source of information on how to prosecute an application for the registration of an industrial design in Canada.
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr00256.html
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.
CIPO does not publish industrial design information via an official gazette. Announcements are made either on CIPO’s website or via email distribution lists: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr02989.html
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external documentation and databases
CIPO examiners have access to CIPO’s internal industrial database, which includes all designs registered in Canada and pending applications. Examiners also have access to “Orbit”, a web-based search tool for industrial design prior art.
Information products (coverage, medium, etc.) and services available to external users; conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
Industrial Design News email subscription services.
Clients can register for our email subscription service to receive news and updates on the latest information regarding industrial design.
https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr02989.htm
CIPO’s website makes available information pertaining to industrial designs registered in Canada from 1861 to date from the Canadian Industrial Design Online Database.
http://www.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/id/bscSrch.do?lang=eng&wt_src=cipo-id-main&wt_cxt=toptask
Subscription to Industrial Design bulk data is available at the following link.
Industrial Design Release Notes page
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr04752.html
Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
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Other sources
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Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements
The Industrial Design Application (DesignPlus) has a built-in workflow - once the application is scanned/data entered into DesignPlus, the application number is automatically assigned and the processing clerk completes the filing process. Once the filing is confirmed, the application is automatically added to the classification workload queue. Once classified it proceeds to the pre-examination workload queue; then to the search workload queue; then to the examination workload queue; etc.
Once allowed the registration is confirmed and the registration certificates are printed and sent to the applicant or sent to the clients e-mailbox.
The maintenance fee is paid within the first 5 years from the registration date. A 6-month grace period is available with additional fees. Failure to pay maintenance fee within five years will cause the registration to become expired.
For all applications filed through our e-filing application, the information is checked for completeness by the front-end application, following this the transaction is transferred automatically into DesignPlus system.
The Industrial Design office has several online services permitting a variety of online transactions, such an electronic filing, submission of amendments, payment of maintenance of fees, a mailbox, a search database and a general correspondence. Only few transactions are still paper-based, although a new initiative is foreseen to offer the last paper-based transactions via the online services.
Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
SERVER
IBM AIX
Operating System AIX
935 GB HardDisk, 8GB RAM
Oracle RDMS V 10.2.0.3
TCP/IP
Image Converter: Alchemy 1.13
CLIENT WORKSTATION
Pentium based (min 3.2 GHz, 1GB RAM, 80GB disk)
2 SVGA monitors 22” LCD
MS-Windows
MS-Word
Samba NFS (Network File System)
Ascent Capture
Some workstations with Bar-code readers and/or scanners
PRINTERS
Lexmark T644 network printers
NETWORK
TCP/IP
1 GB between server and switches
100 MB between switches an SERVER IBM AIX
Operating System AIX
935 GB HardDisk, 8GB RAM
Oracle RDMS V 10.2.0.3
Microfocus server express 5.0
TCP/IP
Image Converter: Alchemy 1.13
Electronic Forms Generator: JF Central 5.4.1
Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
In June 2002 the industrial design processes were automated with the implementation of DesignPlus. Today the system contains bibliographic design data dating back to 1861, including pending and registered designs. DesignPlus is used within the office to manage the overall industrial design process, including classification, search, examination, assignments and maintenance. The system supports such specific office processes as preparing correspondence and updating information.
In July 2007, an electronic industrial design filing component was added to allow clients to file their applications electronically over the internet. For all client front-ends, the information is checked for completeness, the information is transferred to the Office via the Internet and the information is automatically loaded into DesignPlus.
In 2018, two new online services were implemented by Industrial Designs Branch in regard to issue electronic correspondence to clients. A first application, called E-Access, serves as authenticate the users so that they are able to manage their access and account in the E-Mailbox. This second application is a platform where users pull their electronic outgoing correspondence issued by the office.
In 2019 and 2020 came the introduction of E-Amend where authorized and authenticated users are able to amend previously filed applications electronically
CIPO industrial design searchers and examiners use a Web-based search system from Oracle called Orbit to conduct international searches
Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
All bibliographic data and images contained in industrial design applications and registrations are maintained on the internal system DesignPlus, in an NFS-based structure. A common repository across CIPO, called IP Document File Management (IPDFM) serves a document management storage. A synchronization between the NFS-structure and IPDFM occurs overnight to ensure that both structures are synchronized at all time. IPDFM is also connected to Enterprise Scan, a scanning solution for all the paper files, including paper correspondences, figurative elements, evidences and other paper documents.
Registered application data and images is available to the public on the Canadian Industrial Design Database via CIPO’s website.
Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
DesignPlus is integrated with an EIS (Executive Information System) through a Cognos application. This EIS system provides detailed and comprehensive reports used for tracking and monitoring industrial design processes. Information on the production volumes and turnaround-times can be obtained from the EIS system.
SQL (Toad) is also used to query the database and retrieve ad hoc statistics that are often not programed in Cognos.
Other matters
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Office's library (if deals with industrial design information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries
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Publications related to different business procedures and industrial design information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
The Industrial Design Office Practice Manual provides information on the Industrial Design Office's operational procedures and examination practices; it is the primary source of information on how to prosecute an application for the registration of an industrial design in Canada.
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/wr00256.html
Other industrial design publications: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr00026.html#IndustrialDesign
Cooperation with universities, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
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Education and training: training courses, e learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
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Other activities
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International exchange of industrial design information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)
Dissemination of data to clients and other Intellectual Property Offices.
Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to industrial design information
WIPO’s Standing Committee on the law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications.
Assistance to developing countries
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Other activities
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