Annual Technical Report on Patent Information Activities in 2007 submitted by Czech Republic (SCIT/ATR/PI/2007/CZ)

Click here to print the ATR form.

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.

I. Evolution of patent activities
Changes experienced in terms of application filings and grants with respect to the previous year
In comparison with the year 2006, there were changes in patent and utility model activities as follows: in 2007 was 908 patent applications (836 in 2006), 1 125 utility model applications (1 082 in 2006) and 95 PCT international applications (109 in 2006) were filed; 1 203 patents were granted (1 324 in 2006) and 1 059 utility models (1 021 in 2006) were registered.
In 2007, 18 requests (14 in 2006) for granting of a supplementary protection certificate for pharmacological and plant protection products (SPC) were filed.
The European Patent Office granted 18 842 patents effective in the Czech Republic in 2007. So far, the IPO CZ has received 2 741 translations of these European patents, which validated them in the territory of the Czech Republic. In 2007, 1 201 patents valid in the territory of the Czech Republic expired and 3 patents were revoked.
On the 31th December 2007, 10 297 national patents and 5 411 European patents were valid and 6.456 national utility models were valid in the territory of the Czech Republic.

Trends or areas experiencing rapid changes with respect to the previous year
As regards the representation of individual segments most of patent applications concerned textile and flexible materials; transporting; organic chemistry; measuring, optics, photography; medical, dental and hygienic preparations; lighting and heating; building; and inorganic chemistry.
Regarding utility model applications, most of them came from the sectors of building; transporting; heals and amusement; conveying and storing; lighting and heating; measuring, optics, photography.

URLs of web pages of the Office's website that provide statistics related to patents
Since 1996 the Annual Reports and statistics are available on the Office´s URL:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/pls/portal30/docs/FOLDER/PDF_DOKUMENTY/ROCENKY/ROCENKA_2007.PDF

II. Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, distribution and use of primary and secondary sources of patent information
Publishing, printing, copying (main types of publication of the Office in the field of patent information etc.)
Lists of patent documents are published in the Official Bulletin of the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic. Starting from 2007 this is published weekly only in electronic form (updated on Wednesday). It is placed on the Office´s website. The standard content of the chapters regarding granted patents, published patent applications and registered utility models are:
- published patent applications arranged according to the number of applications and according to IPC symbols including list of applicants;
- granted patents arranged according to the number of patents and according to IPC symbols including list of owners;
- registered utility models arranged according to the number of registration of utility models and according to the IPC symbols including list of proprietors;
- official decisions and announcements;
- changes; and
- corrections.
No prior registration or subscription to view the Bulletin are needed. The information as published should be the authentic one for legal purposes. As from No. 1/2000, the Official Bulletin has been available on the web site of the IPO CZ as an electronic book in PDF format.

Main types of announcements of the Office in the field of patent information
Office notices are published weekly in the electronic Official Bulletin of the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic. Notices are also published on the Office's website.

Mass storage media used (paper, microforms, optical storage, etc.)
Used mass storage media are hard discs, magnetic tapes for backup and paper.

Word processing and office automation
The digitizing texts of Czechoslovak and Czech patents from 1919 continued within the framework of technical co-operation with the European Patent Office has been executed.
Since No. 1 to actual national patent document and actual registered utility models are available in electronic and printable form on the Office´s website
Patent information in electronic form are available on the Office´s website (www.upv.cz).
The title pages of national granted patents can be find at the address:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/pls/portal30/pt.ptfrmt
and full documents of national patent applications, granted patents and registered utility models and European patents valid in the territory of the Czech Republic can be find at the address:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/pls/portal30/portal30_portlets.spis.formular

URLs of web pages of the Office's website that provide access to online publication of patent documents and gazettes, and to other primary and secondary sources of patent information, including patent publication servers and download of bulk patent data
The Official Bulletin
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,116&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&447__102.menu_f=4314&448__102.folder_f=5825
The public Czech patents and utility models database - basic search:
http://www.upv.cz/pls/portal30/ptfrm
The public Czech patents and utility models database - advanced search:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/pls/portal30/portal30_portlets.pt.formular
III. Matters concerning abstracting, classifying, reclassifying and indexing of technical information contained in patent documents
Classification, preclassification (if applicable), and reclassifications activities; Classification system used, e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC), other classification (please indicate whether or not patent documents are classified by your Office and, if so, which classification is used)
The 8th edition of IPC classification, Advanced Level, has been used since January 1, 2006.
All patent documents published Januray 1, 1993 and later were reclassified to this edition of IPC classification.
Other classification systems are not used.

Bibliographic data and full-text processing
Published patent applications, granted patents, a registered utility models are searchable by date of filing, publication, grant and registration, by priority date, by number of application, patent and registration, by name of invertor, applicant and proprietor and by IPC classification.
Search system in bibliographic data on web site makes it possible full-text processing.
IV. Search file establishment and upkeep
File building
Patent library stored over 40 million patent documents from more than 20 countries + EPO and PCT documents. The files in paper form are arranged according to the IPC classification. The CD and DVD collection also exist.

Updating and Storage, including mass storage media
Data are updated daily and stored electronically (official databases, hard discs, magnetic tapes for backup) and in paper form.

Documentation from other offices maintained and/or considered part of the available search file
The Office received foreign patent documents both in paper form and on CDs or DVDs.
Official bulletins of foreign offices are available in electronic format as well as in paper form.
V. Activities in the field of computerized and other mechanized search systems
In-house systems (online/offline)
The in-house search database of national applications of inventions and utility models, granted patents and registered utility models exist. The database is not accessible to the public. Its structure corresponds to the public database. The following CD-ROM search systems also are used: CASSISS (US) and ACCESS (EP).

External databases
The Office uses public accessible search databases provided by other intellectual and industrial property offices. The links to the databases are provided on the Office´s website (www.upv.cz).
The Office also perform searches on the EPOQUEnet (including BIOSIS, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PUBCHEM) and the commercial databases as STN International, DIALOG, QUESTEL.

Administrative management systems (e.g., register, legal status, statistics and administrative support)
The Office uses the internal information system (IS SyPP) to proceed the applications of patents, supplementary patent certificates, utility models, industrial designs, trade marks and geographical indications. The system is flexible and applicable enough to maintain official registers of all the industrial property rights. The system archives all incoming and outgoing communications of the Office, provides the information on the state of proceeding, legal status of registrations and statistical data. The system also processes foreign applications within PCT and Madrid protocol. The data are transferred to the electronic Office´s Bulletin and to the public search database.
Starting from August 2006 electronic filing works on-line.
Starting from January 2008 the system produces automatic electronic extracts from registers of IP rights upon online request.

Equipment used (hardware, including the types of terminal and network used, and software), carriers used
Workstations -HP, processor 3 GHz, RAM 512 MB, memory 80 GB. 320 workstations connected in the Office network are of the Office staff direct service. Thereof 75 computers connected in the Office network are of the clients of the Office and staff training service. The type of network used is ETHERNET. The Office uses WINDOWS XP and OFFICE - 2003 software and the ORACLE 10.1 database. The Office uses CD, DVD and magnetic tapes as data carriers.
VI. Administration of the industrial property office library, and information products and services available to the public (relating to facilities, e.g., for lodging applications, for assisting clients on searching procedures, for obtaining official publications and registry extracts)
Planning, administration, automation, security, buildings
The patent and utility models applications as well as requests for grant of supplementary protection certificates (SPC) can be filed in person, by post, by fax or electronically to the Office. Wide range of other requests may be submitted electronically via user-friendly interface.
Bibliographic data of applications and requests are entered into SyPP manually if the application or request is filed in paper or automatically while using of the online filing facility. The applicants receive confirmation of filing via post upon their request or electronically in the case of the online filing. The applicants can follow up the procedure on their applications via the Office´s website.

Collection management, preservation
Extended safety is secured via SSL. Backing up of data changes is done twice a week. Full back up of data is on weekly basis. Backed up files are preserved for 4 weeks.

Information services available to the public (including computerized services and search files contained in libraries remote from your Office and patent information posted by your Office on the World Wide Web)
The information centre and help desk operate during the working days. They provide the public with general information concerning patent protection.
The patent collections and the Internet access are available in the public reading room of the Office´s library. The public reading room staff carries out personal assistance and consultations.
The Office´s website provides a wide range of information including basic information on IP rights, filing and registration instructions, fee information and full texts of legal documents. All valid forms are printable. An Interactive facility for filing applications and submitting requests is available online. Entries can be downloaded and stored. The facility requires electronic authorized certificate, which substitutes signature.
The Office provides full range of brochures and guides free of charge. They can be downloaded in PDF format from the Office´s web site, picked up in the office headquarters or sent upon request. The Office publishes its own books and the Industrial Property Journal (6 issues per year) reflecting the current issues of IP rights.
The Office provides searches on commercial basis.

URLs of web pages of the Office's website for electronic filing of patent applications

Online Filing:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,112&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&444__102.folder_f=30618&443__102.menu_f=4141

Forms:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=400,402&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30

URLs of web pages of the Office's website that provide information on business procedures such as: filing, publication, examination and registration procedures related to patents; opposition and appeal procedures related to patents; etc.

Information on business procedure related to patents:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,112&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&443__102.menu_f=4474&444__102.folder_f=5747

Information on business procedure related to supplementary protection certificates (SPC):
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,112&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&443__102.menu_f=17926&444__102.folder_f=6435

Information on business procedure related to utility models:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,112&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&443__102.menu_f=4516&444__102.folder_f=5760

Guidelines for the Proceedings of the Industrial Property Office:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,112&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&444__102.folder_f=17672&443__102.menu_f=4141

Fees and payments:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,110&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&441__102.menu_f=4145&442__102.folder_f=5566

URLs of web pages of the Office's website that provide a description of information products and services offered by the Office (e.g., patent search service(s) and patent databases), as well as information on how to access and utilize them

The Office´s website:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,110&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30

Information on Services:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,110&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&441__102.menu_f=4150&442__102.folder_f=5644

Publications:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,116&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&441__102.menu_f=4145&442__102.folder_f=5569

Patent and Utility models databases:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,315&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&622__102.menu_f=15494&623__102.folder_f=16747

Patent classification system:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,116&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&447__102.menu_f=15192&448__102.folder_f=15193
VII. Matters concerning mutual exchange of patent documentation and information
International or regional cooperation in the exchange of machine-readable information, e.g., bibliographic data, abstract and/or full text information
International and regional cooperation in the exchange of machine-readable patent information in Epidos is realized on internet. Exchange of CD-ROM and DVD carriers continued. Czech patent documents in paper form were distributed to patent offices of five countries.
The Official Bulletin of the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic is published exclusively electronically as of the beginning 2007. The Official Bulletin is published on a weekly basis (updated every Wednesday) instead of the monthly basis as it was before. The paper version has been discontinued.
Electronic version of the Official Bulletin is available since 2000 and accessible on the Office´s web site:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,116&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&447__102.menu_f=4314&448__102.folder_f=5825

Medium allowed for filing applications
Patent applications could be filed in paper or in electronic form and in electronic form with electronic signature.
VIII. Other relevant matters concerning education and training in, and promotion of, the use of patent information, including technical assistance to developing countries (please indicate URLs of web pages of the Office's website wherever appropriate)
Training courses for national and foreign participants, use of audiovisual means; Promotional activities (seminars, exhibitions, visits, advertising, etc.)
Various courses and seminars were organized for the students and representatives of SMEs or research institutions; University students are invited for excursions and guided tours in the Office´s premises.
Every year starts two-years course of industrial property rights conducted within the Office's own educational facility - the Industrial Property Training Institute.
The Office presented its information activities and products at the following exhibitions and trade fairs:
International Machinery Trade Fair (Brno, CZ)
MACH 2007 (Prague, CZ)
FOR ARCH 2007 (Prague, CZ)
Innovation 2007 (Prague, CZ)
IENA - Exhibition of Inventions and Innovations (Nurnberg, DE)
Exhibition of Inventions (Geneva, CH)
PATLIB 2007 (Seville, ES)
Exhibition of Inventions (Geneva, CH)
EPOPIC 2007 (Riga, LV)
The IPO CZ issued the Industrial Property Journal every two months.

Assistance furnished by offices to facilitate the changing over receiving offices to electronic data carriers for exchange of patent documents (see also sub-item VI, above)
The Office cooperates with Regional Patent Information Centers (PATLIB) on information product dissemination or providing training and education.
IX. Other general information related to the Office that is available on the Internet -- URLs of web pages of the Office's website that:
URLs of web pages of the Office's website that

provide information on legislation related to patents:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,112&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&443__102.menu_f=4474&444__102.folder_f=5747

provide information on legislation related to supplementary protection certificates (SPC):
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,112&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&443__102.menu_f=17926&444__102.folder_f=6435

provide information on legislation related to utility models:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,112&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&443__102.menu_f=4516&444__102.folder_f=5760

Guidelines for the Proceedings of the Industrial Property Office:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,112&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&444__102.folder_f=17672&443__102.menu_f=4141

contains the Annual Report of the Office:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,116&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&447__102.menu_f=4318&448__102.folder_f=5862

contains FAQ:
http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_pageid=82,120&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&451__102.menu_f=4377&452__102.folder_f=5880
X. Other relevant matters
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.
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.
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.

World Intellectual Property Organization

Committee on WIPO Standards (CWS)

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