Overview of PCT Operations Geneva 03 October 2013 Mr. Mougamadou Abidine, Head, Processing Section 1, PCT Processing Service Mr. Serge Thobie, Assistant Head, French Translation Section, PCT Translation Service PCT Operations Division Innovation and Technology Sector

2 Contents  PCT Operations Structure  PCT Operations Tasks  Facts and Figures  Electronic Environment (E-Dossier)  IT Developments  ePCT  Languages & Translation  Questions?  Tour

3 PCT Operations Structure

4 Mr. James Pooley Deputy Director General Mr. Claus Matthes Director PCT Business Dvpt. Division Mr. Matthew Bryan Director PCT Legal Division Mr. Philippe Baechtold Acting Director PCT Operations Division Vacant Director PCT Int. Coop. Division Mr. Marco Aleman Acting Director Patent Law Division Mr. Matt Rainey Director Innovation Division Innovation and Technology Sector Mr. Guriqbal Singh Jaiya Director- Advisor

5 PCT Operations Division Processing Service Translation Service IS Service Functional Support Section

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7 Processing Service Structure PCT PROCESSING SECTION 1 Teams working in Non-Latin Languages PT01: Korean, English PT02: Chinese, English PT04: Arabic, Russian, English PT07: Japanese, English PT08: Japanese, English Document Team PCT PROCESSING SECTION 2 Teams working in Latin Languages PT03: English PT05: German, English PT06: German, English PT09: French, Portuguese, Spanish, English RPT: RO/IB Publication Support Team

8 Team Composition A Processing Team consists of  1 Team Coordinator  Approximately 6-7 Examiners  Approximately Assistant-Examiners Tasks that cannot be decentralized into the teams are allocated to 2 Support Units  Document Team (9 persons)  Publication Support Team (7 persons)

9 PCT Operations Tasks  Receipt of documents  Formality Examination  Translation  Publication  Handling of requests for supplemental international search  Communication  Archiving

10 Processing Teams  All formality examination tasks, technical preparation for publication and republication (in image and XML formats) are done in the Processing Teams  Multi-tasking staff is familiar with all processing tasks within the respective level  Practical training (learning on the job) is provided within the PTs  Deployment of systematic quality checks among all teams  Easy to prioritize backlogs within the PTs  Single point of responsibility for an IA with one organizational unit (improved contacts with Receiving Offices, applicants, etc.)  Possibility to try new processes and procedures out in one team before deploying to all  Continue to provide excellent customer service to our clients

11 Document and Publication Support Team Receipt of all documents in paper and electronic format Scanning of paper documents and uploading of documents received on optical media Monitoring of incoming documents (Dashboard) Communication on request to the Designated and Elected offices (early national phase entry) OCR checking Contacting International Searching Authorities for missing data Establishing the publication lists

12 SHEP Dashboard (monitoring tool for all incoming documents)

13 Facts and Figures

14 PCT Filing Rates PCT filings in 2011: 182,369 PCT filings in 2012: 193,800 (6.3% increase)

15 Share of PCT applications by region of origin

16 PCT Filing Rates Asian Countries PCT filings in 2012: 193,800 (6.3% increase) Continuation of growth for JP, CN, KR  Japan: 38,874 (2011) 43,600 (2012) 12.2%  China: 16,402 (2011) 18,677 (2012) 13.9%  Korea: 10,447 (2011) 11,848 (2012) 13.4% Percentage from Asian countries now 38%

17 Record Copies Received per Medium of Filing

18 Filing methods per Office (over the last 12 months)

19 Number of Incoming Documents

20 Unit Cost Unit cost = (total cost of production:number of publications) + storage costs Direct costs: PCT administration and program, including outsourcing budgets Indirect costs: Building, IT, HR, …..

21 Electronic Environment E-Dossier

22  E-Dossier: one platform capable of handling all documents in the 10 publication languages which is continuously improved  Notifications by to applicants  Digital Access Service for priority documents (DAS)  e-PCT : public and private file inspection  Uploading of documents by applicants to the IB via web interface  Full text search in XML for all PCT publication languages with the exception of Arabic  Improvement of electronic transmissions of documents between WIPO and receiving Offices

23 E-Dossier System Functions: Managing of Team’s Work (work distribution, searching and reporting functions, …) Processing and examining applications, including data processing Preparing International Publication Quality Control Managing of Translation Work

24 Work List

25 Processing and Examining Applications, Including Data Processing

26 Preparing International Publication Publication List Technical Preparation for Image Publication Technical Preparation for XML Publication

27 Publication List

28 Technical Preparation for Image Publication

29 Technical Preparation for XML Publication

30 XML Editor

31 Preparing International Publication International Publication shall be effected promptly after the expiration of 18 months from the priority date Publication on PatentScope® Image Publication XML Publication

32 Quality Control Tool

33 IT Developments

34  E-Dossier: one platform capable of handling all documents in the 10 publication languages which is continuously improved  Notifications by to applicants  Uploading of documents by applicants to the IB via web interface  Digital Access Service for priority documents (DAS)  e-PCT : public and private file inspection  Full text search in XML (English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Korean)  Extending XML publication to all XML filings from all receiving Offices  Improvement of electronic transmissions of documents between WIPO and receiving Offices

35 ePCT Overview

36 What is ePCT? A range of electronic services provided by the International Bureau to assist applicants and Offices in processing International Applications. It is based on direct and secure interaction with the International Bureau’s systems for both published and unpublished applications and associated documents ePCT services are divided into two categories:  Private: offers access to the entire file of an IA including confidential information. It requires a strong authentication (digital certificate)  Public: does not offer access to confidential information. It requires a ‘simple’ authentication (username and password)

37 Current PCT Communications (an approximation) IB file store ISA file storeRO file store applicant record copies+ many forms (mainly) search copies reports and status updates e-filing subsequent correspondence reports and queries various correspondence

38 Single Common Web Interface (ePCT) Applicant RO ISA/IPEA Single Common Web Interface Electronic routing of documents and data between Offices (EDI,Trinet, web interfaces, etc) Preferred route for all types of communication

39 Overview by area of development Applicant portal development Single portal for all actions and info, irrespective of responsible Office Information entered is used directly; no more transcription errors Live file - always up-to-date Web filing Data checks using same functions as IB; always up-to-date Share drafts in ePCT like a normal IA file - rights carry through to IA View IA file immediately on filing (*) Receiving Offices Direct access to IB+ISA (*) file Option of using online tools equivalent to RO/IB Offer e-filing without need to run own server Alternative to PCT-EDI with built-in local files and records management International Authorities Direct access to IB+RO (*) file Share access to application body, including all updates (*) as soon as approved by RO, IB, ISA or IPEA (*) feature which would be dependent on level of participation by other Office

40 Objectives Single common means of electronic communication for applicant  Doesn’t matter which Office is responsible for processing particular piece of correspondence  View files and processing status information from all Offices simultaneously and “real time” Eliminate delays and loss of quality due to printing, posting and rescanning, including incorrect work based on out-of-date information Eliminate transcription errors by using data entry by applicant or originating Office Seek other efficiencies by moving away from replication of paper processes - paper-style forms evolve towards usable information triggering appropriate actions

41 ePCT – some milestones May 2011: ePCT used by small pilot group of applicants e-filing at RO/IB using WIPO digital certificates December 2011: System opened up to all applicants for any IAs filed since 1 January 2009, regardless of filing type (electronic, paper) April 2012: First online actions for applicants to interact with their electronic files; take e-ownership via PCT-SAFE at time of filing July 2012: private file inspection pilot for Offices (FI, EP, etc.) in their various roles as RO, ISA, IPEA October 2012: Additional online actions added for applicants. December 2012: ePCT-Filing launched in demo mode for a closed pilot group. January 2013: Over 200 applicants use ePCT, in approximately 6000 active international applications, mainly from the USA, top user is Panasonic (JP).

42 ePCT– setting up access rights (e-filed IAs) Taking ‘eOwnership’ of a PCT application Once eOwnership established, the application appears on user’s ‘Workbench’ and eOwner can give/remove access rights to an application to other associated users - requires ‘e-Handshake’ process The IB can control secure access

43 eHandhakes Each user account has a Customer ID (above) Only to be exchanged with trusted associates Similar to friends on ‘Facebook’ An eHandshake does not give automatic access rights to all your applications – specific access rights have to be granted

44 ePCT – private services  Secure data transmission (certificate required)  Secure management of access rights (eOwner, eEditor, eViewer)  Personal history information (access rights changes, etc)  View/Search/Filter your applications  Private notes/comments  Arrange your applications into portfolios  History of actions in ePCT for an international application  Upload documents and online actions (eg. Rule 92bis requests, request to withdraw IA, etc. )  Display PCT timeline and bibliographic data for an international application (visual aid to monitor important PCT time limits)  warnings for approaching deadlines, e.g., 30 month time limit expires in 1 month.

45 ePCT – public services  Login with Username + password (no certificate required)  Upload documents to IB and RO/IB  View of application content restricted to documents that YOU uploaded via ePCT (no access to other confidential documents and data)  Submit Third Party Observations on close prior art  Personal history information

46 ePCT-Filing (currently in development with a closed pilot in demo mode) File application through the ePCT private services portal - no need to take eOwnership later on Allows all data checks conducted by IB to be made at time of preparation of the IA for filing and all reference data is up to date File direct to RO/IB initially as a pilot Later option to host RO file at IB for Offices as an alternative to a local RO server and receive e-filings directly

47 ePCT for Offices Initial functionality available for receiving Offices and International Authorities:  Provides real time online secure access to the electronic files of international applications (pre and post publication),  Upload electronic documents directly into the IB’s processing system (eg. Priority documents)  Shows timeline of key time limits and outstanding actions to be taken  New uploaded documents are immediately visible in the internal system of the IB and also in the ePCT file

48 ePCT - Offices Some of the participating offices:  Australia (AU)  Austria (AT)  Belgium (BE)  Bulgaria (BG)  Canada (CA)  Finland (FI)  Hungary (HU)  Morocco (MA)  Netherlands (NL)  Republic of Korea (KR)  Switzerland (CH)  Ukraine (UA)  United States (US)

49 Languages & Translation

10 PCT Publication Languages Arabic Chinese English French German Japanese Korean Portuguese Russian Spanish

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57 THANK YOU Questions?