Public services of the Czech Intellectual Property Office

IPO CZ provides access to world and national patent literature. The complete collection of all national patents, as well as a selection of published invention applications, has now been converted into digital format and is freely accessible in search databases for anyone interested. Visitors to the public reading room have access not only to national industrial property databases, but also to free databases of foreign and regional patent and trademark offices. Within the framework of paid information services, searches can be carried out through the STN and Epoque database centers. Basic information services are free of charge. For services involving special costs (such as the need for specialized search services or the production of copies, etc.), fees are charged.

Patent and trademark searches are among the services most frequently requested by the public. Important sources of information for professional searchers include, in particular, free databases on the Internet, online databases at database centers, and old gazettes and registers for historical searches, especially trademark searches.

Users can order the following search services from IPO CZ:

• a) Patent literature search (prior art search) – Searching for prior art in a certain field. This type of search is particularly important before applying for a patent, conducting research, purchasing a license or launching a new production plan.
• b) Patent legal status search – to answer whether the document is still valid or whether its validity period has expired
• c) Patent family search – finds patent documents related to the same invention (usually the same applicant) and inventor in different countries
• d) Patent Title Search – Find relevant documents for a specific inventor or applicant/owner of an industrial property right
• e) Trademark searches (word or figurative marks) and applicant/owner name searches – the Office performs searches not only within the territory of the Czech Republic (i.e. national trademarks, international trademarks designating the Czech Republic and the EU, and EU trademarks), but also for selected countries worldwide
• f) Design Search – Evaluate the design of a product

Such searches may take up to 30 days to complete from the date of order.

IPO CZ's services allow users to monitor the current state of the art in selected areas of technology. If users are interested in continuously monitoring the prior art in a certain area, IPO CZ can periodically send users newly issued patents or parts of them within the framework of its services. This service is performed on the basis of a written order (which can be sent by e-mail to objednavky@upv.cz), in which the user defines the international patent classification symbol, the region and time range, and specifies the output requirements. The output may include a cover, patent claims, drawings, or a combination of this information, or a complete description of the invention.

On the website upv.gov.cz, IPO CZ provides information about its activities, various industrial property matters, services provided, relevant legislation and the activities of the Industrial Property Training Institute. The website also provides forms for electronic filing of applications and subsequent requests (including electronic signature) or for filling in and sending by email, post, fax or data box.