Survey of the annual technical reports 1996 of the patent offices on patent information activities

World Patent Information, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp.39-51,1998

Q 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.All rightsreserved Printedin GreatBritain 0172-2190/98 $19.00 + 0.00

PII: !30172-21!30(!88)00011-8

Survey of the annual technical reports 1996 of the patent offices on patent information activities J. F. Siblep

Introduction

Evolution of patent activities

The Annual Reports 1996 on Patent Information Activities submitted by Industrial Property and Patent Offices to the WIPO Permanent Committee on Patent and Industrial Property Information (PCIPI) and published by WIPO in the series denoted PCIPI/ATR/PI/1996/XY (where XY represents the country code of the office providing the respective report), are surveyed in the following article. Each report summarises the activities in 1996 of the relevant office in the patent information and documentation fields and in some cases, indicates its plans for the future. They thus provide a valuable overview of the ongoing activities of the offices and give some indication of the future developments in these activities. The survey concentrates on what appear from the reports to be new developments in 1996 and the progress of developing projects.

Armenia In Armenia, the average time for the prosecution of patents and utility models was 8.2 months and the average period to grant was 2.5 years. This compares favourably with 1995 when the corresponding times were 13.6 months and 3 years. The industrial distribution of applications in 1995 and 1996 is shown in the table below. Branch of industry Light industry Satisfaction of vital requirements of man Medicine Building and mining Technical physics Electrical engineering Machine engineering Chemistry and biology

The survey is based upon reports received by the Editor by the beginning of December 1997 and covers the reports of the following offices:

1995 5 30

1996 4 10

36 19 23 32 49 99

56 30 25 34 65 92

ARIPO

Armenia (AM), African Regional Industrial Property Organization [ARIPO] (AP), Argentine (AR), Austria (AT), Australia (AU), Bulgaria (BG), Brazil (BR), Belarus (BY), Canada (CA), Cuba (CU), Czech Republic (CZ), Germany (DE), Denmark (DK), Estonia (EE), Egypt (EC), European Patent Office (EP), Spain (ES), Finland (FI), United Kingdom (GB), Georgia (GE), Croatia (HR), Hungary (HU), Ireland (IE), Israel (IL), Japan (JP), Kenya (KE), Kyrgyzstan (KG), Republic of Korea (KR), Republic of Kazakstan (KZ), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Maroc (MA), Republic of Moldova (MD), The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MK), Mexico (MX), The Netherlands (NL), Norway (NO), New Zealand (NZ), African Intellectual Property Organisation [OAPI] (OA), Poland (PL), Romania (RO), Russian Federation (RU), Sweden (SE), Slovakia (SK), Tajikistan (TJ), Tunisia (TN), Turkey (T’R), Ukraine (UA), United States of America (USA), Uzbekistan (UZ), Yugoslavia (YU).

In April 1994, amendments to the Harare Protocol and its Implementing Regulations created a link between ARIPO and the PCT. Due to this, most applicants prefer to designate ARIPO through the PCT and so the number of applications in the first half of 1996 was lower than in 1995. However, during the second half of 1996, there was an abrupt surge in the number of filings due to PCT applications moving into the national phase. This is likely to increase from year to year. Argentina The new Argentine patent law was issued on 1 November 1995. Since that date the number of patent applications has been increasing and the filing of utility models has started. During the five years previous to the issuance of the new law, the average number of patent applications was about 3,300 per year. This number has grown to about 5,100, an increase of about 55%. 5,100 applications were filed in 1996.

In the survey the items are grouped under the headings recommended for the reports by WIPO. 39

J.F. Sibley

40

As the new law allows for the granting of product claims for pharmaceuticals, the number of pharmaceutical applications increased from 17% of total filings to 29%. Now, the areas of chemistry, processes and pharmacy comprises up to 50% of patent filings. Mechanics and electronics are also growing. Based on the IPC, Human Necessities (A), Performing Operations; Transportation (B), and Chemistry and Metallurgy (C), have increased their share in the total number of applications.

Austria The following 1995.

table shows the changes

National patent applications Granted national patents Granted EPs designating AT Utility model applications Utility model registrations

1996 2357 1481 14651 767 511

in relation

to

1995 2188 1777 15856 731 415

In 1996, there was an increase in the number of national applications in the fields of agricultural machines, of iron and steel industry and of fixedconstruc!ions.

Bulgaria The Bulgarian Office has installed the common software and is running this in parallel with the existing automated retrieval system as a comparative experiment.

Be1aru.s Belgospatent received 1,059 applications for inventions of which 698 were from national applicants. In comparison with 1995, the number of filings from nationals increased by 74 and the number of filings by foreigners decreased by 54. In 1995, Belgospatent began to receive PCI applications entering the national phase; 269 in 1995 and 259 in 1996. There is an upward trend in the number of requests for substantive examination. In 1996, it reached 1,005. Substantive examination was carried out on 452 applications, more than in 1995 but obviously insufficient. We lack our own reference and search aids, and patent collections and have too few examiners. In 1995 and 1996, there was a significant decline in the number of USSR authors seeking re-registration whilst the number of patents granted in this period amounted to 939, of which 70% were to nationals.

Canada An amended Patent Act, together with entirely new Rules, came into force on 1 October, 1996. The number of patent applications in 1996 was 27,540, an increase of 3.56% over 1995.

Cuba The number of applications was 137 (124 in 195) and the number of registrations was 77 (51 in 1995). The areas showing the most rapid change in 1996 were CO7C and A61K. Germany In 1996,64,894 patent applications were registered at the Patent Office. Of these, 50,514 were filed directly with the Office and 14,380 were international applications filed under the PCT. 1,319 international applications entered the national phase at the GPO. The number of national applications filed in 1996 was 42,834 an increase of 4,457 over 1995. Denmark A total of 1,499 patent applications were filed in 1996; a 2% increase over 1995. The number of applications from Danish nationals rose from 1,236 in 1995 to 1320. The number of applications for utility models fell from 496 in 1995 to 472 in 1996. It appears that this number has stabilised at about 450 annually. Estonia The most important trend in the Estonian Patent Office has been the sudden increase in filings of PCT applications which have entered the national phase.

EgYpt The Egyptian Office granted 250 patents in 1996. The table below shows the number granted in each IPC class divided between residents and non-residents. IPC A B C D E F G H

Resident 16 8 6 4 7 3

Non-resident 87 22 52 1 9 12 9 14

Total 103 30 50 1 13 19 9 17

EPO The upward trend in the number of patent applications continued in 1996. The number of applications filed directly with the EPO rose by 1.1% to 41,100 while the number of Euro-PCI filings increased by 18% to 45,500. The resulting total of 86,600 EPO patent applications showed an increase of 7,300 (9.2%) over 1995. The main technical areas in which applications were filed remained: electronic equipment, instruments, communication techniques, organic chemistry and health. Areas of

Annual technical reports 1996 of the patent offices on patent information activities large growth compared to 1995 were: Instruments III (GO9-G12)+20%, Nucleonics (G21)+18%, Fermentation, sugar, skins (C12-C14)+15%, Transporting (B60B64)+14%, Weapons, blasting (F41, F42, CO6)+14%, Health (A61-A63 excl. A61K)t13%, Communication techniques (H03-H04) +13%, Paper (D21, B31)+13%, and shaping I (B21-B23)+11%. In these areas, the growth was above the increase in applications filed (+6.5%). On the other hand. Shaping II (B24-B30, B32) decreased by ll%, Textiles (DOlDO7) decreased by 12% and Mining (E21) showed the largest decreases in filing compared to 1995. Spain The number of patent applications filed in 1996 was

2,800, which represents an increase of approximately 8% over the previous year. Although no significant changes occurred in the number of utility model applications and grants; there were substantial increases in the sectors of footwear, printing, packaging, and general technology. Increases were maintained in medical science, vehicles, teaching and advertising. The only significant decrease was in the sector of buildings. Finland

Finland became a contracting state to the EPC on 1 March 1996. The consequence was that the total number of applications decreased by almost 20%, but the number of Finnish applications increased slightly. The number of grants decreased slightly too. The number of utility model applications increased by 17%. The process of changing over to a paperless office in the near future caused a great change in the activities of the Office. Plans include making information services and other client services accessible to the public through new advanced techniques., such as the Internet. Towards the end of 1996, preparations were made for a local area network and a frame relay technique telecommunication system. All the personnel working in the patent information services have new workstations of which the majority are fully compatible with the EPOQUE IUBNS system. Georgia The changes experienced in numbers of application fil-

ings and grants are shown in the following table. 1996 1995 303 309 Applications, inventions 102 108 Applications, utility models 327 Grants, inventions 119 62 16 Grants, utility models The increased number of grants in 1996 tesrifies to the increased activity of Sakpatenti.

41

Hungary The number of patent applications filed in 1996 are

shown in the following table. Domestic patent applications

796

Of which, Service and, Individual Foreign patent applications

Of which, filed under Paris Union and, filed under PCT

204 592 26081

3580 23297

On 1 January 1996 the new patent law (Law XXXIII/ 1995) entered into force and, at the same time Law II/ 1969 and its amendment were repealed. The Office staff had to apply the provisions of both laws in parallel during proceedings. Also from 1 January, the office became the Hungarian Patent Office. Ireland

National applications for patents did not show any significant change in number, but the requests for SPCs rose from 2 to 30, and European applications designating Ireland showed an increase from 44,161 !o 52,775. Grants through the national route showed a decrease from 3,525 to 1,705, mainly due to the declining number of backlog applications filed under the 1964 Patent Act. In respect of grants, Human necessities and Chemistry remained the top two areas, while Physics showed an increase from 5.5% to 9.2%. Japan The number of patent applications filed in 1996 was

360,080, a slight decrease from 369,215 filed in 1995. The total number of applications registered to which pregrant opposition was filed was 119,894 and the number of those to which post-grant opposition was filed was 95,194. Kenya The figures show the figures for patents and utility mod-

els for 1995 and 1996. 1995 1996 Applications for patents 15 27 Applications for utility models 3 0 22 PCT applications entering national phase 9 Granted patents 8 6 Granted utility models 1 4

Lah$a The Latvian Office has started to publish information about the extension of European patent applications to Latvia.

42

J.F. Sibley

Lithuania The number of patent applications filed directly with the

State Patent Bureau was 111 of which 90% originated in Lithuania. The number of International applications entering the national phase was 67, an eight fold increase, and the number of European applications designating Lithuania was 1,453. 465 patents were granted and the first European patents entered into force. The leading areas of technology were agriculture, organic chemistry, medicine and biochemistry. Maroc The main changes seen in 1996 were a 17% decrease in applications from 380 filed in 1995 to 325 filed in 1996 although the proportion of applications filed by Maroc residents increased from 22% to 28%. There has also been an increase in the number of searches requested. Applications for pharmaceutical products are now allowed since Maroc signed article 70.8 of ADPIC in June 1996. Republic of Moldova

According to the Law on Patents for Inventions of December 1995, patents are granted without substantive examination at the request of the applicants. This reduces processing time an allows a patent to be granted six to eight months after filing the application. Mexico The number of patent applications rose to 6,927, a 28%

increase over 1995, but the number of patents granted fell to 3,186 from 3,538. Netherlands The number of patent applications increased again, by

11% compared to 1995. Three quarters of all applications opted for a twenty years patent with novelty search.

by June 1997 but it was completed in March 1997. At the same time a new standard of timeliness was set for examination of new applications. First examination is to be completed within live days of receipt in the office, or eligibility for examination. It is no longer possible to request delayed examination. OAPI The number of patent applications filed by nationals

remains at about 27 per year. The number of PCT applications continued to grow to the detriment of filings outside the PCT. The number of grants also increased greatly as shown below.

1996 1995

Applications 211 186

Grants 231 31

Demand for utility models has continued to be very small, about 3 per year. Poland The Polish Office received 3,708 patent applications via the national route of which 2,411 were domestic applications. Poland was designated on 20,136 PCT applications. At the same time, the Office received eighteen Polish applications seeking protection in foreign countries under the PCT. The number of utility model applications was 1,853 of which 1,800 were domestic. No topography applications were received.

Russian Federation The number of patent applications by nationals rose

2.6% over 1995 while the number of applications made be foreigners increased by 11.7%. The foreign filings were still dominated by the USA and Germany but filings by Japanese showed dynamic growth. The patents granted in 1996 indicated an increase in activity in Performing operations, Transporting and Chemistry.

Norway Sweden

As of 1 January 1997, a new patent act involving a new procedure went into effect which permits post-grant opposition and administrative revocation. The opposition period is increased to nine months after grant and the administrative revocation follows the German model where only the holder of a patent is allowed to claim a limitation of the content of a patent. Patents according to this procedure will issue with a new numbering system starting at 300,001.

constant, 4,855 in 1996 and 4,713 in 1995. The number of applications filed under Chapter I of the PCT increased from 3,530 in 1995 to 3,848 in 1996 and the number of applications filed under Chapter II increased from 1,702 in 1995 to 2,470 in 1996. The most rapid growth in recent years is the one dealing with mobile phones.

New Zealand

Tunisia

In August of 1996, a project was initiated to eliminate the backlog of patent cases. This was due for completion

The number of patent applications rose from 146 in 1995 to 174 in 1996. The increase was due largely to an

The number of national applications has remained almost

Annual technical reports 1996 of the patent offices on patent information activities increase in the number of applications relating to medicaments.

43

There was little change in the specific fields of technology but CO7 and AOlN together showed an increase of about 50%.

Turkey The number of patent applications and grants is shown

below.

Patent applications Utility model applications Patents granted

Residents 187 178 47

Non-residents 718 3

Total 905 181

542

589

The applications for patent and utility models originated in USA (177), Japan (26), European Community (367), Turkey (365), other countries (151) to give the total 1086. The number of patent applications was lower than in 1995 but this is because Turkey became a member of PCT on 1.1.96 and many applications are expected to be filed after August 1997. Ukraine The number of patent applications fell in 1996 to 5,019

(6,071 in 1995), but the number of grants increased to 4,270 from 1,350 in 1995. United States ofAmerica

USPTO granted 109,646 patents in 1996, an increase of 8% over 1995. The number of grants to foreign inventors fell very slightly. IBM was the top patenting organisation. The number of applications filed was 195,187 an 8% decrease over 1995. This decrease is the result of the surge in applications filed in 1995 which occurred with the GATT legislation. The share of applications having foreign origin was 45.2%, up from 41.6% in 1995. 24,309 provisional utility patent applications were filed in 1996, the first full year during which this option was available. The number of patents granted in biotechnology increased by 27% and the number of grants in electrical computers and data processing systems increased by 26%.

Matters concerning the generation, reproduction, distribution and use of primary and secondary sources of patent information Argentina

According to the new patent act, patent applications are laid open for public inspection within eighteen months of the filing date, or earlier at the request of the applicant. Thus announcements of these kinds of publications began on 20 November 1996 in the bulletin. Argentine documents are stored on paper and microfiche.

Austria

Examined patent applications laid open to public inspection (for a period of four months) are searchably stored in full-text form for four mon!hs in a document database (DOCUWARE) and are accessible at two terminals in the library. The laid open documents are also published on CD-R together with the inquiry software. These CDR are issued on the 151hof each month and can be purchased by the public. Part II of the Austrian utility model gazette will be recorded on floppy disk beginning in 1997.

The

Republic of Uzbekistan The number of applications fell in 1996 to 1,087 from

1,192 in 1995 whilst the number of registrations increased to 1,210 from 1,125.

Australia The Office has reclassified documents to the sixth edition

of the IPC from the Australian classification and from earlier versions of the IPC in area where there are benefits to be gained. The Office continues to classify relevant articles from ten of the periodicals on the Pff minimum documentation non-patent literature list for publication in JOPAL.

Bulgaria

Twelve regular issues of the Official bulletin in both Bulgarian and English together with two additional issues containing only trade mark information in Bulgarian only were published in 1996. The regular issues contained bibliographic data and abstracts of 696 patent applications, 450 granted patents, 122 utility model applications and 75 grant utility model patents.

Yugoslavia The number of applications for patents during 1996 was

Republic of Belarus

714 (822 in 1995) and the number for petty patents was 96 (8 in 1995). The number of grants for patents was 336 (511 in 1995) and for petty patents was 100 (3 in 1995).

Four issues of the Official Bulletin were published giving information about 683 applications for inventions, 304

J.F. Sibley

44

PCI applications which entered the national phase in the Republic of Belarus, and 531 granted patents.

Denmark The new IT system that will automate all working procedures will be based on standard workflow components and standard office automation systems is expected to be fully operational by the end of 1997. The system will be paperless.

EPO

In 1996, the EPO published 61,029 patent applications. Figures are given to show the breakdown according to 31 Technical Units of the IPC. The six most heavily posted units were: Electronic techniques (HOl, H02, H05) 5704, Instruments I (GOlGO3) 5391, Electronics, Electric communication (H03, H04) 4665, Organic chemistry (07, AOlN) 3893, Health, Amusement (A61-A63, excl. A61K) 3474, and Instruments II (GO4-G08) 3382. The lowest numbers of postings were: Nucleonics (G21) 159, Weapons, Blasting (F41, F42, C06) 260, Earth drilling, Mining (E21) 285 and Paper (D21, B31) 285.

Spain

of WordPerfect for Windows 6.Oa, accessed via the SAGE platform. The platform provides an integrated network of applications for use by all staff in the Directorate. Internet access is gradually being provided together with an electronic mail and diary system

Republic of Croatia

In 1996, the Croatian Intellectual Office published 75 patent applications. Figures are given which show the breakdown of these applications by the Technical Units of the IPC. The most heavily posted unit was Organic chemistry (C07, AOlN) with nearly 26% of the filings followed by Electronic techniques (HOl, H02, H05) with 7%. The least number of postings were in Paper (D21) and Mining (E21) which each only had one filing.

Hungary

A web page was opened (www.hpo.hu) in both Hungarian and English. Information concerning filing a patent and an English translation of valid Laws are available. The data concerning patents, utility models and trademarks appear at the Gazette database entry of the home page. All the bibliographic data is searchable and the abstract and characteristic drawing can be displayed.

The number of patent documents published in 1996 was: Ireland

Patent applications (Al, A2 and R) Patents granted (Bl and A6) Translations of claims of EP applications Translations of EP patents (T3, T4 and T5) Utility model applications (U)

1,820 1,062 281 13,858 2,968

Since February 1996, the Journal has been published in A4 format in accordance with ST.18. The plan for multiple publication, with EPO collaboration, of all Irish A documents in CD-ROM format is progressing satisfactorily.

Finland Japan

After becoming a contracting state to the EPC, the following new document types were introduced: FUEP Tl FUEP T2 FVEP T3 FI/EP T4 FI/EP T5

Translation of the claims of European patent applications Corrected translation of a Tl document Translation of European patent specification Translation of amended European patent specification Corrected translation of European patent specification.

The JPO published 340,500 unexamined patent applica-

tions, 1,696 unexamined utility model applications, 12,454 PCT patent applications, and 6 PCT utility model applications. The convenient public inspection software (JPO CONV) covering unexamined CD-ROM publications issued since January 1996 and examined CD-ROM patent publications issued since May 1995 will be updated to facilitate data display in an English language environment. Distribution is planned for October 1997.

United Kingdom

Kenya

Development has started, in conjunction with the EPO and the Intellectual Property Offices of Belgium, Switzerland, Holland and Luxembourg, of an ACCESSEUROPE CD-ROM to contain the bibliographic data of BE, CH, LU, NL and UK published applications. The Patents and Designs Directorate has converted to the use

The Office has not yet started to publish, print or copy

patent documents but, with the acquisition of two DTP computers, it intends to start publishing the Industrial Property Journal and a newsletter and to produce certificates and register entries, notices to users and annual reports.

Annual technical reports 1996 of the patent offices on patent information activities Korea The Office published 50,802 unexamined patent applica-

tions, 16,902 examined patent applications, 39,094 unexamined utility model applications and 10,733 examined utility model applications.

45

Matters concerning abstracting, classifying, reclassifying and indexing of technical information contained in patent documents Armenia

During 1996, OAPI published nine Official Bulletins compared to seven in 1995. ESPACE-OAPI cover the period from 1992 to 1996.

Author abstracts are compulsory in Armenia and the Office does not carry out any abstracting of patent documents. The applications are filed by the IPC and coordinate indexing is carried out using the ICIREPAT codes.

Tajikistan

ARIPO

The Official Gazette is published quarterly containing

The first page of an ARIPO patent or industrial design

OAPI

bibliographic data from both applications and granted patents. New techniques are not used for the generation of patent information due to the lack of technical facilities.

Turkey

Whereas in the past only granted patents were published in Turkey, in 19% both patent and utility model applications have been published according to the new law which came in effect on 27 May 1995. The bibliographic data is entered into the search database PATARA.

Ukraine

In 1996, the database of the “inventions” automated system was updated with the bibliographic data of the applications for Ukrainian patents for inventions. As of 31.12.96, the database contained data of 36,000 applications.. Software to input the claims into the database has been developed. At present, it is possible to enter chemical and mathematical symbols as given by the applicant and to display them on the screen.

United States ofAmerica

must include and abstract and drawing (if necessary). The abstracts and bibliographic data are included in the AFPAT database. The sixth edition of the IPC is used; documents are classified to sub-group level. Patents from member countries of African origin are classified to subgroup level. At present Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Swaziland and Botswana patents have been reclassified and the data recorded in the AFPAT database. Argentina

During 1996, the reclassification of older Argentine patents according to the IPC (hybrid system indexing) continued as planned and about 7,600 documents were processed. Austria

Patent and utility model applications and published documents are exclusively classified by the sixth edition of the IPC. For search purposes, the IPC and ECLA system are used especially when using the in-house search system (RISP) which is a CD-ROM based jukebox system. The RISP system offers examiners the possibility of electronic reclassifying to build up tailored search files which are permanently stored.

The USPTO has incorporated magnetic re-writable stor-

age devices into its standard operations. The magnetic devices hold the most frequently used data, the weekly issue data, and is used as a pre-load area for volume reproduction of patent data via high speed printers. Sufficient storage was acquired to meet the needs of the Office through the year 2OOO.The USPTO initiated the Patent Image Capture System (PIGS) project to replace the current system of microfilming incoming paper applications with electronic scanning capability. Using PIGS, the Office will be able to convert paper applications to digital images and deliver those images to selected customers. The USPTO is embarking on a significant integration of its examiner office automation with the retrieval system.

Australia

Use of the Patent Abstract Image System (PAIS) continued to grow as did use of the link between PAIS and Patindex, the Office’s mainframe database of classification data for AU patent applications. The PATADMIN system was modified to deal with the millennium problem. Canada

CIPO continued to translate the titles, in English and French, of Canadian applications. These titles, together

46

J.F. Sibley

with other bibliographic data are published in the weekly patent gazette, the Patent Office Record. All applications filed in Canada in 1996 and all PCT applications entering the national phase in 1996 have been classified using the sixth edition of the IPC. Similarly, all patents issuing from applications filed under the previous Act and reissue applications which use the Canadian Patent Classification have been reclassified. The reclassification project for peptide patents filed in C07K and A61K has been completed.

EPO

In 1996, the DOCTOOL application was distributed to all examiners in the Hague and Berlin and to the BEST examiners in Munich. User acceptance has been high and the number of allocations assigned to documents via DOCTOOL increased steadily. Work continued on the OCR project which started in 1995 to convert over 1.3 million documents from the facsimile data (BACON) format into Mixed-mode Magnetic Tape Format (MMMT). The quality of the conversion is assessed by a mathematical formula which takes into account the conversion of each character and the superfluous generation of characters. The minimum quality level of the converted text is 98%.

language. The titles are translated into English. Bibliographic data and the abstract are machine searchable. Korea

In 1996,6,371 examined patent applications filed by residents were abstracted and translated into English. Republic of Kazakstan

Kazpatent abstracted, reviewed and translated patent documents into the Kazak language and has started work on creating both a bibliographic database and a full-text database of inventions and utility models. Poland The sixth edition of the IPC was implemented and

applied in the Office, both for new applications and for currently published patent documents based on earlier applications. Late in 1996, the Polish version of the sixth edition was printed and the Guide will be issued in the first half of 1997. Bibliographic data processing was carried out connected to (1) updating the INFPOL and INFPAT databases, (2) servicing the users using these databases and the CD-ROM and (3) providing data for the automatic composition of the gazettes and providing databases accessible to the public.

Spain Tajikistan The Office translated into Spanish 29,612 abstracts of

EPO applications designating Spain and filed in French, English and German.

Finland The classified search files increased by 263,915 publications in 1996 and the numerical collections with 920,625 publications, mostly on CD-ROM. The library now has 3,890 CD-ROM disks containing nearly 4 million patent documents.

The Office does not abstract technical information from

patent documents. Patents are classified according to the sixth edition of the IPC and this classification is the basis for the search file. At present, there are no plans to use full text processing to form a search database. Turkey

Turkish translations of the IPC manuals will be completed very soon and they will be entered into the computer for the use of examiners. Bibliographic data and abstracts of all applications are input to the computer.

Georgia Repubiic of Moldova

Abstracts are not published separately, but are included in the Official Bulletin for Inventions and Utility Models. All the abstracts prepared for publication in the Georgian language are translated into Russian and English and included in the Official Bulletin. Georgian patents and utility models have been classified by the fifth edition of the IPC and are kept in classified files.

Titles of inventions and utility models are translated into Romanian, Russian and English in the Official Bulletin of Industrial Property but all abstracts are published only in Romanian and Russian. The sixth edition of the IPC is used. Sweden

Croatia

Patent applications are classified by the sixth edition of the IPC and each contains an abstract in the Croatian

Reclassifying non-US documents according to the latest version of the IPC is a continuous activity. For the last couple of years an internal EDP system using information from the EPO’s CONDA tape has been updated and

Annual technical reports 1996 of the patent offices on patent information activities designed to meet these reclassification needs. In 1996, 183,490 patent documents were reclassified to the sixth edition of the IPC or to the corresponding ECLA classes. US documents are stored according to the US classification and these are updated according to changes in the US system. United States ofAmerica

In 1996, approximately 499,000 patent documents were reclassified and 5,091 new subclasses were created in the US patent classification. The first figure included 131,000 non-US patents but new foreign documents are no longer being classified reclassified. Also in 1996, USPTO began automating its Classification Operations. A prototype desktop electronic reclassification system was deployed to several classifiers.

47

abstract shoe boxes will only be updated with JAPATIC abstracts. Cuba

Work progressed on a project relating to the preservation and upkeep of the collection of paper documents and other documentary resources with the aim of extending the lifetime of the collection. Estonia The major part of the collections of patent documents in

the search file are arranged by the sixth edition of the IPC, although some older parts are arranged according to a national system of classification and there is no opportunity to reclassify these. During 1996, about 4.5 million new documents, mainly on CD-ROM were added to the collections.

Yugoslavia Finland

Patent applications are classified using the fifth edition of the IPC. The collection of YU, DE, CH, EP and SU patent specifications is stored according to the IPC classification.

In 1996, the classified search file increased by 263,915 documents and the numerical collections with 920,625 publications mainly on CD-ROM. At the end of 1996, the library held 3,890 CD-ROM.

Search file establishment and upkeep

Ireland

Argentina

It is proposed to publish all A publications commencing from 1991 in CD-ROM format (dual mode) in numerical order. Another proposal concerns the publication of bibliographic data, including abstracts and drawings wherever possible, of all published applications filed between 1927 and the end of 1990.

The search file comprises paper documents arranged by

IPC comprising the bibliographic data, abstracts and drawings of each application. It is updated while examining the applications. Foreign patent documents on CDROM are used but there are no paper files of such documents. Austria

Only those patent documents on CD-ROM which are considered part of the PCT minimum documentation are searchable via the RISP system. Because of the introduction of the RISP system in 1996, the upkeep of the paper file collections of the technical examiners and of the library was discontinued at the end of 1995. The paper file collections of patent documents prior to 1995 are still used and regularly updated. Australia

Australian patent specifications are available to examiners on each floor in microfiche form, but the Office intends to reduce to two sets of microfiches when it moves to the new building in early 1997. AU classification details are added to Patindex database at filing. Introduction of the Patent Abstract Image System has largely eliminated the need for shoe box storage of the non-CAPRI component of manually retrieved paper abstracts required for international searches. Existing

Japan The search files are arranged by the JPO’s internal classi-

fication sub-divided from the IPC. The files are divided into about 2,800 technical fields and where, necessary, Fterms are applied to aid retrieval. These F-terms are made accessible to the public through JAPIO as they become available for use. F-term retrieval can be made through PATOLIS, a commercial service provided by JAPIO. As of December 1996, F-terms of 2,164 themes were available to the public. Kenya

Bibliographic data of patent applications is extracted and input into CDS-ISIS database once an application is filed. The main mode of storage is paper. The Office exchanges bibliographic data for the CDS-ISIS database with ARIPO. The Office receives CD-ROMs from WIPO, EPO and USPTO. Korea The examiners’ search files are classified according to the

IPC and contain patent documents from Korea (since

48

J.F. Sibley

1948), USA (from 1967), Japan (from 1950), France (from 1978), Germany (from 1978), UK (from 1975), Russia (from 1984), WIPO (from 1978) and EPO (from 1983).

completed. A local area network has been established and there are workstations for the experts in the office. A bibliographic database has been established which can be used for searching and producing statistics.

Kazakstan

Austria

Kazpatent started creating an automated search Mutual exchange of patent documentation occurs all CIS patent offices and with the patent offices of tria, Germany, Mongolia, Macedonia and Japan. intended to extend this exchange.

file. with AusIt is

Maroc The Office carries out three types of technical searches,

(1) through the national patents. Users can carry out similar searches using file lists which are updated quarterly, (2) searches of foreign documents available on CDROM and, (3) acting as an intermediary for free searches carried out under the auspices of WIPO. Norway The Office is evaluating search routines and search material. It has been decided that paper copies will not be used in most technical areas. Paper that already exists will not be discarded. Usually, searches will be carried out using online databases and publications retrieved using CD-ROM. In some problem areas, notably in the mechanical fields, paper files will be continued until an equally efficient electronic search system becomes available. Poland

Work continued on building up the Polish and foreign patent documentation file on CD-ROM, optical disk, on paper and on microform. The search file comprised 3,211 CD-ROMs, 16,205,OO patent documents on paper and 6,499,fKKldocuments on microforms. United States ofAmerica

The in-house computer-cased search and information

system (RISP) was further improved in 1996 and is now fully operational. A jukebox system is used as temporary store for the results of searches and a computer network is used to make the documents available on screen. Further extension of the RISP system is planned for 1997. The public have access to an in-house system including bibliographic data of all pending patent and utility model applications in Austria. Befarus Belgospatent specialists have developed the FoxPro 2.6 software for three different types of workstation (ARM). The first, for an operator, allows the input of bibliographic data, specifications, claims, drawings and mathematical formulae into the inventions database. The second type is used by an examiner and includes a search subsystem and means for conducting correspondence with applicants. The third type, for the chief of the Examination Department has the same capabilities as type two together with means to distribute work amongst examiners. The inventions database is being built up. Canada

CIPO conducted in-house studies on the use of the Inquire/Text search system for patents in terms of improving existing search strategies and to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the search tool. Enhancements to the TechSource system were developed and tested in order to incorporate new procedures arising from the new Patent Rules. These enhancements will go into effect in June 1997. Work is continuing in the development of a management information system for TechSource. Additional functionality was added to the system.

The examiners’ search file is continually updated. The

USPTO has used OCR software to convert images of approximately 166,000 US patents issued between 1970 and 1976 to text for inclusion in its text search database. The file is currently loaded and available for data validation purposes only. It will be made available to text searching users in August 1997.

EPO The use of EPOGUE continued to grow during 1996. The BNS near-line viewer for facsimile full text documents was introduced which allows the dual mode display of full text with multiple images associated with a patent.

Activities in the field of computerised and other mechanised search systems

Spain

Armenia

The Office acts as the distributor for its online databases

During 1996, the mechanisation of the office continued. In particular, development of scanning facilities was

via the public telephone network and the IBERPAC network. The CIBEPAT database of inventions is also published on CD-ROM. The database contains the same

Annual technical reports 1996 of the patent offices on patent information activities information as the online database and is updated quarterly. Georgia Work was carried out on the unified automated system for information retrieval and control. The main objectives are to reduce the time taken in prosecution, to increase the speed of search, to aid production of the trilingual bulletin, to create a fee payment control system and to improve efficiency. The hardware implementation is a long-term programme. Croatia The Office is developing its own information systemCROPAT- based on client/server technology on UNIX platform and INGRES relational database. The system will cover all phases of the granting/registration of industrial property rights and all other office tasks. Japan The PO will release the full text search system for retrieval of patent and utility model information in April 1997. It will allow local searches of full text by terminal after downloading code data to the terminal. It also allows searches for synonyms using the thesaurus. Users can customise the system by editing the glossary of synonyms. Korea The development of the document search system, in Korean, English and Japanese, for patents and utility models was completed in 1994, tested in 1995 and went live in July 1996. Mexico The computer database (BANAPA) developed by the Office is the computerised version of the industrial property gazette. The system operates online and is used internally by technical patent examiners and by office staff providing search services to the public. BANAPA comprises a total of 90,186 bibliographic references of published patent documents. Russian Fe&ration In 1996 a new computerised service room for examiners was opened in the VNIIGPE. The 575 workstations are networked on the basis of Windows NT 4.0. Various additions and modifications were made to the administrative management system which operates under the name ABD. Sweden The Office decided in April 1996 to have its own BNS system which would be the same as that of the EPO

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whenever possible. Three StorageTek robots were installed and the first test tapes with patent documents loaded. Work also progressed on a BNS viewer. A Windows version of EPOQUE (tentatively called SPOQUE) is being developed. Tajikistan WIPO has provided the Office with a PCT workstation equipped with a CD-ROM reader and laser printer. The Office is developing an automated patent search system. Turkey The Office’s PATARA database contains all the bibliographic data, abstracts and fee information. It is based on UNIX platform and uses Oracle 7.3. United States ofAmerica The Office continued to research alternative text search systems to replace the current system. The Global Patents project aims to make domestic and international patent information available to the examiner on the desktop. Since the 1995 report, examiners, some using a prototype based on the Netscape web browser, were able to search English translations of Japanese patent abstracts and of European patent abstracts.

Administration of the industrial property office library and services available to the public. Argentina INPI offers, at low cost, state of the art searches and report services carried out by an ad-hoc working group. During 1996, about 750 applications were processed. The search file for external users is available to the public at no charge. Brazil An agreement with Fundago Andre Tosello allows searches to be made in the patent database on the Internet at http://bdt.org.br/bdt/inpi/. The database contains information on Brazilian patents published since August 1992. Canada In 1996, CIPO’s library acquired the intellectual property related holdings of the former Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs library. Major enhancements were made to the Internet web site. These included the use of the web site for major consultations on new intellectual property legislation, the posting of new patent regulations, and the distribution of documents in both PDF and

50

J.F. Sibley

word processor formats. An interrelated link between this web site and the pilot Canadian Patent database on Industry Canada’s Strategis site was launched. CIPO’s current URL is http://info.ic.gc.cislopengov/cipo.

The new package Cuadra Star, will be implemented in phases in 1997. The result will be that the library catalogue and documentation files will be directly available to internal and external users via a network.

QYPt

New Zealand

The Office made 114 state of the art searches for the following applicants: institutes and research centres 34, companies 33, faculties 12, individuals 15, attorneys 18 and Ministry of army production 2.

The library is open to the public Monday to Friday

During 1996, more than five hundred visitors came to InfoPat for help. More than eighty online searches were made and about 470 searches of the CD-ROM collections for 185 external visitors.

between 8.30 a.m. and 5 p.m. The public can access all the material available to the examiners. The collections and the off-site store have been drastically reduced in the past year and the collection management and preservation has concentrated on the key countries used by the examiners in their search. The collection of specifications is stored on microfiche in another city away from the main earthquake zone A collection policy for all the information in the Office was developed and agreed in 1996.

Hungary

Poland

The Patent Library providing public service is some dis-

Work continued on the implementation of the INFO WARE system which will provide remote access to the subject and bibliographic CD-ROM databases. This will be available in the first half of 1997. A Home Page was prepared and installed on the Internet.

Croatia

tance from the Office itself and, since September 1996, a laser connection has been installed between the two, so that all the electronic search tools of the examiners are available in the Library. In the second half of 1996 the Office launched an experimental free online service as a supplement to the Library services. The objective is to smooth the way to the introduction of a charged online service from the start of 1997. During 1996, about four thousand users were provided with information. Korea The Korea Industrial Property Rights Information Centre

(KIPRIC) has been providing an online commercial service on domestic patents, utility models, industrial designs, trade marks, trials and statistical information since July 1996. Terminals have been installed in the public reading room, the Civil Service Consultation Centre, The Korean Patent Attorneys Association and in the Korea Invention Promotion Association, Korea Trade Promotion Association and the Intellectual Property Training Institute. KIPO has designated thirteen libraries at regional chambers of commerce and two public libraries as patent deposit libraries. Netherlands

In 1996, almost thirteen thousand visitors came to the reading room, about half from the business community especially from SMEs. Plans for further electronic information provisions were defined in 1996; the start of the Patent Information Online Project and automation of the library systems. This Project encompasses making patent information accessible to the non-specialist user using Internet technology. Since manual library systems are seen to be outdated, an investigation into the desired functionality of an automated replacement was completed in 1996 along with an evaluation of the software.

Romania

Although the present patent collection is not excessive, a new six story annex is to be built which will make it possible to reorganise all of the existing paper collections under the right conditions for preservation. About 12,000 specialists visit the public reading room each month. OSIM has been authorised to carry out searches for the public for a fee. Tajikistan The public has free access to the collections in the

library. On request, the library provides the following services to its customers: bibliographic searches; copying; translation of articles from foreign scientific journals and magazines; new literature exhibitions showing different trends in science and technology. The library maintains an in-house database on a PC, which allows non-patent bibliographical information to be accessed and retrieved. Ukraine The establishment of a public industrial property library

is planned. The collection housed in the SPOU official library is only available to SPOU staff and patent attorneys of Ukraine. The State science and technical library and the seventeen regional Centres of science, technical and economic information are supplied with the Official Gazette containing announcements on patents and Ukrainian patent specifications.

Annual

technical

reports 1996 of the patent offices on patent information

Uzbekistan The Republic Patent Library was built in 1995 but it needs improvement. The collection of some twenty one million patent documents is stored in the basement and an elevator is used to bring the required documents up to the reading rooms. There is no patent library network in the country and no co-operation with other patent libraries for exchange of documents. There is a computerised service based on CD-ROMs in addition to the more traditional manual library services.

Matters concerning the mutual exchange of patent documentation and information Argentina During 1996, floppy disks containing the bibliographic data and abstracts of all Argentine patent issued during 1993,1994 and 1995 and their front pages in paper form were sent to the Spanish Patents and Trademarks Office in accordance with the schedule for DOPALES PRIMERAS CD-ROM. Bulgaria Disks containing bibliographic data and abstracts in English for 1343 applications and granted to EPIDOS in the Hague and in Vienna. Canada CIPO is in the process of developing its own CD-ROM image product for the purposes of document exchange. United States ofAmerica Since the end of 1990, the USPTO has made available to customers a software tool called PatentIn which provides an efficient means to comply with USPTO rules requiring a sequence listing to accompany each biotechnology patent application that contains biological sequence information. In 1996, the USPTO and EPO began a cooperative effort to develop a Windows-based version of PatentIn and also to ensure accordance with WIPO Standard ST.25 This has become part of Trilateral Project 14.2. The USPTO has initiated a demonstration project to examine the potential for filing applications via the Internet.

Other relevant matters concerning education and training in, and promotion of, the use of patent information Many offices report assistance to developing countries in various ways, either under schemes operated by WIPO, including performing searches and/or examinations, or

activities

51

under bilateral agreements. Technical assistance and training has been offered to many developing countries by experts from many offices.

Argentina During 1996 the INPI, with the co-operation of WIPO, organised two different courses related to industrial property, one for members of the courts of Buenos Aires city and another one for lawyers, attorneys and industrialists in Cordoba City.

Austria The Office continued its promotional activities to make a greater national target group aware of the advantages and importance of industrial rights protection. The patent information awareness programme for students, documentation specialists and SMEs was intensified.

United Kingdom 1996 saw a ftindzmental change in the marketing actidities of the Office. It has been decided that a more marketorientated approach is required and an outside firm with marketing expertise was contacted to investigate the patterns of use of intellectual property by industry and academia. This has shown that existing presentations to schools and academia are not cost effective and it has been decided to concentrate on introducing intellectual property into university courses. This will build on experience already gained when working with Boumemouth University (see Wortd Patent Information, 1996, H(4), 219-226). The very successful “Road Show” has been discontinued and new presentations will be developed aimed at specific target audiences. 1996, saw the design and creation of a major new web site on the Internet.

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Every year in June, the Office organises an exhibition “Patent of the Year” where the best domestic invention for the previous year is promoted in front of an important audience.

Netherlands Since the introduction of the Patent Act 95, the NIP0 has decided to target three groups: the business community (mainly SMEs); the knowledge infrastructure (universities, higher education and technical institutes); and government itself. In 1996, three account managers started to formulate their plans to approach the market. This resulted in a draft strategic plan at the beginning of 1997.