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The term "patent" covers utility models and Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in their Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities.
In 2003 the regulations of the “Industrial Property” Act (enacted on August 22, 2001) were observed in the field of industrial property protection in Poland.
In 2003, the Polish Patent Office (PPO) received:
• 3.064 patent applications under the national procedure, among which domestic applications constituted the number of 2.268, and foreign applications- 796.
• 79.239 designations of Poland in international patent applications in other countries under the PCT (i.e. 13% more than in 2002). 3.145 such applications entered the examination phase at the PPO. 3.809 grant decisions (in 2002- 3659) were taken, among which 2.200 being positive ones (in 2002- 2.108). The number of valid patents on December 31, 2003 was 12.451.
• 759 utility model applications under the national procedure i.e. 16% less than in 2002. 27 foreign utility model applications.
1.856 decisions were taken; 1.457 of them were the decisions to grant protection rights.
• No integrated circuit topography application was filed. One application was granted the right of registration.
• 2 geographical indication applications. The PPO issued 5 (out of 6) positive decisions on registration.
1. In 2003 the following publications were issued:
a) periodicals:
• “Biuletyn Urzędu Patentowego” ( “Patent Office’s Bulletin”)- 26 numbers, i.e. 14.260 copies
• “Wiadomości Urzędu Patentowego” (Announcements of the PPO) – 12 numbers, i.e. 6.730 copies
• “Dziennik Urzędowy UP RP” (The PPO Official Journal)- 2 numbers, i.e. 165 copies
• “Wykaz patentów na wynalazki, udzielonych przez UP RP w 2002 roku” (Index of patents granted in the Polish Patent Office in 2002”) – 2 volumes, i.e. 150 copies
• Wykaz wzorów użytkowych, na które Urząd Patentowy RP udzielił prawa ochronnego w 2002 roku” (“ Index of utility models which were granted protection In the PPO in 2002) – 1 volume, i.e. 70 copies
b) non periodical, single brochure publications:
• Polish patent specifications (full text) – 1862 titles, i.e. 73.100 copies
• “Annual Report of the Patent Office of the Republic of Poland, 2002” – 650 copies
• 98 additional print copies of selected publications on request
2. In 2003 the following services were performed and supplied to users:
a) 290.098 pages of free copies of Polish and foreign patent documentation for the Office’s examiners and 189.400 pages copied upon individual users’ requests
b) 1.945 titles of Polish patent specifications were transported onto microfiches, including 1.372 on silver microfiches (for storage). 9.883 titles on diazo copies for the purposes of international exchange.
The PPO used the following carriers of patent documentation storage: CD-ROM discs, DVD, paper, microfilm, microfiches with a gradual decrease of the microform and paper carriers.
The PPO has its own publication system, which enables production of the Office’s publications on its own. The publishing process was based on the DTP system and covered preparation of the data contained in the Office’s database or text editing on a word processor and the Word text typesetting as regards patent abstracts and Corel Ventura 7- in case of periodicals. Laser prints constitute the basis for the montage preceding the printing process. Printing was performed on the offset machine and digital reproducer. Publications were book bound in the last phase.
In 2003 the VII edition of the IPC was applied in the PPO, both at the stage of classifying new applications and on currently published patent documents.
In 2003 5.586 specification abstracts, including 4.732 patent specification abstracts and 854 abstracts of utility model applications were published in the “Patent Office’s Bulletin” (BUP)
In 2003 building of Polish and foreign patent documentation file on CD-ROM, DVD, optical discs, paper and on microfilms was continued.
1. The increase of patent documentation was as follows:
a) foreign patent specifications:
• 93.100 titles on paper
• 1.717.900 optical discs CD-ROM and DVD containing patent specifications and utility model descriptions from 20 countries.
b) Polish patent specifications:
• 1.800 titles (7.600 copies) on paper
• 1.700 titles (1.300copies) on microfiches
2. At the end of December 2003 the total number of patent documentation in the search files constituted:
• 18.479 discs holding 27.259.300 patent documents
• 13.723.600 titles of documents on paper
• 160.000 titles on micro-carriers
In 2003 the PPO continued collecting, storing and preparing patent and technical literature purchased, subscribed or exchanged:
• 158 books introduced to the local library and book database- ZBILNI
• 4.900 booklets of patent, technical and legal literature on paper, 216 CD-ROMs containing the equivalents of foreign patent bulletins and other periodicals
• 619 discs of bibliographic data and trademark database.
working on-line and based on the BAZPAT database for the needs of application filings and granting procedures:
• the system of patent and utility model applications
• the system of patent searching
• the system of utility model searching
• fees control system
• Modernization of the Office’s Internet home page (administration of services for outside users of the Office’s information sources)
• Databases on subjects of industrial property filed and under protection in Poland
• In co-operation with the EPO – providing information stored in the esp@cenet database via the Polish interface.
functioning within support systems (including administrative service), operating off-line:
• law information system
• patent attorneys information system
• finance-accounting system
• system supporting the access to the databases on CD-ROMs containing the files of full text specifications, bibliographic data and abstracts of patent specifications in the Office’s Library
1 In-house computer network (LAN) based on the Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet solutions. Alcatel and 3com active tools
1.2 Hardware installed in 2003:
Replacement of 115 old workstations, including:
• 15 computers with the following configurations- PIV 3,05 GHz, 120 GB HDD, 1024 Mb RAM, screen CRT 21’
• 35 computers with the following Celeron parameters- 2,4 GHz, 80 GB HDD, 512 Mb RAM, screen LCD 17’
• 65 computers with the following Celeron parameters – 1,7 GHz, 80 GB HDD, 128 Mb RAM, screen LCD 15’
1.3 New servers were bought and the existing ones were modernized
1.4 Implementation of:
• Active Directory domain on the Windows 2003 Server
• New e-mail system of the PPO, based on the MS Exchange 2003 Server
• Database based on MS SQL server
• Tivolli system of central data backup
1.5 The following programs were installed:
Operating systems:
• Windows 2003 Server
• Windows 2000 Server
• Windows NT 4 Server
• IBM AIX v 4.3
Database servers:
• IBM DB2 and Content Manager
• MS SQL 2000
• Oracle 9i
• MySQL v 4.0.15
Basic functions of the servers:
• E-mail and group work servers working on MS Exchange 2003
• Domain controller on Windows 2003 with DHCP, DNS
• Routing and firewall on MS ISA Server and CISCO PIX
• web page on the Microsoft Content Management Server
• Tivoli Storage Manager system of data backup 5.2
• Sophos Antyvirus with E-mail scanner
• Application for databases searching- MIMOSA V4.2, Patent WebAccess, PatentWS, IRIS
1.6 The working applications were supported on the basis of the following tools:
• REVELATION- administration of external patent and utility model databases
• DB2 and JAVA- managing trademark and industrial design database
• Pearl, PHP, C#. NET – creating of inter- and intra- websites
• IBM CONTENT MANAGER- managing the application documents of trademarks and industrial designs
• SQL SERVER and C#- managing the external database
• ULTRANET and IRIS- supporting the net access to optical discs
• Adobe and Corel software – publishing issues
Our internal libraries (for examiners and outside users) are run by the Patent Literature Department. The available collection includes PL abstracts, IPC, ECLA, pamphlets, manuals and other publications such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, official journals of Poland and of the EPO. Some of the information is also available on our web page.
In 2003 in the field of organization and upkeep of the files available to the Office’s examiners and the public, the following documentation was included in the files:
• 1.717.900 copies of patent documents on optical discs CD-ROM and DVD containing abstracts of patent and utility model applications, from 24 countries and international organizations.
• 1.800 titles of Polish patent specifications on paper
• 1.700 titles of Polish patent specifications on microfiche
• 68.700 titles of foreign patent specifications on paper
• 7.600 copies of Polish patent specifications on paper
• 11.400 copies of descriptions Polish industrial designs, ornamental designs and applications
• 15.000 cards of patent and utility model application abstracts published in the “Patent Office’s Bulletin” and non-published as well as given a negative decision.
As regards organization and upkeep of the files accessible on various carriers there were 24.500 EPO specifications inventoried (3rd edition of Int. Cl.)
Within the co-operation with the patent information centers in Poland, the Office continued supplying them with foreign patent documentation and literature. In 2003 the Office sent:
• 1.773 discs with full text databases on CD-ROMs
• 454 copies of patent bulletins
• 191 discs with patent literature
• 2.859 copies of Polish utility models and ornamental designs
• 1.328 copies of the “Bulletin of the Patent Office”
• 690 copies of the “Announcements of the Patent Office”
• 89 copies of the “Official Journal”
Within the services rendered for the users the following were made accessible:
• 7.400 files with foreign patent documentation and 16.600 copies of single Polish and foreign patent specifications, 600 volumes of books and 900 booklets and periodicals. Free access to Polish and world patent documentation, indexes of trademarks being applied for and registered, indexes of applications for ornamental designs.
• 28.504 retrievals on the bibliographic databases on CD-ROMs for 5.724 users
• retrievals of 72.721 KB of information from the ARSPATENT database for 1.437 users
1. In 2003 exchange of signal and source information with foreign patent offices was continued. We sent to libraries abroad:
• To 39 countries, 430 copies of “WUP””- Announcements of the Patent Office
• To 17 countries, 425 copies of “BUP” –Patent Office’s Bulletin
• To 22 countries, 44 copies of “Index of patents granted in 2002”
• To 19 countries, 19 copies of “Index of utility models granted in 2002”
• To 9 countries, 16.841 copies of Polish patent specifications (full texts)
• To 7 countries, 10.427 microfiches of Polish patent specifications (full texts)
2. We continued co-operation with the EPO and patent offices in producing the optical discs CD-ROM PRECES with patent documentation of these countries and of Poland, preparing and transmitting data in an electronic form.
Medium used for exchange of priority documents- paper
Medium used for filling applications- paper
Education and training with respect to patent information covered, among the others, the following items:
• Members of the PPO’s staff participated in conferences, meetings and training courses organized in other countries by the international organization such as EPO (32 people). The courses focused on various issues such as: search and examination in various fields of technology, the European patent system, trademarks, industrial designs etc.
• 472 of the Office’s staff members participated in training courses organized throughout the country. The courses focused on various issues such as civil service, introduction to legislation and administration systems, the European Union etc.
• 7 lectures on the industrial property issues led by the Office’s staff.
• The PPO co-organized an annual seminar for patent attorneys from universities and academies which was devoted to the changes to be experienced after Poland’s joining the European Patent Convention.
Forms of promotion of patent information by the PPO:
• Interviews were given to 36 journalists: some of them were broadcasted on TV and radio. There were 122 publications in the press or in the electronic media.
• The organization of Patent Office’s stand on the Fairs on Innovation in Economy and Science “INTRAG 2003” in Katowice during which a series of seminars for patent attorneys was organized.
• With the co-operation with the EPO the organization of the stand at the International Poznan Fairs “Science for Industry”
• Promotional and informational stand at the Gdansk Fairs “Innovation 2003”, presentation of issues related to industrial property protection and patent information during the parallel seminar.
• A stand and one week informational services during the X Stock of inventions in Museum of Technology in Warsaw
• Organization of conferences targeted to patent attorneys and staff of industrial sector –VIII Poland-wide Scientific Conference on “patent Information for Science and Industry”
• International conference to celebrate the 85th anniversary of industrial property protection in Poland, publication of books commemorating the event: Calenadar2004, “Commemoration Book”, a guide for SMEs- “Industrial property in business activity”, “Dictionary of industrial and intellectual property terms”, comics-forms on copyright, protection of inventions and trademarks
• Working out projects of placards for fairs and exhibitions
• Working out information materials for 260 students visiting the PPO.
| 1. | Classification is allotting one or more classification symbols (e.g., IPC symbols) to a patent application, either before or during search and examination, which symbols are then published with the patent application.
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| 2. | Preclassification is allotting an initial broad classification symbol (e.g., IPC class or subclass, or administrative unit) to a patent application, using human or automated means for internal administrative purposes (e.g., routing an application to the appropriate examiner). Usually preclassification is applied by the administration of an office.
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| 3. | Reclassification is the reconsideration and usually the replacement of one or more previously allotted classification symbols to a patent document, following a revision and the entry into force of a new version of the Classification system (e.g., the IPC). The new symbols are available on patent databases.
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