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.
The expression "industrial designs" covers industrial designs and models. Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in this series of Annual Technical Reports.
The number of registered Community designs received grew overall by 7% to just over
87,000. Both direct filings and international applications increased, but the rate of growth
of IAs, while still robust at 25%, was lower than in recent years.
With regard to timeliness for designs, the Office met the new design objectives for the
Office “first action” within 10 working days in case of files with problems in 99% of cases
(target 80%). The new standard for RCD “fast-track” registration within two working
days for files meeting some simple application criteria was also met 99% (on target).
For non fast-tracked files, provided no user interaction was required, the target of
registration within 10 working days was met in 97% of cases in the final quarter.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/OHIM/statistics.en.do
The Community Designs Bulletin contains RCD registrations, entries made in the Register and renewal information (Article 73 CDR and Articles 14-16 CDIR). The following items can be found in the Community Designs Bulletin:
* Registered Community designs
* Entries in the Register subsequent to registration
* Renewals and information on expired registrations
The Design Bulletin is published once every working day of the Office.
The Community Designs Bulletin is organised in accordance with WIPO standard ST.80.
Files containing the text entered will be listed in the results pages and include:
- name and address of the applicant, representative, or designer. All results will be listed, even if the same person acts as applicant of one design and as representative or designer of another
- country names in Spanish (due to technical constraints)
- matching file or registration numbers
- dates of filing, entry into the Register, or publication
- Locarno classification-e.g. 09-01 for products classified in that class
- indication of products.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/RCD/RCDBulletinList_2011.en.do
Vademecum
http://oami.europa.eu/bulletin/rcd/rcd_bulletin_en.htm
RCD Bulletin
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/RCD/RCDBulletin.en.do
RCD-Online
RCD-online provides ready access to information on registered Community design (RCD) registrations. The information is taken from the internal systems used by OHIM to process design registrations as published in the Community Designs Bulletin.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/QPLUS/databases/searchRCD.en.do
EUROLOCARNO
EuroLocarno is a list of products based on the Locarno Classification, the international classification for designs prepared under the aegis of WIPO. EuroLocarno has been prepared by OHIM for the purposes of classification of the products indicated in RCDs as well as in RCD applications. Over 11,000 terms are available in all the official languages of the EU.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/QPLUS/databases/eurolocarno.en.do
Classification system: Locarno Classification
The OHIM uses for internal searches two systems not available to the public: Eurodesign and QFMan
Searching the Register Community Design database: RCD-Online
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/QPLUS/databases/searchRCD.en.do ok
Search classification for designs: Eurolocarno
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/QPLUS/databases/eurolocarno.en.do ok
Representative consultation service
http://oami.europa.eu/FRP/RequestManager?transition=start&source=Log-in.html&language=en&application=FRP ok
eSearch Plus
eSearch Plus allows to search and monitor Community trade marks and registered Community designs, as well as look for owners, representatives and related case-law. Aimed at improving the search online user experience, by providing a wide range of search criteria, easy-to-use sorting and filtering options and the possibility to set up your own alerts using RSS feeds.
http://esearch.oami.europa.eu/copla/index;jsessionid=81F1E31C129EDDD6654D2D4D5F618E1A.esearch1
E-filing is a service provided by OHIM, which enables users to apply for a Register Community Design online.
OHIM provides a business-to-business solution for its larger clients where, based on an agreed transfer mechanism across the Internet, our clients can send their RCD applications directly from their own back-office systems directly to OHIM.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/QPLUS/forms/electronic/fileApplicationRCD.en.do
E-renewal is a service provided by OHIM in order to enable users to renew a RCD online.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/QPLUS/forms/electronic/fileRenewalRCD.en.do
My Page: RCD users can sign up for their own personalized, easy-to-use, free and secure platform: MyPage. This tool offers direct access to every OHIM external database, to e-filing system and to the user´s personal data held by the OHIM.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/QPLUS/MyPage.en.do
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/QPLUS/forms/electronic/fileApplicationRCD.en.do
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/RCD/regProcess/regProcess.en.do
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/RCD/FAQ/FAQ.en.do
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/RCD/index.en.do
OHIM holds a wide range of cooperation and consultation meetings with stakeholders in EU including national IP offices, the European Commission user groups and representatives of the judiciary.
OHIM Cooperation Fund
The OHIM Cooperation Fund is designed to promote further harmonization, modernise national IP offices, and make things easier for users of the European trade mark and design systems.
Cooperation Fund projects on search image, sharing and harmonizing quality standards, DesignView, similarity of goods and services, e-learning and a common examiner support tool got under way in January 2011.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/QPLUS/OHIMCooperationFund.en.do.
Relations with users
OHIM has always put emphasis on understanding users of the Community trade mark and design systems, and responding to their needs. The OHIM website remains the most important information resource. The content, in five languages, is updated daily, and it's the home for the office's monthly electronic magazine, Alicante News, which now has over 8,000 e-mail subscribers.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/OHIM/index.en.do
Cooperation inside the EU
OHIM holds a wide range of cooperation and consultation meetings with stakeholders in EU including national IP offices, the European Commission, user groups and representatives of the judiciary.
Cooperation outside the EU
During 2011, cooperation between OHIM and a number of global partners was
significantly stepped up in recognition of the fact that many of RCD users also
have to deal with IP systems in countries outside the EU.
OHIM was present at the following events 2011
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/OHIM/news/eventsArchive2011.en.do
The OHIM Academy was set up in May 2011 to support the strategic goals of the Office and to act as the flagship of the office for staff development and for knowledge sharing with other stakeholders. There is an ongoing process of consultation with offices on how the Academy can best help in providing assistance with other needs, such as ad-hoc training courses or study visits.
The Office organises traineeships twice a year, lasting five months each, for young university graduates of Member States of the European Union and for a number of nationals from candidate countries and third countries. These traineeships consist of work experience in one of the services of the Office.
Moreover the Office welcomes national experts seconded from the industrial property offices (“SNEs”), benefiting from the high level of their professional knowledge and experience
OHIM is interested in forging closer relations with IP systems in other jurisdictions because differences in practice often cause problems for rights holders and part of OHIM’s mission is to help harmonise, where possible, the rules and regulations, in discussion with other offices and agencies.
OHIM has a long-standing history of bi-lateral cooperation with China, and played a leading part in the four-year EU-China IPR2 programme of cooperation and knowledge sharing, which held closing events in Beijing and Brussels during June and September.
OHIM signed a formal cooperation agreement with the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI). The Memorandum of Understanding covers capacity building, training and information technology. Turkey’s future participation in the TMview database project was among the matters discussed and the TPI also officially launched new trade mark guidelines, which were drawn up with assistance from OHIM and the German Federal Patent Court.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/RCD/legalReferences/legalReferences.en.do
OHIM’s Annual Report for 2010 is available only online in Multimedia version or in PDF format.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/OHIM/OHIMPublications/annualReport.en.do
Quality Plus
The Office is committed to listening to users' needs and putting in place measures to maintain and improve the quality of services. This section provides access to the Office's quality policy, the Service Charter, User Satisfaction Survey, and guidance on how to file a complaint. You will also find information on cooperation projects with IP offices in member states and internationally.
Networks and Users' Groups includes:
• The OHIM Users' Group
• Judges' seminars and symposiums, and the OHIM Universities Network
• Information about OHIM's participation in networks with other major IP offices.
• Technical cooperation agreements, the OHIM Cooperation Fund, Convergence Programme.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/QPLUS/index.en.do
User Satisfaction Survey
The principal objective of the User Satisfaction Survey is to measure the level of satisfaction among users of the various services provided by the OHIM. In 2011 for the first time, the survey included non-EU based users of the OHIM, and thus it provides a more comprehensive picture of how the OHIM is viewed worldwide.
Complaints Unit
Complaints Unit handles written complaints about the processing of CTM and RCD files.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/QPLUS/complaintsUnit.en.do
DS-XML is created for the exchange of data on Designs.
The latest version 0.5 is aligned to WIPO ST.86
http://www.tm-xml.org/DS-XML/DS-XML_xml/index.xml
ALICANTE NEWS is a newsletter, edited by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market and published on the second last Wednesday of every month.
The aim of ALICANTE NEWS is to provide up-to-date information on OHIM- related matters, as well as on other general IP issues, to the users of the Community trade mark and design registration systems.
http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/OHIM/OHIMPublications/newsletter.en.do