The Israel Patent Office has published its summary of 2013. Their focus is on their efficiency. I have culled and am reporting the information that I believe is of more value to IP practitioners. My interpretative comments are in italics.
To enjoy the graphs and the graphics – a hot air balloon lifting a paper car, and no-doubt signifying hot air, recycling, creativity, and fen-shui, or something, readers can access the original here. I think that this literary digest is more user-friendly. Each to his own.
PATENTS
The number of patent applications in 2013 was 6184 which is down 9% from 6793 in 2012, and is the lowest number since 2003. Approximately 600 of these applications are Divisional Applications and 6 are patents-of-addition.
The Israel Patent Office notes that since 2012 there has been a 40% discount for local applicants having a turnover of less than 10 million Shekels, but fails to note that there was a massive jump in filing fees of about 40% back then. My take – the Shekel is very strong so Israel is a more expensive destination than some others.
The number of first filings in Israel is 889, which is also a record low, less than at any time in the past decade. It is possible, however, that more Israeli start-ups are first filing in the US, either as Provisionals or regular US applications since the US fees have been going down, and the dollar is weak.
The pendency period prior to examination starting has been dropping steadily and is now 28 months on average, with biotech being especially fast. This may be explained by the increase in Examiners due to the Israel Patent Office becoming an International Search Authority of the PCT, which required the IPO to employ at least 100 examiners.
Second office actions typically issue 5-6 months after a response is filed, which is similar to last year and rather better than in the past.
On average, examination takes 2 to 27 months, with Biotech taking rather longer on average – 37 months.
The Israel Patent Office has issued 3698 patents in this period, which is more than for any other solar calendar year in the past decade except 2011.
The number of PCT applications filed in Israel was 1199 which is up from 1113 in 2012, but still below 2011 levels.
658 out these (55%) filing in Israel, have taken advantage of the relatively low International Search Fees and elected Israel as the Search and Examination Authority. 321 selected the EPO and 220 selected the USPTO.
The report claims that the total number of applications filed by Israelis has remained constant, but more are filed in Israel as opposed to in Geneva. I don’t thing this is true, but do accept that the service provided in Israel is at International levels, with 91% filing electronically.
What is clear is that in both absolute numbers of originating countries and by Receiving Office, Israel ranks 17, and clearly has a smaller population than any of the countries that have more filings.
Israel is the second fastest receiving office at getting applications to WIPO, with 99.3 applications getting there in les than four weeks, only lagging behind Denmark. This is a fairly useless statistic for the Israeli inventor, but no doubt gratifying to Dr Michael Bart and his team. I have been presently surprised by the quality of Israel generated International Search Reports and have recommended them to clients. In the past the USPTO often failed to provide the International Search Report (ISR) in a timely manner, but they have got better and also better at searching, even occasionally finding relevant art in non-US patent literature. The US fees have dropped somewhat and they may be more popular.
Israel is proud of the speed of PCT examinations, with 90% being examined within 3 months, ahead of the US and EPO. Furthermore, they blame security related examinations being forwarded to the Ministry of Defence for clearance, for the remaining 10% which take 4-5 months to issue.
There is an interesting of table of where incoming patent applications originate, that shows both Paris Convention filings and PCT national phase entries. This is of value when planning overseas marketing strategy.
Lists of the more prolific local and international filers into Israel had few surprises.
Some 20% of patents are issuing by modified examination under Section 17c, relying on a foreign issued patent from one of a list of examining authorities. This number has been dropping steadily since 2010, and is below 2008 levels.
Some 130 applications were examined out-of-turn by one or other acceleration mechanism. This is higher than in previous years and no doubt reflects the various fast lanes of the Patent Prosecuting Highway, since only 18 applications were considered ‘green’ and fast-tracked thereby
Of the 3887 applications allowed, 32 were opposed. 27 oppositions were dropped by the opposer and 14 resulted in the applicant dropping the case. Of the four patent oppositions that went full term to decisions, 2 applications were allowed to issue and two were rejected, with the ruled on oppositions taking an average of just over 4 years to be resolved.
Five applications to cancel issued patents were filed with the patent office. 21 final rejections were appealed. 9 requests for patent term extensions were filed and 4 were granted. 41 lapsed patent requests were considered and there are 8 pending decisions for employee inventor compensation.
In absolute terms, there are fewer applications filed in Israel than in South Africa, New Zealand or Malaysia. In terms of patents per gross national product, Israel lags behind Korea, Japan, USA and most of Europe.
When normalized for the size of population, Israel remains surprisingly attractive. Israel remains a must-file country for pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, organic fine chemistry (whatever that means) and medical technology. It holds its own in computing. Interestingly, Israel is also noticeable as originating PCT applications for medical technology and pharma, so Israel’s innovative companies are no less significant than the Israeli generic suppliers.
DESIGNS
The number of design applications was 1353 which is the lowest for a decade. 492 of these come from Israel. Of the 861 foreign cases, the US is the most prolific filer, followed by Brazil (104 applications, mostly Stern Jewelry), Europe, Korea, Japan and China.
TRADEMARKS
There were 9580 trademark applications into Israel in 2013. This number is less than 2006 to 2008 but higher than the other years of the last decade. Part of the drop is due to the introduction of multi-class applications, since there is an overall growth in the number of classes being filed in. Multi-class filings and the fact that of the 9580 applications, some 4930 were Madrid Protocol applications, implies less work and income for Israel trademark attorneys in basic filing. There are, however, some 176,978 issued trademarks in force, that need renewing. (Costa Rica has 183,226, and I suspect a better mark to attorney ratio).
As of the end of 2013, there were 20 competing mark cases, 98 trademark oppositions, 14 single party appeals and 40 cancellation or registry correction cases. Overall, the Israel Patent Authority has managed to resolve more of these than have been initiated.
Based on WIPO statistics, Israel ranks 46 in terms of trademark originators, behind Algeria, Kazakhstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Azerbaijan. Hoewever, Israel is only 19th in terms of popularity as a destination under Madrid.
Author: Dr Michael Factor, Patent and Trademark AttorneyIP FA©TOR – Israel’s International Patent and Trademark Attorneys
Israel
http://blog.ipfactor.co.il
