1. COPIES AND INSPECTION OF FILES
P. RODINGER
Department for Designs and Register (OHIM)
Design Liaison Meeting
Alicante, 8-9/10/2010

2. Design Registration Certificates Certified copies and file inspection
Program
Legal basis
Design Registration Certificates
Certified copies and file inspection
Automatic provision of certified copies

3. LEGAL BASIS

4. Article 74 CDR – Inspection of files
After publication a design may be inspected on request
Before publication, this requires consent of the applicant
Article 17 CDIR – Certificate of registration
After publication, the Office shall issue a certificate …
The holder may request certified / uncertified copies of the certificate of registration upon payment of a fee
Article 41 CDIR – Signature, name, seal
Any decision, communication or notice from the Office
Indicate department / division and name of responsible
Signed, or, instead carry printed or stamped seal
Article 74 CDIR – Procedure for the inspection of files
Either the original or a copy
On request, inspection shall be effected by means of issuing copies of file documents (certified / uncertified)
Fee

5. DESIGN REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES

6. RCD Certificate

7. Short process description
Certificates are issued once a RCD is registered and published (part A.1 of the RCD bulletin)
The process of creation starts immediately after publication.
RCD certificates are sent electronically to an outside supplier who prints and then distributes the certificates
During the 2nd half of 2010 OHIM will introduce e-certificates for designs (they exist already for trade marks)

8. E-certificate
In the Publication section of RCD Online, a new column will be added with information about the RCD e-certificates.
This information will consist of a link labelled “Registration Certificate”, together with the publication date and an indication of the size of the electronic document.
The RCD e-certificate is intended to make certificate delivery faster and smoother and make storage easier for users. By clicking on the link a PDF-document will be downloaded that can be easily printed or saved into the user’s own archiving system.

9. How to get an E-certificate

10. How to get an E-certificate

11. How to get an E-certificate

12. How to get an E-certificate

13. SHORT DEMO: RCD ONLINE

14. CERTIFIED COPIES AND FILE INSPECTION

15. The main services
Inspection requests for CTMs and RCDs (= copies of documents) :
Anybody may request
Applications
Registrations
Any documents in the file (some restrictions apply)
Extracts of the CTM and RCD register:
List current status of a file, including recordals such as licenses, and other events such as Invalidities.
On site inspection of files, not used in practice
Online Access to Files (OAF) for CTMs

16. Certified / uncertified / authenticated
Documents requested may be certified or uncertified
Some countries require authentication or legalisation of certified copies in order to accept them as a priority or any other claim before their respective national offices / authorities
The European Commission legalises these documents:
The Head of the Permanent Representation of the European Commission in Spain is authorised to authenticate documents issued by the OHIM
Our colleague Daniele Messa, in secondment there, carries out the day-to-day work

17. Online Access to CTM files (OAF)

18. Online Access to CTM files (OAF)
Provides CTM related documents online
Accessible via CTM-ONLINE
Updated every day
Document downloadable in PDF format
More than documents downloaded every week
Restrictions:
CTMA not published – access restricted to the applicant or representative via MyPage
Confidential documents not disclosed to third parties

19. Inspection production

20. Inspection timeliness

21. Example of a certified copy
YOU HAVE ON YOUR TABLE AN EXAMPLE OF A
CERTIFIED COPIE OF A REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE
The different elements are:
Cover page (in five languages)
Certifying that the enclosed document is an exact copy of the registration certificate of a particular design
Number of the design
Registration date of the design
Printed signature of the official responsible
Stamped seal
Registration certificate
100% copy of the initial registration certificate
A stamp indicating that this is a copy

22. AUTOMATIC PROVISION OF CERTIFIED COPIES

23. Statistics (1/3)

24. Statistics (2/3)

25. Statistics (3/3) Request (CTM / RCD) (over the last years) Certified
Not
Certified / All
Documents
1. Application Form
1876 23
44,07%
2. Certificate
1285 24
30,19%
3. Extract from the Register
795 6
18,68%
4. Extract from the Database
143 3
3,36%
5. Copy of documents 39 63
0,92%

26. Speed up the provision of certified copies
Objectives
Speed up the provision of certified copies
We provide a good copy and include text that states that the copy is directly taken from our database,
We do not accept that this way of providing the certificate introduces less safeguards than sending a paper copy today,
We maintain against payment the present way of certifying, but we try to convince people that in case of doubt they can very simply verify on line whether the copy does indeed reflect the contents of our database.

27. Develop a solution for Application Form and Certificate.
Project
Develop a solution for Application Form and Certificate.
Allow users in OAF to get a certified copy of the Certificate* or the Application Form** that includes:
A copy of the document stamped with a mention than the copy comes from our database
A cover letter identical to the cover letters used currently. It also includes a link to access to the CTM/RCD online.
The same document is sent when generated internally by the Office.
User will not see any difference between the online document and the one issued from OHIM
* Available for RCD when RCD eCertificate goes live
** Application form not available for RCD

28. Example of an automated certified copy
YOU ARE RECEIVING AN EXAMPLE OF AN AUTOMATED COPY
Please compare with the first example and find the differences (take your time)
The seal on the cover sheet
Header and footer on all pages of the copied document
The footer contains a printed signature, the date and the file number on each page
There is a staple instead of an eye

29. We need to adapt (IP offices, Courts)
Paper copies have been around for decades and decades. Everybody has become accustomed to them.
The Internet has changed the way we do business and what has required paper before can now easily be done electronically.
Our data bases (CTM and RCD Online) are the reliable source. They are freely available and can be consulted 24/7.
We all will need to adapt to this.
And this affects of course the IP Offices (priority documents) but also the Courts.

30. Information:  (+ 34) 965 139 100 (switchboard)
 (+ 34) (e-business technical incidents)
 (+ 34) (main fax)  
 Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs)
Avenida de Europa, 4
E Alicante
SPAIN