Key Terms From the World Intellectual Property Indicators Report 2024
Glossary
This glossary provides definitions of key technical terms and concepts. Many are defined generically (for example, “application”), but apply to several or all of the various forms of intellectual property (IP) covered by this report.
A
Applicant: An individual or other legal entity that files an application for a patent, utility model, trademark or industrial design. There may be more than one applicant in an application. For the statistics in this publication, the name of the first named applicant is used to determine the origin of the application.
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.
Application date: The date on which an IP office receives an application that meets the minimum requirements.
Also referred to as the filing date.
B
Budapest Treaty: Disclosure of an invention is a requirement for granting a patent. Normally, an invention is disclosed by means of a written description. Where an invention involves a microorganism or the use of a microorganism, disclosure is not always possible in writing and can sometimes only be effected by depositing a sample of the microorganism with a specialized institution. To eliminate the need to deposit a microorganism in every country where patent protection is sought, under the Budapest Treaty the deposit of a microorganism with any International Depositary Authority (IDA) is sufficient for the purposes of patent procedure at the national patent offices of all contracting states and at any regional patent office that recognizes the Treaty.
C
Certification trademark: Certification marks are usually awarded for compliance with defined standards, but are not confined to any membership. They may instead be used by anyone able to certify that the products involved meet certain established standards. In many countries, the main difference between collective marks and certification marks is that collective marks may only be used by a specific group of enterprises – for example, members of an association – while certification marks may be used by anybody who complies with the standards defined by the owner of the certification mark.
Class: May refer to the classes defined in either the Locarno Classification or the Nice Classification. Classes indicate the categories of goods and services (where applicable) for which industrial design or trademark protection is requested. See “Locarno Classification” and “Nice Classification.”
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.
Collective trademark: Collective marks are usually defined as signs that distinguish the geographical origin, material, mode of manufacture or other common characteristics of goods or services of different enterprises using the collective mark. The owner may be either an association of which those enterprises are members or any other entity, including a public institution or a cooperative.
Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) of the European Union (EU): An EU agency that manages a system of plant variety rights covering all EU member states.
D
Designation: A request made in an international application or registration by which the applicant/ international registration holder specifies the jurisdiction(s) in which they seek to protect their industrial designs (Hague System) or trademarks (Madrid System).
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.
E
Equivalent application: Applications at regional offices are equivalent to multiple applications, one in each of the member states of those offices. To calculate the number of equivalent applications for the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP), the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO), the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), the Patent Office of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC Patent Office) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), each application is multiplied by the corresponding number of member states. For European Patent Office (EPO) and African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) data, each application is counted as one application abroad, if the applicant does not reside in a member state, or as one resident application and one application abroad, if the applicant resides in a member state. The equivalent application concept is used for reporting data by origin.
Equivalent grant (registration): Grants (registrations) at regional offices are equivalent to multiple grants (registrations), one in each of the member states of those offices. To calculate the number of equivalent grants (registrations) for BOIP, EAPO, the EUIPO, the GCC Patent Office or OAPI, each grant (registration) is multiplied by the corresponding number of member states. For EPO and ARIPO data, each grant is counted as one grant abroad, if the applicant does not reside in a member state, or as one resident grant and one grant abroad, if the applicant resides in a member state. The equivalent grant (registration) concept is used for reporting data by origin.
European Patent Office (EPO): The EPO is the regional patent office created under the European Patent Convention (EPC), in charge of granting European patents for EPC member states. Under Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) procedures, the EPO acts as a receiving office, an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examining Authority.
European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO): The EUIPO is the office responsible for managing the EU trademark and the registered community design. The validity of these two IP rights extends across the jurisdictions of the 27 EU member states.
Source:
World Intellectual Property Indicators 2024
Download the full article to read it offline:
Want to stay informed and inspired? Subscribe to our blog for insightful updates delivered straight to your inbox. Explore our website for a curated collection of reference books, resources, and more – designed to fuel your curiosity and keep you ahead.