Centralized Access to Search and Examination

WIPO CASE - Centralized Access to Search and Examination

The WIPO CASE system enables patent offices to securely share search and examination documentation related to patent applications in order to facilitate work sharing programs.

Many patent applications are filed in multiple offices and patent examiners can increase the efficiency and quality of their work by sharing their examination results.

The system was initially developed by the International Bureau in response to a request from the Vancouver Group offices (the patent offices of Australia, Canada and the UK). Based on their requirements, an initial system was deployed in 2011. The system was further enhanced during 2012 and is now operational for exchange of documents between examiners in the three offices.

Since June 1, 2015, any patent office may join the system by notifying the International Bureau that it is willing to participate according to the new terms and conditions  for the system. The office will choose whether it wishes to be a providing office or only an accessing office and technical choices need to be made for the exchange of documents between the office and the system. During a transition period, some offices are still participating according to the previous version of the terms and conditions .

More about CASE

Description of the system

WIPO CASE provides a platform to share information with regards to search and examination reports among participating local intellectual property (IP) offices.

The objective of WIPO CASE is to improve the quality and efficiency of the patent search and examination process done at local and regional patent offices. Time taken for examination work can be reduced and quality of search results can be improved by sharing information. The local or regional patent office can carry out further search and examination work if deemed necessary after analyzing existing information of any equivalent filing at another participating patent office.

Consultative group

The WIPO CASE consultative group is made up of representatives of all participating offices. The consultative group is responsible for:

• reviewing and approving technical specifications;
• reviewing changes to the Terms and Conditions.

Dossier Linkage System

The IP5 Offices (Japan Patent Office, European Patent Office, Korean Intellectual Property Office, State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China and the United States Patent and Trademark Office) have developed the One Portal Dossier (OPD) which is a platform for the secure exchange of patent search and examination documentation (dossier information) between the IP5 Offices.

In a project led by the JPO, the OPD system was linked to WIPO CASE in 2014.  After a successful pilot, the linkage system was made available to all IP5 and all Offices participating in WIPO CASE so that dossier information can be easily exchanged between the two systems.

List of Offices

Offices can share their dossier information either directly through the WIPO CASE system or through the IP5 One Portal Dossier linkage system.

For offices which participate directly in WIPO CASE, there are two different levels of participation:

• Accessing Office - Examiners at the accessing office have access to the WIPO CASE web portal and can use the system to search for patent applications at other participating offices and to retrieve the documents that are made available by those offices;
• Providing Office - The providing office makes available the search and examination documentation for patent applications filed at that office. Technically, this may be done by uploading the documents into the WIPO CASE system hosted by WIPO, or by making the documents available to the WIPO CASE system via secure web services.

The following offices are sharing dossier information: 

Country	Office	Accessing Office	Providing Office	Notification
Australia	IP Australia	Yes	Yes	Notification by IP Australia
Azerbaijan	Industrial Property Examination Center (AzPatent) of the State Committee for Standardization, Metrology and Patent	Yes	No	Notification by AZPatent
Brunei Darussalam	The Brunei Darussalem Intellectual Property Office (BruIPO)	Yes	Yes	Notification by BruIPO
Cambodia	Department of Industrial Property (DIP)	Yes	No	Notification by DIP Cambodia
Canada	Canadian Intellectual Property Office	Yes	Yes	Notification by CIPO
Chile	National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI)	Yes	Yes	Notification by INAPI
China	State Intellectual Property Office of China	Yes	Yes	Notification by SIPO
Costa Rica	Register of Industrial Property	Yes	No	Notification by the Register of Industrial Property
Egypt	Egyptian Patent Office	Yes	No	Notification by the Register of Industrial Property
	Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO)	Yes	No	Notification by EAPO
	European Patent Office (EPO)	Yes	Yes	Notification by EPO
Georgia	National Intellectual Property Centre of Georgia (SAKPATENT)	Yes	No	Notification by SAKPATENTI
India	Intellectual Property India	Yes	Yes	Notifications by Intellectual Property India
Indonesia	Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights (DGIPR)	Yes	No	Notification by DGIPR
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	Intellectual Property Center (IPC)	Yes	No	Notification by IPC
Israel	Israel Patent Office	Yes	Yes	Notification by ILPO
Japan	Japan Patent Office	Yes	Yes	Notification by JPO
Lao People's Democratic Republic	Lao People's Democratic Republic Department of Intellectual Property (DIP)	Yes	No	Notification by DIP
Malaysia	Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO)	Yes	No	Notification by MyIPO
Mongolia	Intellectual Property Office of Mongolia (IPOM)	Yes	No	Following the request from IPOM in August 2013 and the review by the WIPO CASE Consultative Group, Mongolia is operating as an accessing office
New Zealand	Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ)	Yes	Yes	Notification by IPONZ
Papua New Guinea	Intellectual Property Office of Papua New Guinea	Yes	No	Notification by IPOPNG
Peru	National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI)	Yes	No	Notification by INDECOPI
Portugal	Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property	Yes	No	Notification by the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property
Philippines	Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL)	Yes	No	Notification by IPOPHL
Republic of Korea	Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO)	Yes	Yes	Notification by KIPO
Singapore	Intellectual Property Office of Singapore	Yes	Yes	Notification by IPOS
Thailand	Department of Intellectual Property (DIP)	Yes	No	Notification by DIP
	International Bureau of WIPO	No	Yes	Notification by WIPO
Ukraine	Ukrainian Institute of Intellectual Property (Ukrpatent)	Yes	No	Notification by Ukrpatent
United Kingdom	The UK Patent Office	Yes	Yes	Notification by UK Patent Office
United States of America	United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)	Yes	Yes	Notification by USPTO
Viet Nam	National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP)	Yes	No	Following the request from NOIP in August 2013 and the review by the WIPO CASE Consultative Group, Vietnam is operating as an accessing office

Related links

Notifications by participating offices

Australia (IP Australia)

On July 19, 2016, the Intellectual Property Office of Australia (IP Australia) notified WIPO of its willingness to make it’s dossier information publically available through WIPO’s Public Access portal for the WIPO Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) as given by the updated terms and conditions for the use of the WIPO CASE effective from June 1, 2015. It also notified WIPO that it wished to allow other participating offices’ public access portals to retrieve IP Australia’s dossier information from WIPO CASE.

IP Australia had notified WIPO on June 1, 2015, that IP Australia agrees to the terms and conditions for the use of the WIPO CASE effective from June 1, 2015. IP Australia was previously operating under the Framework Provisions for the WIPO CASE ("The Framework") established on 1 March 2013.

IP Australia operates as a Providing office and Accessing office. As a Providing office, IP Australia provides search and examination results via Web Services for all patent applications published since 2006.

Brunei Darussalam (Brunei Darussalam Intellectual Property Office (BruIPO))

The Brunei Darussalam Intellectual Property Office (BruIPO) notified WIPO on October 14, 2014, that BruIPO is operating under the Framework Provisions for the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) (“The Framework Provisions”) established on 1 March 2013. DGIPR operates as an Accessing and Depositing Office under the Framework Provisions.

(Cambodia) Department of Industrial Property (DIP), Ministry of Industry and Handicraft (MIH) of Cambodia

The Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), Ministry of Industry and Handicraft (MIH) of Cambodia notified WIPO on March 22, 2016 that DIP is operating under the terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015. DIP operates as an Accessing Office.

Canada (Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO))

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) notified WIPO on July 15, 2015, that CIPO agrees to the terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015. CIPO operates as a Providing office and Accessing office. CIPO’s dossier information may also be provided to the public via WIPO CASE with the prerequisite that the dossier has been made open to public inspection (i.e. post the 18-month confidentiality period, except with the approval of the applicant).

CIPO was previously operating under the Framework Provisions for the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) ("The Framework Provisions") established on 1 March 2013.

Chile (National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI), Ministry of Economy of Chile)

On December 1, 2018, the National Institute of Industrial Property (INAPI), Ministry of Economy of Chile, notified WIPO that INAPI was also operating as a Providing Office with immediate effect. 

INAPI had notified WIPO on March 7, 2016, that INAPI agrees to the new terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015 and operates as an Accessing Office. 

INAPI was previously operating under the Framework Provisions for the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) ("The Framework Provisions") established on 1 March 2013.

China (State Intellectual Property Office of China (SIPO))

The State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO) notified WIPO on July 28, 2015, that SIPO agrees to the terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015.

SIPO acts as an Accessing and Providing office and provides all available search and examination documents via Web Services for patent applications filed at SIPO.

SIPO’s dossier information may also be provided to the public via WIPO CASE by WIPO and by other participating offices only if individually authorized by SIPO.

The SIPO Cloud Patent Examination Solution (CPES) was linked with WIPO CASE following a cooperation agreement signed between SIPO and WIPO in November 2013 and SIPO examiners access WIPO CASE via a link from CPES.

Costa Rica (Register of Industrial Property of Costa Rica)

The Register of Industrial Property notified WIPO on January 10, 2017, that it agrees to the new terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015.  The Register of Industrial Property operates as an Accessing Office.

Egyptian Patent Office

The Egyptian Patent Office notified WIPO on February 23, 2017, that it agrees to the new terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015. The Egyptian Patent Office operates as an Accessing Office.

Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO)

The Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO) notified WIPO on June 8, 2016, that EAPO agrees to the new terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015.  EAPO operates as an Accessing Office.

European Patent Office (EPO)

The European Patent Organization (EPO) notified WIPO on July 21, 2016, of its willingness to participate with immediate effect as a providing and accessing office under the terms and conditions for the use of the WIPO Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015.

National Intellectual Property Centre of Georgia (SAKPATENTI)

The National Intellectual Property Centre of Georgia SAKPATENTI notified WIPO on October 9, 2017 that as of November 1, 2017, it was ready to operate as an Accessing Office of the WIPO CASE system under the new terms and conditions for the use of WIPO CASE effective from June 1, 2015.

SAKPATENTI will share its patent family data with WIPO in order to facilitate the operation. In addition, the Centre would extend the scope of its participation in the future to become a Depositing Office for WIPO CASE upon its technical readiness to provide its dossier information.

India (Intellectual Property India)

Since September 10, 2014, the Indian Patent Office had been operating under the Provisions for the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) (“The Framework Provisions”) established on 1 March 2013. The Indian Patent Office was operating as an Accessing office under those Framework Provisions.

Intellectual Property India notified WIPO on March 23, 2016, that the Indian Patent Office is now operating under the Terms and Conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015. The Indian Patent Office operates as an Accessing office under the new terms and conditions and since February 2018, it also operates as a Providing Office.

Indonesia (Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights (DGIPR), Ministry of Law and Human Rights of Indonesia)

The Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights (DGIPR), Ministry of Law and Human Rights of Indonesia notified WIPO on October 3, 2014, that DGIPR is operating under the Provisions for the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) (“The Framework Provisions”) established on 1 March 2013. DGIPR operates as an Accessing Office under the Framework Provisions. DGIPR will inform WIPO on its readiness to contribute as a Depositing Office in due course.

International Bureau of WIPO

The International Bureau (IB) of WIPO operates only as a Providing office for PCT documents, according to the terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015.

The IB provides dossier information for all PCT applications filed since 1978. The dossier information includes all available PCT International Search Reports, Written Opinions of the Search Authority, International Preliminary Reports on Patentability, PCT International Preliminary Examination Reports and related documents.

Iran (Islamic Republic of) Intellectual Property Center (IPC)

On September 4, 2018, the Intellectual Property Center (IPC) of Iran notified WIPO that it would act as an Accessing Office to the WIPO Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) with effect from November 1, 2018, under the terms and conditions for the use of the WIPO CASE effective from June 1, 2015.

IPC also notified WIPO of its willingness to share with WIPO the patent family data for foreign applications entering the IR patent office, in order to facilitate operations.

Israel Patent Office (ILPO)

The Israel Patent Office (ILPO) notified WIPO on December 4, 2013, that ILPO is operating under the Provisions for the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) (“The Framework Provisions”) established on 1 March 2013. ILPO operates as a Depositing and Accessing office under the Framework Provisions. In terms of conformance with Section 22 to the Framework Provisions, the ILPO makes available to the WIPO CASE system the following documents:

• International Type Search Report in accordance with Article 15(5) of the PCT (where such report was requested by applicant);
• Bibliographic Data;
• Examination reports;
• Search Strategies;
• Specifications.

The data deposited by ILPO will cover all applications for which substantial examination started since January 1st, 2010.

Apart from the Specifications which are mostly in English, the majority of the rest of the documents will be deposited in the Hebrew language and users of the WIPO CASE system will be able to use machine translation to be provided by the International Bureau in the WIPO CASE system.

Japan Patent Office (JPO)

The Japan Patent Office (JPO) notified WIPO on July 13, 2015 that JPO agrees to the terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015. JPO operates as an Accessing and Providing office.

Details of specific information and codifying additional terms and conditions are specified in the attached document  .

Lao People's Democratic Republic Department of Intellectual Property (DIP)

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic Department of Intellectual Property (DIP) notified WIPO on January 23, 2015 that DIP is operating under the Provisions for the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) (“The Framework Provisions”) established on 1 March 2013. DIP operates as an Accessing office under the Framework Provisions.

Malaysia (Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO))

The Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) notified WIPO on June 2, 2014, that MyIPO is operating under the Provisions for the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) (“The Framework Provisions”) established on 1 March 2013. MyIPO operates as an Accessing office under the Framework Provisions. MyIPO will inform WIPO on its readiness to contribute as a Depositing Office in due course.

New Zealand (Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ))

On June 12, 2015, the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office (IPONZ) agreed to the terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015, and has been operating as an Accessing office since then.

IPONZ notified WIPO on February 26, 2018, that it will also operate as a Providing Office of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) with effect from March 12, 2018, according to the terms and conditions for the use of WIPO CASE effective from June 1, 2015.

In order to facilitate this, IPONZ will share New Zealand examination documentation relating to applications filed since September 2014 under the Patents Act 2013, for use by patent examiners and public users.

Papua New Guinea (Intellectual Property Office of Papua New Guinea (IPOPNG))

The Intellectual Property Office of Papua New Guinea (IPOPNG) notified WIPO on February 10, 2016, that IPOPNG is operating as an Accessing Office under the new terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015. 

National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI)

The National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) notified WIPO on September 29, 2017, that it agrees to the new terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015. The INDECOPI operates as an Accessing Office as from February 1, 2018.

Philippines (Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL))

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) notified WIPO on July 21, 2014, that IPOPHL is operating under the Provisions for the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) (“The Framework Provisions”) established on 1 March 2013. IPOPHL operates as an Accessing office under the Framework Provisions. IPOPHL will inform WIPO on its readiness to contribute as a Depositing Office in due course.

Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property

The Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property notified WIPO on August 12, 2016, that it agrees to the new terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015. The Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property operates as an Accessing Office.

Republic of Azerbaijan (Industrial Property Examination Center (AzPatent) of the State Committee for Standardization, Metrology and Patent of the Republic of Azerbaijan)

The Industrial Property Examination Center (AzPatent) of the State Committee for Standardization, Metrology and Patent notified WIPO on November 17, 2016, that AzPatent agrees to the new terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015. AzPatent operates as an Accessing Office.

Republic of Korea (Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO))

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) notified WIPO on June 5, 2015 that KIPO agrees to the terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015. KIPO operates as an Accessing and Providing office.

Singapore (Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS))

Since April 8, 2016, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) was operating as an Accessing Office under the new terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015. (IPOS was previously operating under the Framework Provisions for the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) ("The Framework Provisions") established on 1 March 2013).

On October 1, 2017, IPOS notified WIPO that it would act as a Providing Office to WIPO CASE with effect from October 1, 2017.

IPOS agrees to share patent dossier information as a Providing Office as described in the document titled in the "Terms and Conditions for the Use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination System established on 1 June 2015" (hereafter referred to as "WIPO CASE T&C').

The scope and nature of the patent dossier information that IPOS will share is as follows:

1. The information to be shared is the content of files related to the processing of applications, search, examination, granting and maintenance of Singapore patent rights;
2. The information to be shared relates to applications for Singapore patent rights made on or after 14 February 2014 and their subsequent registrations (where registered);
3. The information will include bibliographic data, document contents, and legal status information relating to published patent applications;
4. The information will include documents submitted by applicants such as specifications and corrections/amendments; and documents issued by IPOS's Patents Registry, such as office actions, search reports, written opinions, notification of reasons for refusal, and decisions to grant;
5. Where citation data is available in the written opinion or in the examination report, it will be available to Accessing Offices. IPOS will not be providing citation data under a separate data field; and
6. All forms of cited document information which is discovered as a result of a search and cited in an office action or in other format, and documents submitted by third parties such as third party observations, shall be excluded.

IPOS agrees to make the above described patent dossier information available to all Accessing offices of WIPO CASE. IPOS shall be informed of the inclusion of new Accessing Office(s) as stated in paragraph 37 of the WIPO CASE T&C.  IPOS will provide the above described patent dossier information to Accessing Offices through the International Bureau of WIPO, by transferring the dossier information to be hosted by the International Bureau.

Access to the above described patent dossier information is subject to the following:

1. Compliance with the paragraphs relating to "Secondary Use and Responsibility" and " Abusive Use and Denial of Access" in the WIPO CASE T&C; and
2. All use, modification and distribution of the patent dossier information for commercial purposes, and the use of metadata generated from the use of the above described patent dossier information for commercial purposes, shall not be permitted without the prior consent of IPOS.

IPOS will make available an English translation of the dossier information where such English translation has been provided by the patent applicant to IPOS.

Thailand (Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), Ministry of Commerce of Thailand)

The Department of Intellectual Property (DIP), Ministry of Commerce of Thailand notified WIPO on September 28, 2015 that DIP is operating under the terms and conditions for the use of the Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015. DIP operates as an Accessing Office.

Ukrainian Institute of Intellectual Property (Ukrpatent)

The State Enterprise “Ukrainian Institute of Intellectual Property” (Ukrpatent) notified WIPO on December 7, 2017 that as of February 1, 2018, it was ready to operate as an Accessing Office of the WIPO CASE system under the new terms and conditions for the use of WIPO CASE effective from June 1, 2015.

In addition, the Ukrpatent would extend the scope of its participation in the future to become a Depositing Office for WIPO CASE upon its legal, operational and technical readiness to provide its dossier information.

United Kingdom (Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (UK IPO))

The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (UK IPO) notified WIPO on July 18, 2016, that UK IPO agrees to the terms and conditions for the use of the WIPO  Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) effective from June 1, 2015. UK IPO operates as a Depositing and Accessing office.

UK IPO was previously operating under the Framework Provisions for the WIPO CASE ("The Framework") established on 1 March 2013.

United States of America (Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO))

On November 7, 2016, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), notified WIPO that USPTO will now also operate as an Accessing Office beginning December 2, 2016. The modified Notice of Participation of the USPTO is available here  .

The USPTO had previously notified the Director General that it will participate in the WIPO system for Centralized Access to Search and Examination (WIPO CASE) effective October 18, 2015, and that in accordance with paragraph 35 of the June 1 , 2015 Terms and Conditions for use of WIPO CASE (WIPO's T&Cs), it will act as a Providing Office.  

The Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDTM) signed a Cooperation agreement with the Director General of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on October 5th, 2017 at Geneva, Switzerland. This Cooperation treaty enables the exchange of data such as priority documents between the Indian Patent Office (IPO) and the WIPO, using WIPO Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) and WIPO Digital Access Services (DAS).

The WIPO CASE system enables patent offices to share search and examination documents related to patent applications in a secure manner. This allows patent examiners from different offices to share examination results and thus increase the efficiency and quality of their work for patent applications that are filed in multiple offices.

The WIPO DAS system enables IP offices to securely exchange priority documents and certified documents through an electronic system. Traditionally, while filing applications in multiple offices, applicants had to request certified paper copies of documents from one office and submit them to another. However, the WIPO DAS allows applicants to a) request the first office to make the priority documents available; and b) request other offices(s) to retrieve those documents using DAS. The offices can then use DAS to electronically transfer or exchange the required priority documents. The DAS provides an easy, secure and inexpensive system to quickly transfer documents between offices.   

Once implemented, this agreement will greatly benefit the IPO as well as patent applicants by streamlining the process of getting a patent.

I hope you found our article informative.

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National IPR Policy: Geographical Indications Related Objectives

 Posted by BananaIP Reporter

 in Geographical Indications (GI), Intellectual Property

India approved its first ever Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) policy on 13th May 2016 with a vision to stimulate creativity and innovation and to promote advancement in science and technology, art and culture, traditional knowledge and biodiversity resources.

The policy lays out seven broad objectives and they are as follows:

Awareness: outreach and promotion;
Generation of IPRs;
Legal and legislative framework;
Administration and management;
Commercialization of IPR;
Enforcement and adjudication; and
Human capital development.

This article considers various provisions relating to Geographical Indications under the new IPR Policy. The policy identifies GIs as an area of strength and optimism for India.

The following positive considerations are provided with respect to Geographical Indications (GIs):

The IPR Policy takes a systematic approach to achieve its objectives. The policy in furtherance of its objectives, explores various means to create awareness about IPR and specifically, with respect to Geographical Indications. It aims at creating public awareness relating to Geographical Indications by reaching out to IP generators and holders, more specifically in the rural and remote areas, with an aim to target small businesses, farmers/ plant variety users, holders of traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions and folklore, designers and artisans. It aims to shift how knowledge is being viewed and valued. The Policy also makes an effort to transform knowledge into IP assets by exhorting monetization of knowledge which has never been the norm in India.
The IPR Policy seeks to stimulate generation of IPRs by laying emphasis on encouragement of registration of Geographical Indications (GIs) through support institutions. The Policy also seeks to assist GI producers to define and maintain acceptable quality standards, and provide better marketability.

• The Office of the Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks, that has gone through various upgrades in the recent past, under the new Policy will see more of such advancements through the following measures:
• Fixing and adhering to timelines for grant of registrations and disposal of opposition matters;
• Adopting  best practices with respect to filing and docketing of documents, maintenance of records and digitizing the same including document workflow and tracking systems;
• Creating  a service-oriented culture to make the IP office user friendly;
• Ensuring that public records in the IP office are easily available and accessible both online and offline;
  Conducting periodic audits of processes being adopted in IP administration for efficient grant and management of IP rights;
• Providing continuous training to staff of the IP Office to update them regarding developments in procedures (especially search and examination),substantive laws and technologies, with the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Intellectual Property Management, Nagpur (RGNIIPM);
• Removing disparities, if any, among different branches of the trademark registries and adopting  standardized procedures in examination/grant of applications including maintenance of rights;

Examining joining Centralized Access for Search and Examination (CASE) and WIPO Digital Access Services (DAS);
Conducting trademark agent examinations at regular intervals, arranging training programs and involving them in capacity building activities.In furtherance to its objective of commercialization of IPRs, the Policy with respect to GIs provides for identification of opportunities for marketing Indian IPR-based products, especially GIs, and services to a global audience.
The Policy also seeks to encourage enterprises to create brand equity from their IP rights, such as GIs.

These are the few specific GIs related provisions excluding the common policies and strategies provided in the new IPR Policy for development and advancement of IP system in India.

Senator Kim Carr, the Australian Federal Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Technology, today (21 March 2011) announced the launch of a new work sharing tool that will enable patent examiners in Australia, Canada and New Zealand to share a digital library of patent search and examination reports. The new tool will be known as the Centralised Access to Search and Examination (CASE) System and will assist patent examiners in the three countries to share resources and to increase the speed of patent examination. It is hoped that use of the new CASE system will contribute to reduction in patent examination backlogs in the countries involved.

Senator Carr announced that "CASE will help us create an IP system that will better meet the needs of innovators and users of IP. This is an example of how international collaboration between WIPO and the IP offices of Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom is improving innovation and the innovation systems in those countries".

Further details about this initiative are available at http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/pdfs/news/MR170311_case.pdf.

Improved Canadian Patents Database

A wider variety of patent-specific documents is now available on the Canadian Patents Database (CPD), including the prosecution history of all open to public inspection (OPI) patent applications and granted patents.

This additional information allows Canadian and international innovators, clients and agents to review comprehensive information on Canadian patent documents.

How can I access this information?

All documents in the system prior to June 2015 are retrievable by using the miscellaneous filter under the Documents tab of any patent or OPI patent application on the CPD.

Documents specific to patent applications that were added to the system after June 2015 will be tagged for easy access by the use of a variety of filters under the Documents tab.

List of documents you can now access

Visit the List of published and non-published patent-specific documents on the CPD page.

I think a patent application is not new or inventive. How will access to this new information help me in this situation?

Under section 34.1 of the Patent Act, any person may provide prior art to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) regarding an application. Any third party that believes a claimed invention is not new or inventive may file prior art in support of the third party's observation, once an application is laid open.

Prior art may include:

• patents;
• patent applications open for public inspection; or
• any document that may have a bearing on the patentability of any claim in a patent application.

How can you file prior art?

• Explain why the prior art is pertinent;
• Expect to receive an acknowledgement from CIPO; and
• Access the prosecution file of the application at the time the file is open to public inspection to get the latest information.

What will happen?

The request will:

• become part of the laid-open application file;
• be available to the public;
• be considered by the examiner after the examination has been requested; and
• be taken into account, if it is found to be pertinent by the examiner, and will be used during prosecution.

In addition, the applicant is notified that your submission of prior art has been made.

Filings of prior art requesting confidentiality will be returned to the sender and will not be considered by the examiner.

In the event the application is of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) origin and has not yet entered the national phase in Canada, CIPO will retain the third-party submission until the date for late national entry in Canada has passed.

For more information please refer to the Manual of Patent Office Practice, chapter 18.

How CIPO shares patent information with international offices

CIPO now shares its search and examination reports with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) through its Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) system with the five largest patent offices in the world.

Sharing search and examination reports on the CASE system provides other intellectual property (IP) offices with access to Canadian information which increases international cooperation and reduces the time of examination.

Over the past month, I’ve written about efforts by the Copyright Office to improve access, stakeholder participation and democratize the copyright filing system (see here and here). It appears the office of the CGPDTM (hereinafter, Indian Patent Office or IPO) has also been making efforts to improve access and streamline data sharing.

Weekly Release of FER Data

BananaIP reports that the IPO will now be publishing in its weekly journal, a list of applications against which FERs have been issued in a given week. Apart from this, the report notes that since recently, the IPO has been sending applicants FERs/ other relevant documents by email. Over and above that, “Of late, the patent office has started sending the FERs by email on the date of their issue.”

Details of the information released

I couldn’t locate any notice or circular on the IPO website, declaring its intention to make this information available. However, the most recent journal (see here for all journals) i.e. journal dated 13th October (see here, p. 313 on the PDF), carries the aforementioned list of applications against which FERs were issued.  This information is distributed in the form of tables – with one table designated for each patent office. The tables set out the application number, the date of issue of FER, details of the patent agent and the email address to which the electronic copy of the FER has been sent.

This publication is touted to be a sort of safety valve for the applicant in case he does not receive the FER over email. In that case, the report notes, “the applicant/patent agent can first review the journal for publication of an application no. with respect to examination reports. If the application no. is listed in the journal, the patent agent/applicant can acquire the FER from the patent office’s online database – InPASS.”

Existing Ambiguities

Notably, the Journal dated 13th October contains a published list of FERs issued during the previous week i.e. between 29th September and 6th October, instead of those issued during that particular week i.e. between 6th October and 13th October.  In the absence of any public notice, I am not particularly sure of the timeline followed for publishing this list of applications and corresponding FERs – but that (I hope) will become clearer over the next few weeks.

WIPO – IPO Cooperation Agreement on data sharing

While we’re on the subject of increased accessibility of data, it is important to note some of IPO’s efforts to realize the same on the international front.  According to the IPO website, “CGPDTM and Director General of WIPO signed Cooperation agreement on 5th October 2017 at Geneva Switzerland to facilitate the exchange of data between these offices including Indian Patent documents, search and examination reports through WIPO CASE and WIPO Digital Access Services (DAS) to make priority documents available electronically.”

Details of the agreement

Apart from the above, the short news snippet on the IPO website notes that the agreement covers inter alia, the following: (a) projects for digitalization, data capture and data quality improvement, (b) creation of national and/or regional lP databases, (c) facilitation of India becoming a depositing office for WIPO CASE, (d) Regular data exchange between the IPO and the WIPO.

It appears that the agreement is a result of the WIPO general assemblies hosted at Geneva, between 2nd and 11th of October. A report of the assemblies can be found here. Some of the things reportedly envisaged under the agreement resonate with the report of the Committee on WIPO Standards (CWS) – which was noted, discussed and updated in the assemblies’ meetings. The CWS is an international forum charged with the responsibility of constantly developing the WIPO standards – which are a set of common guidelines aimed at increasing access, harmonizing international exchange of information, and effectuating uniformity in data, among offices across member countries.

The news snippet expressly mentions that under the agreement, the IPO has agreed to enhance open access under two initiatives of the WIPO. Briefly, these are –

The Centralised Access to Search and Examination System (CASE): This initiative aims at streamlining the exchange of search and examination documentation between patent offices of different member countries. The objective is to make things easier for examiners and patent offices – so that they can easily access and refer to documents from across the world, while conducting examination procedures for patent applications. Such an exchange is expected to significantly increase the efficiency and quality of work produced by patent offices and examiners across jurisdictions. The exchange is conducted through a secure platform that connects the various offices, and is provided free of charge, in accordance with the terms and conditions stipulated here.

Notably, under the CASE, a member country may participate as either an “accessing office” or “providing office” or both. An accessing office is allowed to access and retrieve information from providing offices, upon due confirmation by such providing office. A providing office makes all relevant data available for access and retrieval. The terms and conditions mandate that only those offices who are technically and legally ready to become providing offices, may sign up for the same. As per the news snippet, it appears that the IPO is under “facilitation” of becoming “a providing office under CASE.”

(Detailed information on the CASE may be accessed here.)

The Digital Access Service (DAS): The DAS is a system through which a secure exchange of priority and other relevant documents takes place between participating countries. This initiative makes things simpler for the applicant. Instead of the tedious task of requesting documents from one country and then supplying them to his/her own country office, the DAS system allows for an electronic exchange of the documents directly between the offices. The documents are on uploaded on a secure platform, by a participating office upon request by the applicant and can then be accessed by a different participating office as required.

This electronic deposit and consequential exchange of priority documents under DAS, is also something that the IPO has reportedly agreed to undertake.

Existing ambiguities

I tried looking up the text of the agreement, both on the IPO website as well as the WIPO website, but without much luck. (Should our readers have any information on the same, I’d appreciate the guidance.) As such, the fine details and exact scope of the agreement and covenants thereunder are unclear.

Further, while the news snippet informs us that the IPO has agreed to turn into a “depositing office under CASE” (meaning providing office, I assume) – the WIPO CASE webpage still lists India as only an “accessing office.” The WIPO DAS page also does not include India as a participating office.

This ambiguity, however, may be dispelled upon acknowledging that in view of the current unavailability of the substantive text of the agreement, we cannot clearly outline the boundaries of the IPO’s obligations under CASE and DAS. It is also to be remembered that the WIPO places the technical and operational threshold for implementation of the DAS and/or the CASE, quite high. It will be interesting to see how the IPO keeps up with this threshold, in trying to fulfil its obligations under the agreement.

Some of our earlier posts tracing the efforts of the IPO to improve access can be found here, here and broadly here.