Questionnaire on application numbering
Response 3 of 3 submitted by Russian Federation in 2012
Introduction
1. The revised version of WIPO Standard ST.13 was adopted by the Standards and Documentation Working Group (SDWG) of the Standing Committee on Information Technologies (SCIT) in February 2008. This revision introduced guidelines on a prototype numbering format of application numbers, including guidelines for coding the types of industrial property rights (IPRs), codes for internal use, control numbers, etc.
2. Application numbers are assigned by industrial property offices (IPOs) in order to identify each application received, and are used by applicants and other offices, for instance, when the priority is claimed. It is important that IPOs, applicants, and users of IP information are always able to identify application numbers, and particularly priority application numbers, as well as their parts, in a unique, clear, and unambiguous manner.
3. The term priority application number in the context of this questionnaire is the reference to an application for a patent, trademark, design or any other IPR, previously received by the Office/Organization, and to which the applicant wishes to refer in a further application, usually filed with another Office/Organization. Generally, these numbers are provided on priority documents or priority certificates.
4. IPOs use a variety of codes in their application numbers, for instance, for coding types of IPRs, regional filing information, and check digits. The codes used by each IPO are unique, and the detailed information on them, as well as on the application number format, might be very important for other IPOs to facilitate their subsequent procedures, e.g. when claiming a priority right.
5. The SDWG requested the International Bureau to conduct a survey on application and priority application numbering systems currently used by the IPOs. The International Bureau should also maintain a list of codes for the types of IPRs, the codes for internal use and the control numbers (check digits) used by the IPOs in the WIPO Handbook on Industrial Property Information and Documentation (WIPO Handbook).
6. The main part of the present Questionnaire (Questions 1 - 11) is devoted to application numbering systems. Question 12 concentrates on priority application numbering in details. Question 13 relates to the compliance of the IPO's practices with WIPO Standard ST.13. Examples of application numbers and priority application numbers along with relevant remarks are to be provided in response to Question 14.
7. Please note that the objective of this questionnaire is to collect information about numbering systems currently implemented in the IPOs. It is expected that once this exercise is completed the ST.10/C Task Force will prepare a questionnaire to conduct a second survey to collect information about numbering systems used by the IPOs in the past.
Background documents
8. The following WIPO Standards are of relevance to this survey:
9. Part 7.2"Numbering systems" of the WIPO Handbook could be also helpful when you prepare your response to this questionnaire.
10. Working materials of the SDWG and the ST.10/C Task Force are available on the WIPO web-site.
INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING COMPLETION OF THIS QUESTIONNAIRE
One response to questionnaire per numbering system
Offices administering the variety of IPRs might have more than one numbering system. Firstly the person who responds to the Questionnaire on behalf of the Office/Organization has to determine the number of different application numbering systems implemented in the Office/Organization. Let this number be N.
Example 1:
A given office administers trademarks, industrial designs, and different kinds of patents (national patents, PCT, plant patents).
All kinds of patent applications have a numbering system which looks like this:
10 2008 123456 patent application filed in 2008 with the serial number 123456
12 2008 666777 plant patent application filed in the same year with serial number 666777
14 2008 987654 PCT international application filed in 2008 with serial number 987654
At the same office, trademark and industrial design applications follow a different numbering system:
123456 T 08 trademark application with serial number 123456 filed in 2008
123456 D 08 industrial design application filed in the same year.
Thus, the Office has two numbering systems, N=2. As the office uses two numbering systems, two separate questionnaires should be filled, one per numbering system. Gaps in question numbers
Please take note that some questions might not be displayed depending on the response(s) to preceding question(s). This could cause gaps in numbering of displayed questions, sections and examples.
Mandatory questions
Some questions, marked with a red asterisk *, are mandatory since the reply to these questions determines the rest of the questionnaire.
Help/Questions
Below please find the complete list of examples used in the Questionnaire in PDF format.
If you require further clarifications or any assistance in filling out the questionnaire, please contact the International Bureau at cws.surveys@wipo.int. It would be appreciated if a reference to"Questionnaire on application numbering" is quoted in all correspondence.
TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPRs) COVERED BY THIS COPY OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Example 2:
Relating to Example 1 in the introductory section, the office would have filled two questionnaires - one for the numbering system used for patent (and patent-like) applications, and another - and one for the numbering system used for trademark and design applications.
In the first case, the office would tick all check boxes for the patents it numbers using the first system.
In the second case, the office would then tick the check boxes for trademarks and designs which are numbered using the second system.
Question 1
a) Please indicate which types of IPRs are numbered using this system:
- International applications filed under the PCT (PCT international phase)
b) Please specify when this current numbering system was first introduced at your office (date or year, dd/mm/yyyy):
Numbering of applications is in accordance with the Section 307 of the Administrative Instructions under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), introduced since the numbering system adoption
PARTS OF APPLICATION NUMBERS
WIPO Standard ST.13 provides that the indispensable part of an application number should consist of a code for the type of IPR, the year designation, and the serial number.
Question 2
a) Which of these parts does your Office/Organization's application numbering system, covered by this copy of the questionnaire, consist of?
- Year designation
- Serial number
- Additional part/s:
Please specify additional parts briefly:
PCT and country code indication
Example 3:
A fictional office has three sub-offices A, B, and C and codes the receiving office in the application number as an additional part. Then the office would indicate"receiving office code" as an additional part.
ORDERING OF PARTS
WIPO Standard ST.13 recommends the ordering (sequence) of parts of an application number to be 'type' 'year' 'serial number'.
Question 3
a) Please indicate what is the ordering of the parts of an application number in the numbering system covered by this copy of the questionnaire:
Other
Please indicate the order of parts:
<PCT><Receiving Authority><year><serial number
Example 4:
In the case described in Example 3 (see section"Parts of application number"), a different sequence could be:
[year][receiving office][type][serial number]
LENGTH (FIXED / VARIABLE)
WIPO Standard ST.13 recommends using a fixed length of 15 characters (2 digits for the type of IPR, 4 digits for the year designation, and 9 digits for the serial number) for the application number.
Question 4
a) Does your Office/Organization use a numbering system of fixed or variable length for application numbers?
Fixed
Question 4 (cont'd) Replying to the previous question, you have specified that the numbering system has fixed length.
b) Please indicate the number of characters used for each part of the application number.
| Year designation | 4 |
| Serial number | 6 Additional part 1 An indication of the PCT application - 3 Additional part 2 Receiving Authority - 2 |