Application The procedure for requesting IP rights at an office, which then examines the application and decides whether to grant protection. Also refers to a set of documents submitted to an office by the applicant.
Application abroad For statistical purposes, an application filed by a resident of a given state or jurisdiction with the IP office of another state or jurisdiction. For example, an application filed by an applicant domiciled in France with the Japan Patent Office (JPO) is considered an application abroad from the perspective of France. This differs from a “non-resident application,” which describes an application filed by a resident of a foreign state or jurisdiction from the perspective of the office receiving the application: the example above would be a non-resident application from the JPO’s point of view.
Class count The number of classes specified in a trademark application or registration. In the international trademark system, and at certain national and regional offices, an applicant can file a trademark application specifying one or more of the 45 goods and services classes of the Nice Classification. Offices use either a multi-class or a single filing system. For example, the offices of Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States of America (US), as well as many European IP offices, have multi-class filing systems. On the other hand, the offices of Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa follow a single-class filing system, requiring a separate application for each class in which an applicant seeks trademark protection. To capture the differences in application and registration numbers across offices, it is useful to compare their respective application and registration class counts.
Design count The number of designs contained in an industrial design application or registration. Under the Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs, it is possible for an applicant to obtain protection for up to 100 industrial designs for products belonging to one and the same class by filing a single application. Some national or regional IP offices allow applications to contain more than one design for the same product or within the same class, while others allow only one design per application. In order to capture the differences in application and registration numbers across offices, it is useful to compare their respective application and registration design counts.
Geographical indication A geographical indication (GI) is a sign identifying a good as originating in a specific geographical area and possessing a given quality, reputation or other characteristic essentially attributable to that geographical origin. The main function of a GI is to identify goods while informing about a connection between the quality, characteristic or reputation of the good and its territory of origin.
Industrial design Industrial designs are applied to a wide variety of industrial products and handicrafts. They refer to the ornamental or aesthetic aspects of a useful article, including compositions of lines or colors or any three-dimensional forms that give a special appearance to a product or handicraft. The holder of a registered industrial design has exclusive rights against unauthorized copying or imitation of the design by third parties. Industrial design registrations are valid for a limited period. The term of protection is usually 15 years in most jurisdictions. However, differences in legislation exist, notably in China (which provides for a 10-year term from the application date).
In force Refers to IP rights that are currently valid or, in the case of trademarks, active. To remain in force, IP protection must be maintained.
Intellectual property (IP) Refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images and designs used in commerce. IP is divided into two categories: industrial property – which includes patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications of source – and copyright, which includes literary and artistic works (such as novels, poems, plays, films), musical works, artistic works (such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures) and architectural designs. Rights related to copyright include those of performing artists in their performances, those of producers of sound recordings in their recordings and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programs.
Origin (country or region) For statistical purposes, the origin of an application means the country or territory of residence of the first named applicant in the application. In some cases (notably in the United States of America), the country of origin is determined by the residence of the assignee rather than that of the applicant.
Patent A set of exclusive rights granted by law to applicants for inventions that are new, non-obvious and commercially applicable. A patent is valid for a limited period (generally 20 years), during which time patent holders can commercially exploit their inventions on an exclusive basis. In return, applicants are obliged to disclose their inventions to the public in a manner that enables others skilled in the art to replicate the invention. The patent system is designed to encourage innovation by providing innovators with time-limited exclusive legal rights, thus enabling them to appropriate returns from their innovative activity.
Resident For statistical purposes, a resident application refers to an application filed with the IP office of, or acting for, the state or jurisdiction in which the first named applicant in the application is resident. For example, an application filed with the Japan Patent Office (JPO) by a resident of Japan is considered a resident application from the perspective of the JPO. Resident applications are sometimes referred to as “domestic applications.” A resident grant/registration is an IP right issued on the basis of a resident application.
Trademark A sign used to distinguish the goods or services of one undertaking from those of another. A trademark may consist of words and combinations of words (for instance, names or slogans), logos, figures and images, letters, numbers, sounds, or, in rare instances, smells or moving images, or a combination thereof. The procedures for registering trademarks are governed by the legislation and procedures of national and regional IP offices and WIPO. Trademark rights are limited to the jurisdiction of the IP office that registers the trademark. Trademarks can be registered by filing an application at the relevant national or regional office(s), or by filing an international application through the Madrid System.
Utility model A special form of patent right granted by a state or jurisdiction to an inventor or the inventor’s assignee for a fixed period of time. The terms and conditions for granting a utility model are slightly different from those for normal patents (including a shorter term of protection and less stringent patentability requirements). The term “utility model” can also describe what are known in certain countries as “petty patents,” “short-term patents” or “innovation patents.”
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) A United Nations specialized agency dedicated to the promotion of innovation and creativity for the economic, social and cultural development of all countries through a balanced and effective international IP system. WIPO was established in 1967 with a mandate to promote the protection of IP throughout the world through cooperation between states and in collaboration with other international organizations.