Annual Technical Report on Industrial Design Information Activities in 2015 submitted by Rospatent

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.

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.

I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

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

Development of information technology (hereinafter referred to as ‘IT’) has been carried out in five main areas in 2015:

- electronic record keeping;

- optimization of record keeping processes;

- development of decision support systems;

- development of hardware and software infrastructure;

- inter-departmental electronic interaction.

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

In order to enable electronic record-keeping during the provision of State services, the following work was undertaken at FIPS in 2015:

- Operability and fitness for purpose of FIPS information systems and resources was ensured, including the Electronic State Registers for Industrial Designs (hereinafter referred to as ‘EGR PO’).

- A system for official Internet publication of information on IP subject matter from the EGR PO of the Russian Federation was installed and trialled.

- In 2015, operation continued of the automated system of paperless document flow for reviewing industrial design applications (abbreviated to ‘ASBBD Industrial Design Applications’), as part of which electronic correspondence is provided, as well as signing by electronic signature.

In 2015, EGR PO records continued to be completed. As at the end of 2015, it contained 12,612 patents.

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

Electronic interaction with applicants.

At present, applicants and representatives thereof may interact with FIPS electronically using services provided on the State Services Portal. (www.gosuslugi.ru).

Descriptions of State services offered by Rospatent can be found on the Unified State and Municipal Services (Functions) Portal (hereinafter, ‘EPGU’). All services offer the required forms for applications, and information on how to access services. 

In 2015, 68 industrial design applications were filed electronically through EPGU services (1.4 per cent of the total number of industrial design applications). 

Inter-agency electronic interaction.

As of January 1, 2016, descriptions of State services offered by Rospatent can be found on the Unified State and Municipal Services (Functions) Portal (hereinafter, ‘PGU’). All services offer the required forms for applications, and information on how to access services, as well as offering the opportunity to file applications electronically for all of Rospatent’s State services. 

As a result of changes in the List of State services (functions) and updating of legal acts regulating the provision of Rospatent’s State services, work was carried out in 2015 to make the relevant amendments to the Federal Register of State and Municipal Services (hereinafter, ‘FRGU’).  

Interaction with the federal executive authorities is provided using the inter-agency electronic interaction system (hereinafter, ‘SMEV’). Version 2.4.4 of the SMEV web-service was developed and registered in a production environment in compliance with methodological guidelines for the development of eleсtronic services and use of electronic signature technology in the course of inter-agency electronic interaction.

In February 2015, the web-service was transferred to a new software and hardware platform using virtualization technology, enabling the operational capacity of the web-service to be increased, and the requirements of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation on ensuring accessibility thereof.

In 2015, work was carried out to modernize the ‘Personal Office’ service of the FIPS internet portal in respect of integration with the Unified System of Identification and Authentication System (hereinafter, ‘ESIA’) in order to comply with the Guidelines on the use of ESIA version 2.5.

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

Table 1 shows the trends in the filing of applications and grant of patents for industrial designs in 2014 and 2015.

Table 1

 

2014

2015

% 2015/2014

Total number of industrial design applications filed, including:

5,184

4,929

95.08

- by Russian applicants

2,200

2,015

91.59

- by foreign applicants

2,984

2,914

97.65

Total number of patents granted, including:

3,742

5,459

145.88

- to Russian applicants

1,394

2,031

145.70

- to foreign applicants

2,348

3,428

146.00

 

The total number of applications filed for industrial designs fell compared to 2014 by 4.92 per cent, mainly due to a decline in Russian applicants (by 8.41 per cent), but also in foreign applicants (by 2.35 per cent).

At the same time, the number of industrial design patents granted rose 45.88 per cent compared to 2014.

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

The following pages of the Office’s website contain:

http://www.rupto.ru/about/reports;

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/link_resources;

  • Guide to the resources and Internet resources of the VPTB Division of FIPS:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/fonds/putevoditel;

  • Information notices in the Industrial Designs section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/industrial_designs/soob_pm.

II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN 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

The web page addresses of Office websites providing information on filing applications are as follows:

  • Administrative regulations for the provision by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property of State functions relating to the State registration of industrial designs, and grant of patents in respect of industrial designs, and duplicates thereof:  

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_mert/prik_mert_696_30092015#Adm_reg_po;

  • Rules for compiling, filing and reviewing documents which constitute the basis for performing legally significant acts concerning the State registration of industrial designs, and forms thereof:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_mert/prik_mert_695_30092015#I;

  • Requirements relating to documents included in an industrial design patent application:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_mert/prik_mert_695_30092015#II;

  • Information specified in an industrial design patent:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_mert/prik_mert_695_30092015#III;

  • Information on the grant of an industrial design patent published in the Federal Intellectual Property Service’s Office Gazette:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_mert/prik_mert_695_30092015#IV;

  • Administrative regulations for the provision by the Federal Intellectual Property Service of State functions relating to access to documents for patent applications for inventions, utility models, and industrial designs, and issuance of copies of said documents:  

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_mert/prik_mert_615_28_08_2015#adm_regl_oz;

Details of seminars and other similar events held in 2015 can be found in Part 5(d).

Availability of the application dossier in electronic form

Access is provided on the Rospatent and FIPS websites to a database of industrial design applications filed between 2007 and 2015, which contains information on 41,000 applications, and is updated daily.

Classification and reclassification activities; classification system used, e.g., International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification), other classification

At Rospatent, the International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification) (ICID) is used to classify industrial designs. The 10th edition of ICID was used in 2015 for the publication of documents.

As part of the work carried out by WIPO to improve the Locarno Classification, Rospatent prepared a list of the names of new types of industrial design, which were discussed at the 12th session of the Committee of Experts on the Locarno Classification. As a result of the discussion, the majority of them will be included in the new 11th edition of the Locarno Classification, and accordingly, in the Russian version thereof.

Other activities

III. SOURCES OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE

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)

Rospatent publications on industrial designs are presented in Table 2.

Тable 2

Publication Title

Form of Publication

Frequency of Publication

Official Rospatent publications on industrial designs

Industrial Designs Official Gazette  (primary publication section), including the following sections: RF Industrial Design Patents

 

 

 

 

Bibliographic data, image of an industrial design, list of essential features of an industrial design (for applications received before October 1, 2014).

 

 

 

 

Once per month
(12 issues per year)

Notifications

 

Information is published on changes made to entries in the State Register of Industrial Designs of the Russian Federation.

 

Information is provided by the appropriate subdivisions of the Institute and Rospatent in the established form.

Court decisions on infringement of the rights of patent owners

Court decisions on the infringement of the rights of patent owners (at the patent owner’s request)

During 2015, the Industrial Designs Official Gazette has been posted on the website of the Federal State Budgetary Institution, the Federal Institute of Industrial Property (hereinafter, ‘FIPS’), which is subordinate to Rospatent, in the Official Publications section, and is freely available, constituting a functional and comprehensive information source. The ISSN number is 2313-7460.

Gazette documents are in PDF format. 

The web page addresses of the Office’s websites providing information concerning Office publications are as follows:

  • Regulations on the Rospatent Official Gazette, Industrial Designs:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/documents/russian_laws/order_rospatent/prik_rosp_166_31122013;

  • Official Publications section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/ofic_pub/;

  • Catalog of Publications and Databases in the Patent Information Products section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/publishing_activities/.

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

The Official Gazette, Industrial Designs, is published once per month.

The forms of notifications on industrial designs published in the Rospatent Official Gazette, Industrial Designs, are presented in Table 3:

Table 3

1. Notifications containing communications on changes to information concerning State registration of an industrial design

PD4L Change of denomination, first name, surname or patronymic of patent owner

ТС4L Change of author’s(s’) details

ТЕ4L Change of correspondence address

2. Notifications containing communications on termination and restoration of validity of an industrial design patent

MZ4L Premature termination of validity of a patent for an industrial design (group of industrial designs) on the basis of the patent owner’s request

ММ4L Premature termination of validity of a patent owing to non-payment within the prescribed period of the fee for maintenance of the patent in force

MF4L Revocation of a patent

NF4L Restoration of validity of a patent

3. Notifications containing communications on extension of the term of validity of a patent for an industrial design, grant of a duplicate patent

ND4L Extension of term of validity of a patent for an industrial design (group of industrial designs) on the basis of the patent owner’s request

RH4L Grant of a duplicate patent

4. Notifications containing communications on agreements relating to disposal of the exclusive right in an industrial design, transfer of an exclusive right in an industrial design, without the conclusion of an agreement with the patent owner

PC4L State registration of an agreement on alienation of an exclusive right

QB4L State registration of an agreement on disposal of an exclusive right

PC4L State registration of the transfer of an exclusive right without an agreement being concluded

QZ4L State registration of changes to a registered agreement

RL4L Recognition of a registered agreement as invalid

QC4L State registration of cancellation of a registered agreement

QC4L Cancellation of a registered agreement

QC4L State registration of termination of validity of a registered compulsory license

QA4L Registration of an open license

QZ4L Registration of a request for withdrawal of a request for an open license

QZ4L Insertion of amendments in a registered agreement

5. Notifications containing other communications on registered industrial designs

ТK4L Correction of obvious and technical errors in publications of information on industrial designs in the Industrial Designs Gazette

RZ4L Other changes relating to registration of industrial designs

 The web page addresses of the Office’s websites providing information relating to access to online publications:

  • Industrial Designs in the Official Publications section

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/ofic_pub/ofic_bul/prom_obr

  • In the Information Resources section, subsections:

International Classification for Industrial Designs

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/international_classification/Industrial_samples/;

Open Registers of Russian Patent Documents subsection

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/.

From the above page, a user may refer to the following resources by means of the appropriate link:

Register of Industrial Designs of the Russian Federation;

Register of Applications for the Grant of a Russian Federation Industrial Design Patent.

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

FIPS examiners can access all freely available information resources on the Internet, including information on industrial designs.  A list of information resources available can be found on the internal FIPS network, and is updated regularly.  The list includes information resources from both the countries and organizations included in the minimum compulsory search field at FIPS and also from other countries.  For each resource there is an Internet address, retrospective review, and a brief description of search and browsing options.

The minimum compulsory search field should include patent documentation dating back 15 years from Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, the United States of America, France, Japan and WIPO.  The scope of the search may include any publicly available documents regardless of language, age and type.

Additional information resources include approximately 30 countries and organizations, including the industrial designs database of OHIM.

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

In 2015, subscribers were provided with the Industrial Designs Official Gazette, based on official Rospatent information, on CD/DVD, with a frequency of 12 issues per year. 

For new subscribers, and also for the purposes of keeping patent collections up to date, series of Industrial Designs Official Gazette published in previous years (2012-2014) were offered on CD/DVD.

In addition, users were offered sets of information on industrial designs for 2005 to 2014 on one DVD each, as well as a retrospective set of an array of information on industrial designs for 1993 to 2004 on one DVD.

All CDs and DVDs are distributed together with MIMOSA software, which provides searching of bibliographic data, ICID indexes, and a list of essential features, as well as combinations thereof.

The Industrial Designs Official Gazette was published on the FIPS website, and upkeep of the registers of Russian industrial designs with an indication of legal status continued. 

Users are also provided with free access to information on applications for the grant of Russian Federation patents for industrial designs received after January 1, 2005.

In 2015, the Rospatent website provided online access to:

1) the information-search system (IPS) for domestic patent documentation;

2) the information resource, Open Registers, is a source of reference information which anyone can use to search for information on registered results of intellectual activity and means of individualization, as well as other information concerning the status of a granted patent or stage of prosecution for applications filed at Rospatent. Reference information is structured by patent number or application registration number by:

-   registers of Russian patent documents for industrial designs;

-   registers containing information on prosecution of applications filed between 2007 and 2015 in respect of industrial design patents;

-   Rospatent Official Gazette, Industrial Designs.

Registers of Russian industrial designs contain the following databases:

-   an industrial designs database (includes information on 61,000 patents from 1993 to 2015, updated monthly);

-   a database of applications for industrial designs filed between 2007 and 2015 (includes information on the prosecution of 41,000 applications, updated daily).

The FIPS website provides users with access to:

-  the information-search system for industrial designs;

-  registers of Russian industrial designs;

-  registers containing information on prosecution of applications filed between 2007 and 2015, in respect of industrial design patents;

-  Rospatent Official Gazette, Industrial Designs ".

IPS users are given access to:

-   a database of industrial designs containing information on 61,000 patents from 1993 to 2015, updated monthly;

-   the ICID database.

Users’ work with the information-search system

Examiners are able to work with all industrial design databases. Access to the industrial design databases is provided to third-party users on a contractual basis.

In 2015, as part of the cooperation agreement between Rospatent and the appropriate organizations, the following had access to:

  • full-text industrial design databases:
    - 126 Technology and Innovation Support Centers

­   - Two organizations of Rostekhnologiya

  • all FIPS databases:

­  - 101 organizations of the Federal Service of Court Bailiffs

­  - 223 organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

­  - 11 organizations of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service

­  - 16 organizations of the Ministry of Defense

­  - 95 organizations of the taxation service

­  - 44 users of the Court for Intellectual Rights

­  - Two users of the Federal Agency for the Supply of Arms, Military and Special Equipment and Supplies (RosOboronPostavka)

­  - Two organizations  of the Federal Customs Service

­  - Four users of the Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations

Third-party users are granted free access to the following industrial design databases:

- A database containing information on RF industrial design patents No.87456, published in issues of the Industrial Designs Gazette.

­- ICID database.

In 2015, users of industrial designs registers made approximately 1% of the total number of requests (more than 40,628,000 requests).

The web page addresses on the Office website which contain information relating to information products and services provided by the Office, are:

  • Information on subscribing to patent information productsin the Patent Information Products section: Catalog of Publications and Databases:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/publishing_activities/;

  • How to purchase publications and databases subsection:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/publishing_activities/porayad_pr/;

  • Carrying out searches – in the Information Resources subsection:

Information-Search System:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/;

Open Registers: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/;

Industrial Designs Official Gazette in the Official Publications section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/ofic_pub/ofic_bul/prom_obr;

  • Patent databases – Databases subsection of the Information-Search System section:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_2/;

  • Information on accessing and using resources – in the Information-Search System section:

Services, http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/article_6/;

Support, http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_4/;

and Instructions for use of Information-Search System

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/inform_resources/inform_retrieval_system/article_1a/ subsections.

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

All patent document databases contain information on legal status that is updated monthly.

Automated database subsystems for determining legal status use data from official publications that contain information on newly registered protection titles or amendments.  Following publication of each Gazette, data on legal status are posted on the Rospatent website in the Information Resources section.  The status of industrial design patents may be “valid”, “may terminate validity”, “validity terminated, but may be restored”, and “validity terminated”.

Information on the legal status of industrial designs is published in the Industrial Designs Official Gazette, posted on the FIPS and Rospatent websites, and also in the Industrial Designs FIPS Gazette on CD/DVD:

- information on the grant of RF patents for industrial designs;

- information on amendments to the entries of the State Register of Russian Federation Industrial Designs (Notifications section of the Gazette).

In the Information Resources section of the Office’s website, information is provided on registrations, with an indication of legal status or stage of prosecution of registered subject matter in the Open Registers: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/.

Other sources

IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE

Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements

In order to support the computer network’s system software at the required level, work was carried out in 2015 to transfer a number of domain controllers to the new versions of the server operating systems, thereby enhancing the level of IT security.

In 2015, work continued on developing hardware and software to ensure industry experts and employees of functional departments could work securely in a remote location. The number of FIPS employees working remotely increased from 132 in 2014, to 178 in 2015.

In 2015, in order to improve the accessibility of State services provided by Rospatent, a hardware and software system was installed and configured which enables remote examination of claims and objections in the Chamber for Patent Disputes for inhabitants of the regions. Participation in the hearing is provided through a browser, and no additional software installation is required for external participants. Implementation of the system received a favorable response among patent attorneys.

In 2015, an automated paperless document flow system was put into operation for examining industrial design applications (Industrial Design Applications).

In 2015, operation continued of an automated paperless prosecution system for examining applications for registration of industrial property agreements (Agreements), providing paperless prosecution and State services (integrated into the State Services Portal) electronically, as well as integration into the Electronic State Registers.

In 2015, operation continued of an automated paperless prosecution system for examining applications to enter changes into the Registers of inventions, utility models, and industrial designs (including extending and restoring the validity of a patent) (Patent Prosecution).

Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office

Equipment used (industrial design search systems):

HP DL380 server7 units.

(RAM – 4GB, processors - 2, external memory – 200 GB)

Сервер HP DL580 – 4 units.

(RAM – 16GB, processors - 4, external memory - 600 GB)

HP workstations - 60 units.

 

Software:

Windows 7, Windows XP,

Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008 Server, Windows 2012 Server operating systems.

Carriers used:

Ultrium magnetic tapes

Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources

In 2015, work continued on populating the database of an automated paperless document flow system for examining industrial design applications (Industrial Design Applications), providing examiners with a wide range of features.

Industrial design software continued to be used, providing a review of trademark database search results on the basis of pre-prepared search instructions, in order to prevent unfair competition when using trademarks and industrial designs.

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

Examiners of applications for industrial designs are provided with the results of information searches in the automated system for verbal searches, RF Trademarks, and the system for formalized linguistic descriptions of trademark images, SILOIZ, for similarities between verbal or figurative elements of trademarks and verbal and figurative elements of industrial designs that have been the subject of applications.

Examiners from the industrial designs department analyze and use the results obtained in taking substantive decisions regarding elements similar to the trademarks found.

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

Industrial design applications are registered in the TM-ADMIN system, and procedures to export data to the automated database systems, and the Industrial Design Applications automated paperless prosecution system, have been developed and introduced.

Paper documents are transferred into electronic format and uploaded onto the Industrial Design Applications automated paperless prosecution system using Data Center software, and, in particular, primary industrial design application materials and additional documents relating to industrial design applications are transferred and uploaded to electronic applications.

The automated industrial designs database is used to generate various statistical reports.

The Industrial Design Applications automated paperless prosecution system registers incoming mail, prepares outgoing correspondence, and monitors all stages of an application’s life cycle, from filing of the application to the examination decision (grant, refusal, or withdrawal), monitoring deadlines for reviewing correspondence and conducting examinations.

Other matters

V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION

Office's library (if deals with industrial design information): equipment, collection management, network of libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign libraries

The industrial designs collection is intended both for examiners and other categories of users. Information on industrial designs in the All-Russian Patent Technology Library (VPTB) is provided to all categories of users on a fee-free basis.

The industrial designs collection consists of two arrays of documents:

- national and foreign specialist and general Gazettes with sections on industrial designs on various carriers, arranged according to Gazette issue number;

- a specialized collection of a broad range of industrial design publications; the collection is arranged according to ICID indexes.

The collection is kept up to date by including current documentation on RF industrial designs and documentation from Rospatent’s foreign partners received under international exchange, as well as by acquiring literature through subscription from major foreign and Russian publishers.

The specialized collection on industrial designs includes:

- periodicals on industrial design and style;

- advertising brochures and catalogs associated with exhibitions, and adverts for new goods and products;

- thematic collections containing publications from the national Gazettes of a range of foreign countries with a translation into Russian of the name of the industrial design;

- methodology and reference literature.

As of January 1, 2016, the collection contained, in total, over 2.52 million publications, including:

-  national and foreign journals on design and new production methods – over 19,100 copies;

-  more than 920 books on design;

-  advertising brochures and catalogs – over 47,800 copies;

-  thematic collections of national Gazettes from a range of other countries – approximately 2.45 million publications.

A TSPF collection contains official publications on industrial designs produced by different countries for various retrospective periods.

A room has been specially equipped at VPTB for all categories of users working with industrial design information.

In 2015, 80,800 copies of publications were issued from the industrial design collection, including:

- 1,800 paper copies, and more than 3,000 electronic copies of Official Gazettes were issued;

- approximately 9,000 items from thematic sub-collections were issued;

- more than 6,800 copies of design magazines were issued;

- approximately 200 copies of books on design were published;

- approximately 60,000 advertising brochures and catalogs were issued.

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

The VPTB patent law collection includes books and periodicals on a broad range of issues of legal protection and use of industrial designs in Russia and overseas. The collection is available electronically and in hard-copy, and also includes publications found on the official Rospatent and FIPS websites, and contains different types of information sources: national and international law, commentaries and reviews, guidelines, training aids, standards, patent office reports, conference and seminar materials, compilations of court decisions and collections of statistics, etc.            

Internet publications from the All-Russian Patent Technology Library Division are available on the FIPS website in the State Patent Collection and VPTB Information Products sections at:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/fonds/; http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/fonds/bibl_uk

Reference information on the stages of prosecution when patenting patent law subject matter is published on the Rospatent website, in the Patent Law Subject Matter section: http://www.rupto.ru/activities/objects.

In the Information Resources section, information is provided on registrations, with an indication of legal status or stage of prosecution of applications in the Open Registers:  http://www1.fips.ru/wps/portal/Registers/.

Internet publications from the All-Russian Patent Technology Library Division are available on the FIPS website in the State Patent Collection and VPTB Information Products sections at:

http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/fonds/.

Brief information on legal protection of created designs: http://www.rupto.ru/about/consult/ks_design/sved.

For novice users of patent information, links can be found to WIPO publications in Russian under the What is Intellectual Property? heading in the For Beginners section: http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_ru/ru/about/ip.

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

In 2015, as part of the Program for Regional Information Support, Rospatent provided 23 new accesses to FIPS’ full-text databases (hereinafter, DB) to business entities in the Russian regions free of charge, including an additional opportunity for TISC to conduct industrial design searches.

The opportunity to access databases on the FIPS website free of charge via the Internet was provided to 302 organizations in nine federal districts of the Russian Federation as at December 31, 2015. Access was provided to: 48 support organizations; eight science cities; 41 State scientific centers (SSC), 35 scientific centers of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SC RAS), 18 organizations within the framework of the Federal Target Program, Development of Nano-industry Infrastructure in the Russian Federation for 2008–2011 (FTP), 133 TISC and 19 other organizations.

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

At FIPS, professional development for employees is organized under the Common Training System (ESO), according to the principle of continuous training from the time of hiring.  Both internal and external training methods are used.  Guaranteeing conditions for the continuous professional development of employees is provided for under the FIPS Charter.

Organization of FIPS employee training using in-house training methods

In 2015, in accordance with the Combined Plans for In-House Training of Employees, as approved by the Director of FIPS, the following were held: 

- 12 centralized sessions, for the managers of the structural subdivisions, their deputies, and senior FIPS employees, covering issues relevant to the practice of activities, and targeted at various categories of employee;

- 457 sessions directly in the FIPS subdivisions in accordance with the quarterly in-house training plans focused on studying newly released regulatory documents, issues in the performance of examinations, as well as analyzing the results of internal and external examination quality control in specific subdivisions.

Professional Development of Newly-Recruited FIPS Examiners

Professional development of newly recruited examiners of inventions and utility models is carried out on a regular basis, and relevant certificates are awarded.  

In 2015, based on the results of an open tender, a civil contract was concluded with RGAIS, in accordance with which training was organized and conducted of the 13th stream of newly-recruited FIPS examiners, consisting of 22 people. The training was carried out in accordance with the thematic curriculum, and was 214 academic hours in duration.

FIPS employee training at RGAIS

Under FIPS higher professional education programs:

- Two FIPS employees gained a first degree in intellectual property management and Law respectively;

- 18 FIPS employees are continuing their studies on the masters’ program (in Law).

- Two FIPS employees are continuing their studies as post-graduates.

In 2015, five intellectual-property conferences and seminars organized and held by Rospatent in four regions of the Russian Federation addressed issues relating to industrial design information:

  • March 25-26 – national seminar organized in conjunction with WIPO on ‘Promoting Efficient Use of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks, and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs’ (State Institution of Culture, F.I. Tyutchev Bryansk Regional Universal Scientific Library, Bryansk);
  • April 3 – Rospatent practical research conference on ‘Protection of Intellectual Property Subject Matter’ in accordance with Amendments to Part IV of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation’, at the 18th Moscow International Exhibition of Inventions and Innovation Technologies, Archimedes 2015 (Sokol’niki Exhibition and Congress Center, Moscow); 
  • September 23-24 – 19th Rospatent practical research conference, dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Rospatent, ‘Intellectual Property: History and Current Trends’ (Rospatent, Moscow);
  • October 20-21 – national seminar organized in conjunction with WIPO on ‘Promoting Efficient Use of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks, and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs’ (Federal State Independent Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education, First President of Russia, B.N. Yeltsin, Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg);
  • December 9-10 – training seminar on ‘Strategy and Tactics of Intellectual Property Protection for Industrial Enterprises’ (Regional State Budget Institution, Altai Center of Cluster Development, Barnaul).

Other activities

VI.INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INFORMATION

International exchange of industrial design information in machine-readable form (e.g., Official Gazettes)

In order to fulfill its obligations in relation to exchange of patent information, FIPS posts electronic Gazettes, including trademark information, on the Institute’s FTP server, and has granted log-in and password access to documentation to the offices of 47 foreign countries and two international organizations.

In 2015, 1,772 copies of industrial design gazettes were received from 44 countries and one international organization on all kinds of carriers: 24 paper copies; 280 copies on optical disks, and 1,468 copies downloaded from office websites or Internet resources.

Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to industrial design information

In 2015, Rospatent organized and held two national seminars in conjunction with WIPO on ‘Promoting Efficient Use of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks, and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs’ in two regions of the Russian Federation, at which three FIPS and two WIPO employees delivered addresses:

  • March 25-26 – national seminar organized in conjunction with WIPO on ‘Promoting Efficient Use of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks, and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs’ (State Institution of Culture, F.I. Tyutchev Bryansk Regional Universal Scientific Library, Bryansk);
  • October 20-21 – national seminar organized in conjunction with WIPO on ‘Promoting Efficient Use of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Trademarks, and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs’ (Federal State Independent Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education, First President of Russia, B.N. Yeltsin, Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg).

From April 2-5, 2015, at the 18th Moscow International Exhibition of Inventions and Innovation Technologies, Archimedes 2015, which was organized with Rospatent’s support, and attended by representatives of more than 315 organizations and more than 700 inventors, and participants from 17 countries and 44 regions of the Russian Federation, the traditional competition, ‘Best Industrial Design of the Archimedes Exhibition’, was included in the competition program.

Assistance to developing countries

Rospatent has no special programs to help developing countries.  Assistance is provided in response to individual requests from the Offices of developing countries.

Other activities

VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS