IT modernization of WIPO’s Sector of trademarks industrial ... · Web viewThe initiative is known as the MAPS Modernization Project. The computerized administration system (MAPS

Annex I

Terms of Reference

To Request for Proposals N° PCS/08/048

MAPS / DMAPS / IMAPS ModernizationAcquisition of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)

software and services

CONFIDENTIAL NOTICE

This document contains information confidential and proprietary to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The information may not be used, disclosed, or reproduced without the prior written authorization of WIPO, and those so authorized may only use this information for the purpose of evaluation consistent with the authorization. Reproduction of any section of this document must include this legend.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I – BACKGROUND.......................................................................................................................................3

1 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................3

2 MAIN BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS IMPACTING CURRENT AUTOMATION....................4

3 WEB ENABLING STRATEGY, ARCHITECTURE AND TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES..........4

4 HELPFUL FACTS AND FIGURES...................................................................................................5

5 PLANNING...........................................................................................................................................6

1 OBJECTIVES.......................................................................................................................................7

2 SUB PROJECT SCHEDULE..............................................................................................................8

3 THE LEGACY APPLICATIONS TO BE CONVERTED - MAPS / DMAPS...............................9

4 DATA AND BUSINESS LOGIC CONVERSION APPROACH...................................................10

5 BUSINESS LAYER APPROACH USING SERVICE ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE (SOA) 11

6 C2-POC DESCRIPTION...................................................................................................................11

III ANNEX TO SPECIFICATION.............................................................................................................14

1 DESCRIPTION OF PROCESSING A MAPS DOCUMENT........................................................14

IV – INTRODUCTION OF WIPO AND ITS INFORMATION SYSTEM............................................16

1 THE BUSINESS..................................................................................................................................16

2 THE APPLICATIONS.......................................................................................................................17

3 THE ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT APPLICATIONS.......................................................19

4 The future MAPS and DMAPS applications........................................................................................22

I – Background

1 Introduction

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Sector of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications is currently modernizing the MAPS / DMAPS / IMAPS applications in an effort to provide more efficient services to users and clients.

The initiative is known as the MAPS Modernization Project.

The computerized administration system (MAPS and DMAPS) enabling WIPO to execute it’s institutional responsibilities under the Madrid Agreement and its Protocol, and the Hague Agreement dates from 1996, and is a mainframe based ADABAS/Natural solution. IMAPS is a third system used for managing document images.

A study of user satisfaction undertaken on 2007 concluded that the functionality offered by the existing legacy solution met user expectation and gave satisfaction to a very high degree, with only minor exceptions (namely translation, classification and text processing functionalities).

Given the necessity to balance on the one hand, the evolving need to open the MAPS and DMAPS systems to internet access against on the other hand, the high levels of user satisfaction and the risks associated with a full system re-engineering exercise as well as the opportunity to continue to harvest returns on the original investments, WIPO would like to explore the technologies that could be deployed to ‘web enable’ the MAPS/DMAPS/IMAPS systems.

WIPO acknowledges that bidders are likely to propose a wide range of solutions of varying technical complexity, ranging from simply enabling the MAPS and DMAPS systems to be exploited remotely over the internet using a web browser, right through to the establishment of a full Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) environment with integrated Business Process Management tools that would render the MAPS and DMAPS systems functions accessible as a series of web services. Such an SOA environment would enable new system functionality to be easily assembled by simply linking the legacy web service components to other newly developed web services established using more modern technologies (e.g. Java/Oracle). Such an environment would enable WIPO to efficiently address the translation, classification and text processing issues mentioned above, as well as any new functions that might be required in the future. WIPO would use such an SOA environment to eventually fully re-engineer the legacy based web services using more modern technologies (e.g. Java/Oracle) resulting in a homogeneous application system architecture.

Annex I – Terms of Reference to RFP N° PCD/08/048 Page 3 of 23

Bidders shall be invited to make proposals concerning a technical architecture that would web enable MAPS/DMAPS/IMAPS. Proposals from bidders may be for an iterative approach and if so, the proposal should clearly indicate all the dependencies of a given iteration, and any interactive approach should not preclude or compromise the eventual establishment of a full SOA environment. In addition, bidders shall clearly identify the extent to which the MAPS/DMAPS/IMAPS systems would need to be modified (if at all, or for which specific iterations) so as to be able to accommodate (each iteration of) their technical proposal. Bidders shall also make proposals for the establishment and technical proving of the architecture that they propose and shall be required to prove their solution should their bid be successful.

WIPO can imagine that an iterative approach to the establishment of a full SAO environment, would logically commence with the enablement of remote internet access to MAPS and DMAPS using a web browser.

2 Main business requirements impacting current automation

A study of technical and functional improvements undertaken in mid-2007 was undertaken by an external company and was based on input from WIPO clients, management and internal users. The resulting portfolio of sub-projects and phases (see chapter IV.4 for more details) was defined to progressively modernize existing legacy applications without undue risk to the existing IT system and operations. The execution of the portfolio of sub projects is known as Maps Modernization.

Based on the input from WIPO clients, management and users, the four areas of improvement that would have most impact on application architecture and technology tools (see chapter IV.3 for more details) were:

End to end business process and activity management; Web-based access and better user productivity; Better data quality and processes (including correlation between the registry,

classification and translation); Document, text and translation management.

3 Web Enabling Strategy, Architecture and Technical Objectives

The aforementioned step-by-step development strategy will create an open and flexible modernized Information System (IS) that will first concentrate on adding features requested by users and national offices (for example, modernized user interface, improved classification and translation tools as well as internet access to legacy systems).

Decisions were made to:

Transform progressively to an open, flexible and distributed environment using an SOA implementation;

Implement the list of functional sub projects (List A under chapter IV.4) to enhance internal production;

Implement the list of eBusiness sub projects (List B under chapter IV.4);


Implement the list of adapted technologies (List C under chapter IV.4) .

WIPO foresees that MAPS/DMAPS/IMAPS web enablement steps are as follows:

Define architecture and tools that will allow the conversion of current MAPS and DMAPS transactions into web services;

Rewrite MAPS and DMAPS workflow using BPM and BAM tools;

Enhance MAPS and DMAPS usability by adding new business features and functions as included in the project list (see chapter IV.4):

o Convert interactive MAPS and DMAPS transactions into web services by splitting presentation logic from business and / or data logic. The result will be a catalog of web services available for external invocation.

o Rewrite the MAPS and DMAPS presentation logic using an external orchestration and workflow engine, and web technology (RIA).

4 Helpful Facts and Figures

Domain Area Subject Answer

Business UsersConcurrent users 120IT support staff 3 Internal + 2 external

Application

MAPS / DMAPS

Language Natural 4.2.3DB ADABAS 7.4.4Natural modules 5133 modulesN° lines of code 1’120’542Interactive programs

1173

N° lines Int. programs

774’972

IMAPS

Language C++Hardware IntelOS WindowsDB Oracle

Current InfrastructureHardware IBM mainframeOS Z900

Target Infrastructure Defined

Hardware To be definedOS UNIX/LINUX Language J2EEDB Oracle


5 Planning

The portfolio of MAPS Modernization sub projects has been split in three phases:

Phase 1 : 2008 and 2009 See table below

Phase 2 : 2010 and 2011 Projects C8 and C10, budget to be validated.

Phase 3 : after 2011 If needed, projects C9 and C11.

Phase 1Projects Tentative Plan

C4 – Downsizing on UNIX On goingC3 - SOA and tools CurrentA1 – Translation On goingC1 – Project organization and change management On goingC2 – RFP and POC CurrentC5 – Pilot with an office (pre-project and tools setup) 2009A3 – Document generation 2009C7 – DBMS and technical enhancements 2009A6 – Office automation 2009A7 – IMAPS enhancements 2009

For more information, please refer to: http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/madrid/en/docs/wipo_maps_dmaps_report.pdf


II – Service Oriented Architecture & Tools, with Proof Of Concept

1 Objectives

The current Request for Proposal is part of sub project C3 (Service Oriented Architecture, or SOA and Tools) and sub project C2 (Proof of Concept, or POC). The objective of this sub project is to identify and prove appropriate technical architecture components and tools so as to establish a Service Oriented Architecture, including integrated work flow, that would web enable WIPO’s MAPS/DMAPS/IMAPS systems.

The purpose of this RFP is therefore to invite software vendors to bid for the supply and deployment of such tools.

The sub project has been split in three domains:

Domain “C3_WSEnablement” : Legacy application migration tools (or legacy code conversion resulting in Web Services enablement of the legacy applications), including services life cycle support;

Domain “C3_BPM&RIA” : Business layer tools (Business Process Management and Business Activity Management) including the technology for the development of Rich Internet Application clients;

Domain “C2_POC”: Services for a “Proof of Concept” project that will illustrate the usability of the new purchase and set standards for subsequent projects.

Once proven successful, the legacy code conversion resulting in the establishment of web services, will enable WIPO to proceed with integrating existing and new features included in the portfolio of sub projects. These sub projects will include new tools for translation, production of letters, classification, etc.

Domain C3_WSEnablement must enable WIPO to fully decouple Business Process Management (BPM) and Business Activity Monitoring and Presentation logic from the business logic currently implemented in its legacy applications. Once this is achieved, the MAPS and DMAPS mainframe user interface logic will be rewritten per role using Rich Internet Application (RIA) tools.

Domain C2_POC has the dual purpose of firstly confirming WIPO’s choice of SOA platform and then to establish the blueprint for the SOA project structure and methodologies most suitable to the execution of the remaining Maps Modernization sub projects.


2 Sub Project Schedule

The steps WIPO have identified and scheduled for this sub project of MAPS Modernization are as follows;

Steps Objective Period and deadline

1. RFP selectionSend RFP to suppliers Early November 08

Deadline for supplier to send back answers Mid-December 08Shortlist suppliers Early January 09

2. Preliminary proof of concept (PPOC)

Meeting with shortlisted suppliers During January 09Run PPOC on WIPO site (2 to 3 days) February 09

3. Proof of concept (POC)

C2 - POC,Integration of selected technology

March 09

Step 1. RFP selection

Please refer to the RFP letter for RFP timeline and procedures.

Step 2. Preliminary proof of concept (PPOC)

A meeting will be organized with each of the short-listed suppliers to review their responses, to ask additional questions and to describe the specifications of the Preliminary Proof of Concept (PPOC) step.

During January 2009, selected supplier(s) will be invited to demonstrate the capability of their solution(s) by applying them to the conversion of a simple MAPS transaction. This would imply an effort of two to a maximum of three man days (at their own charge). This PPOC step will need to illustrate the agility and capability of the proposed solutions.

Since one of the objectives of this RFP is to enable Web Services, bidders will be free to use the BPM and RIA tools of their choice.

Step 3. Proof of concept (POC)

The POC step project will involve the implementation of one of MAPS’ main transactions, probably the registration of new trademarks into the proposed new SOA platform.

Consistent with an approach of deliberate separation of the IT and business layers, this step will involve two separate teams: one on the IT side mainly dedicated to the deployment of the web services and one on the business side dedicated to the definition of user interfaces, business process management and business activity monitoring.

Since more than one supplier may be involved in acquisition of the tools it can be logically anticipated that WIPO might contract expertise for the POC step from more than one source.


The supplier(s) for the POC step will be subsequently selected with the acquisition of SOA tools during March 2009.

3 The legacy applications to be converted - MAPS / DMAPS

3.1 Current code architecture & Workflow mechanism

Both MAPS and DMAPS implement a document type specific workflow. Programs, some of which consist of up to 30 screens of support activities, are carried out in a sequence controlled by the workflow data held in the application.

For more information consult Part III (Annex to Specification) that describes this aspect with greater details.

3.2 Volumes to convert

Function des Lines Nb Pgm Pgm GUI BL Lines GUI Lines Interactiv eLines

0) Common functions / Misc 160 820 812 182 78 525 50 230 128 7551) Online access by Office 98 359 390 82 40 986 21 058 62 0442) Data capture 63 411 380 91 26 036 22 813 48 8493) Examination 307 085 1 281 337 141 857 101 816 243 6734) Translation 55 143 291 56 20 473 11 968 32 4415) Inscription 104 635 432 119 54 485 33 384 87 2506) Publication 92 988 272 13 7 753 4 332 12 0857) Electronic communications (in) 65 456 301 52 18 443 11 826 30 2698) Enquiries 172 645 974 240 62 467 67 139 129 606

Somme :1 120 542 5 133 1 172 451 025 324 566 774 972

MAPS is made up of 5124 Natural modules (of which 2436 are screens) with over 750,000 lines of source code.

Function des Lines Nb Pgm Pgm GUI BL Lines GUI LinesInteractive

Lines

MAPS 812'729 3'683 813 318'659 222'552 540'592

DMAPS 310'111 1'457 359 132'366 102'014 234'380

MAPS+DMAPS 1'122'840 5'140 1'172 451'025 324'566 774'972

% MAPS/DMAPS % Lines % Nb Pgm % Pgm GUI % BL Lines% GUI Lines

% Interactive

Lines

MAPS 72.38 71.65 69.37 70.65 68.57 69.76

DMAPS 27.62 28.35 30.63 29.35 31.43 30.24

MAPS+DMAPS 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00


4 Data and business logic conversion approach

For the modernization of its trademarks and industrial applications, WIPO has chosen to concentrate first on developing new business requirements instead of spending time and money to convert mainly technology.

Therefore, the cost-benefit of this approach will depend largely on the degree to which the conversion of the existing business logic to Web Services can be automated.

If the cost/speed/security benefits of this approach are not demonstrated during the preliminary POC, then the final POC implementation will be carried out using Java to replace the Natural code of interactive transactions.

In either scenario, the long term objective will be to migrate to a full Java and Oracle implementation. This will only occur on the basis of a sound business case, of which an important factor will be the degree of obsolescence of the Natural code and of the Natural/ADABAS environment itself.

WIPO categorizes Web Services enablement tools as follows:

Session integration tools; Transaction integration tools; Data integration tools.

Suppliers are requested to indicate the category to which their proposed tools belong.

4.1 Session integration tools

By session integration tools we imply tools that intercept the existing terminal emulation protocol to render the legacy “green screens” as Web Services. The main benefit of such tools is to offer Web Services without requiring any recoding of the legacy application.

4.2 Transaction integration tools

In the context of the MAPS Natural/ADABAS legacy application transaction SOA integration tools are understood as tools exposing Natural subprograms as Web Services.

As the presentation layers of MAPS and DMAPS are not perfectly separated from the business logic it is anticipated that to convert legacy on-line programs some modifications of the code will be necessary.


4.3 Data integration tools

Data integration for MAPS, DMAPS and IMAPS would involve giving access to their raw data via Web Services. In other words, the Natural/ADABAS or Oracle (Sql) data manipulation commands would be encapsulated as Web Services. This would allow WIPO to build new transactions accessing, remotely, through a single data layer heterogeneous databases.

5 Business layer approach using Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)

In parallel to the Natural/ADABAS conversion,

User interface will be rewritten with a technology able to answer to the requirement of internal and external users (hopefully Thin client using internet infrastructure);

Business Process Management (BPM) will be decoupled from Business and Data logic to give more flexibility to the business to adapt to new functional and organizational challenges;

Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) will control end to end transaction, increasing time to deliver with better follow up using event and status to inform and request tasks from the users.

WIPO would like to select the most integrated tools to reduce the learning curve and complexity. Business analyst should be able to build and maintain BPM, BAM and user interaction (screens and reporting).

6 C2-POC Description

The POC project will be the initiating step of this migration into modern IT.

The main objectives to the POC project are:

To make a final validation of the suitability of WIPO’s newly acquired SOA platform;

To give WIPO its first exposure to SOA development, to identify the technical, methodological and managerial skills required for the SOA application life cycle.

6.1 Anticipated Project Structure

In order to fully validate the SOA approach WIPO intends to enforce a clear boundary between the Web Services deployment and life cycle management, the development of rich web clients, in the hands of IT, and the orchestration and monitoring of the business process, in the hands of the Madrid and Hague business units. The Technology must belong to IT while the business process belongs to the business unit.


Such clear consistency with the SOA paradigm will also facilitate for the POC project, as well as for future developments, the contracting of services from distinct suppliers, thus enhancing WIPO’s opportunities to hire the best experts in the use of its new SOA tools.

Since three teams with three distinct missions will operate for a common goal their coordination will be one the of the critical success factors of this projects.

Bidders will be invited to propose structures for the three development teams as well as for the coordination unit. To ensure an optimal acquisition of SOA expertise for WIPO each structure must consist of a mix of external experts and WIPO staff. Every proposed structure must be clearly encapsulated with a definition of the interfaces or interactions with other stakeholders in the project.

6.2 The POC Project Deliverables

The system deliverable of the POC project will be the conversion of WIPO’s existing mainframe based program for the processing of new or existing trademarks.

Since POC’s key objectives are concept validation and expertise building WIPO chooses not to proceed, at this stage, with the selection of the legacy program to be converted. This selection will be one of the initiating steps of POC, to be carried out with the winning bidder’s consultant. It is anticipated that in addition to proposing an optimal project structure the bidders will recommend the most suitable lead time for POC. The selection of the program(s) to be converted during POC will therefore be based on this figure and the respective complexity and risk associated to their conversion.

As referred to in other parts of this document the scope of POC will be limited to mimic, on WIPO’s newly selected SOA platform, the existing features of the selected trademarks processing program. POC will be a first iteration within a spiral (Rational Unified Process – RUP-like) development cycle.

POC will deliver to the end user a new trademarks processing facility with the following characteristics:

A user interface based on Rich Web Clients; A workflow controlled by BPEL based software; Web-based services resulting from the automated conversion of the existing

NATURAL code; The data layer of the new application being the existing ADABAS database; The production support of the IT components being clearly separated from the

ongoing management and monitoring of the business process.

6.3 Methodology

At present WIPO has not implemented any formal systems development methodology, even though some staff have received basic training on RUP and gained limited exposure to the UML language.


The proposed development methodology will have to be part of your proposal. WIPO would like to describe POC as the first iteration, (hence hinting at a spiral life cycle), of the redevelopment of the registration of new trademarks.

This “Iteration One” aims at chiefly mimicking the existing IT facility; subsequent iterations will involve the integration of a translation memory, classification databases, revisitation of textual storage, etc. POC’s objective for WIPO is to validate SOA and learn, therefore the scope of the deliverables must remain pragmatic.

However, one of POC’s outcomes will be the definition of subsequent iterations, based on the risk analysis of the various subsequent development alternatives.

The system specification and documentation must make extensive use of the UML Language. Bidders are invited to specify which type UML diagrams the three teams will produce and/or rely upon.


III Annex to Specification

1 Description of Processing a MAPS Document

1.1 The document

The legacy MAPS (or DMAPS) applications process a wide range of document types. A workflow is associated with each document type.

Documents are processed in a paperless mode; they are scanned and registered when received. Registration consists of the allocation of a registration number and minimal data entry prior to initiating the specific workflow.

A notepad is associated with each document allowing the successive users to exchange instructions and queries.

1.2 The workflow

A document workflow can be described with MAPS as a sequence of actions to be undertaken.

Actions are materialized in the system by a reference table (MP-TBL-ACTN). Each action is then associated to 1 to 4 programs in the application.

The program to check if the action is needed: implements business rules based on the state of the processed document to determine whether the action is to be skipped or not. This may trigger cascading skipping if subsequent actions are to be skipped and if their predecessors have been skipped;

The program to perform the action: at the completion of this program business rules are applied to determine the completion status of the action, successful or in error. This program may be either an on-line or batch process;

The program to reverse the action as workflow backtracking may occur;

The program to allocate the action to a given user.

Actions for a given document type are kept in sequence through another reference table MP-SERV-ACTN. This table records the subsequent actions for a given document type and action depending on the completion status of the current action (successful, on error, etc.).


1.3 The program to perform an “Action”

The program to perform an action can be either an on-line or batch process. Some on-line programs are complex. They may consist of up to 25 consecutive screens. The structure of such programs is the following:

A top level driver calls the sub-programs in a set sequence by default; A set of programs, each presenting a screen, dedicated to a given topic; A menu that can be called from any of the sub-program, hence allowing jumps

from a program to any other.

In some instances the driver program implements business rules that will by-pass the use of some of the subprograms.

For the “Action” to be completed all required sub-programs (or sub-actions?) must have been executed.

It could be said that such an “Action” acts somehow as a sub-workflow. It must be restated that all steps are carried out by a single user and that no given sequence of steps is enforced.


IV – Introduction of WIPO and its Information System

1 The Business

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an inter-governmental organization with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. It is one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations system of organizations.

WIPO is responsible for the promotion of the protection of intellectual property throughout the world through co-operation among States and for the administration of various multilateral treaties dealing with the legal and administrative aspects of intellectual property.

The Sector of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications of WIPO is responsible for the administration of the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks (1891) and the Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (1989) and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs and the Lisbon Agreement for the protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registrations.

The Sector’s business comprises approximately one quarter of WIPO business in terms of revenue. WIPO also has responsibility for the administration of the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT). In terms of IT systems, PCT operates discretely of Trademarks and Industrial Designs. PCT accounts for most of the remainder of WIPO business in terms of revenue.

WIPO’s Sector of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications have developed a computer system to administer the provisions of the Madrid Agreement, the Madrid Protocol and the regulations common to both treaties. This is called MAPS. MAPS has been modified to enable the International Registrations Department to administer Industrial Designs. This subsystem is called DMAPS. The IMAPS Document Image Processing (DIP) subsystem manages the electronic images of all the documents being processed by the International Registry of Marks. The Publication subsystem prepares and prints paper notifications of records made in the International Register of Marks, as well as the paper and electronic publication of marks and industrial designs.

MAPS and DMAPS have been implemented during the period 1996 to 1998 and make use of the United Nations International Computer Centre (UNICC) mainframe infrastructure. The IMAPS and publication Sub-systems have been implemented in-house.

The rapid technological advancement in Information Technology in recent years, in particular the emergence of the Internet and new multi-tiered application architectures, and the significant business challenges that WIPO’s Sector of Trademarks Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications face in the future have led to the desire to revamp the Sector’s computer facilities.


A key additional factor to be considered was the established trend for UN agencies, including WIPO PCT, to move away from the UNICC mainframe environment to UNIX multi-tiered platforms. Since there was also a serious concern regarding the cost of operation of this Sector’s IT systems, the decision to downsize from the mainframe to UNIX server was made in 2007 and is currently underway, to be completed by the end of 2008.

Additional information regarding the Sector’s business can be found on WIPO’s Web site under the following links: http://www.wipo.int/trademarks/en/ (fr/es) and http://www.wipo.int/designs/en/ (fr/es).

2 The Applications

The current architecture supporting the Sector of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications is based on three main systems: MAPS, DMAPS and IMAPS. These three systems are surrounded by a set of miscellaneous supporting applications, mainly in the publication areas.

2.1 MAPS

MAPS supports the full life cycle of an International Registration. It comprehensively supports the administrative processes involved from the birth to the death of the Trademark. During their life cycle, International Registrations are submitted to changes in scope, ownership and duration. All changes are governed by regulations of the Madrid treaties.


an

PCT (Patents)Trademarks, Industrial designs and geographical indications

Publication & Products information

Business and functional organization

Holders National officesRepresentativesCommittees

(experts, decision)Members

Project scope for MAPS / DMAPS

And IMAPS

Production

Internet site (content management and application portal (Objective))

Finance

Accounting

eBilling (objective) ePayment (objective)

Databases

Monitoring, statistics and analyticalReporting & statistics

MadridTrademark

HagueIndustrial designs

Reporting & statistics

NiceG&S

OtherG&S

Registry Registry

ViennaFigurative

LocarnoI & D

Romarin Gazette Madrid express

Hague Express Bulletin

http://www.wipo.int/designs/en/

http://www.wipo.int/trademarks/en/

The processing of international trademarks involves the following activities:

data capture (manual or via a XML in-streams); examination; classification of goods and services; translation of the list of goods and services; sending of irregularity letters; collection of fees; inscription in the register; publication of registration; notification to all stakeholders.

The scope of a trademark is subject to the agreement of the countries for which the registration is requested. This triggers a number of events known as “refusals” that originate in the national offices and affect the scope of the trademark.

2.2 DMAPS

DMAPS provides features very similar to those of the MAPS system but implements the regulations of the Hague treaties.

2.3 IMAPS

Both MAPS and IMAPS are paperless systems. Incoming forms received from applicants and national offices are scanned, stored and indexed in IMAPS as “dossiers”. Dossiers are subsequently linked to documents in either MAPS or DMAPS and dispatched for processing by the clerks.

The indexing within IMAPS remains basic, and the application offers mainly a single feature: “retrieve on document number and browse”.

2.4 The current architecture and technology

The two registers, MAPS for trademarks and DMAPS for industrial designs, are implemented on an ADABAS database. ADABAS is not a relational database; it could be best described as a set of indexed files supported by an adequate transaction control system and facilities for backup, file loading/unloading, security, etc. The current version of this software used by WIPO is 7.4.4.

The programming language used for the construction of MAPS and DMAPS is Natural. This language has been used in conjunction with ADABAS since the early eighties. It can be described as scripting tool offering facilities for database access and producing mainframe screens and reports. The version of the language used for MAPS and DMAPS is V.4.2.3; it is worth mentioning that the full potential of this version is not currently exploited since the bulk of the MAPS development occurred in the early nineties.


The EntireX middleware has been deployed in the MAPS/DMAPS environment, but its use has remained limited.

Currently, the application runs on an IBM mainframe zSerie under Z900. The online component operates under TSO and the terminal emulator is Extra from Attachmate (VT220).

WIPO is planning to migrate the MAPS and DMAPS applications from the mainframe platform to UNIX servers during the last quarter of 2008. It is anticipated that the application will remain largely unchanged and based on the current versions of NATURAL & ADABAS with the terminal emulation protocol still being VT220.

3 The Assessment of the Current Applications

To assess actual IT business needs WIPO and an external consultant firm have carried out an assessment of the gap between current and required IT services. The outcome of this analysis can be summarized as follows:


MAPS/DMAPS/IMAPS TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE

Application

ADABAS

MAPS SYSTEM MATCHES translation system DMAPS SYSTEM

IBM Z900

IMAPS ServerWindows NT ORACLE

Database

IMAPS SYSTEMMAPS updates Imaps throughindexing process

Kodak Scanner

HP Scanners

MAPS Daily Printing

Subsystem - Refusals and Irregularities

TRADEMARK OWNERS

NATIONAL OFFICES

TRADEMARK OWNERS

NATIONAL OFFICES

Publishing SystemNT Workstation

External Romarin CD Presser

External Printing Agency for

Gazette/Bulletin

Internal Weekly Printing

E-Publishing Process

PUBLISHING

Via secureftp server

WIPO Chancellerie

NATIONAL OFFICE

FINANCE SYSTEM

Scanner

SAN

Out of current MAPS / DMAPS :

1) Translation & classification2) Text generation for examination3) Document generation (irregularities)4) Cost of IT platform5) User interface for a distributed environment

Risk : publication VB applicationunmaintained

Electronic Document Mgt & Content Mgt

3.1 Requirements expressed by external actors (Holders, Offices)

WIPO is a hub actor in the process of registering an international trademark; the other actors are holders, their representatives and the national/regional trademark offices. WIPO’s Trademark and Industrial Design system was developed in the early nineties when computerization was still focused on function instead of process, therefore, it lacks proper integration of external functions. This has been expressed by external stakeholders as follows:

Lack of efficient communication, exchange and collaboration. For instance, communications sent redundantly with parallel communication media such as email, postal mail, fax, etc. There also remains a costly overuse of paper and fax.

The quality of some communications, mainly irregularity letters, remains poor or inadequate in some instances. The quality of the content must be improved and alternative media must be developed.

One key activity performed by WIPO is the matching of payment made by applicants with the relevant requested services. This is essential since failure to pay in time leads to delayed or nonexistent protection. To resolve this problem, and to a large extent the problems related to processing incoming payments, WIPO should also leverage a new electronic means of forwarding payments offered by financial institutions since the mid nineties.

The ageing nature of WIPO’s Trademark and Industrial Design computer systems reveals itself through increasing occurrences of incorrect data. This must be addressed as it harms public confidence in the trademark system and may result in gaps of protection.

In an era where the information system must comprehensively integrate the business process, the current system boundaries between WIPO, national offices, holders and representatives are less acceptable. Manual data entry of information that resides in the partner’s information system is a waste. Furthermore, any data redundancy between information systems involved in the international registration process should be questioned. WIPO must respond to this by implementing up to date technologies and IT architectural styles in order to enable proper integration of the IT systems involved in the trademark processes.

3.2 Requirements expressed by internal actors

As expected, requirements expressed by WIPO’s internal users point to large extent to a lack of alignment between the current IT systems and the business process. A corollary to this is the lack of business processing monitoring capabilities, resulting in end to end processing times that are not meeting the expectations of the stakeholders. In addition, the hard to navigate “green screen” user interface is increasingly deemed as inadequate. Other complaints can be related to the quality of the data contained in the computer system:


Administrative and operational activities should be more integrated. Too many boundaries are imposed by the system between activities such as the examination and production of letters. For instance, reversing the sending of an irregularity letter is very cumbersome with the current system.

The processing of requests conveyed through different channels or media requires a better integration. The system should back the promotion of electronic media, eFiling, eBilling and ePayment.

The system does not offer adequate means to monitor the processes and there is an obvious need to reduce the end to end processing time. To achieve this, the system must offer business activity monitoring facilities.

It is felt also that improved productivity may be drawn from rationalization of the processes as well as their reorganization. Merging some IT dialogs and, more importantly, enabling agile reconfiguration of the business process is seen as a prerequisite to rationalization.

The current workflow master data has to become more accessible to the end user. The current codes lack both structure and transparency. Generally, the system must offer better search capabilities.

To examine the full history of a trademark in order to derive the actual scope of the protection is too cumbersome. The user expects future systems to have the capability to generate on a single click the complete status of any trademark.


Preparation and scanning

Data examination NotificationTranslationFinanceData Entry PublicationData Receipt and indexation center

Third party (Holder/rep,

Office)

RequestPaper, fax

Resceipt & indexation

eFiling

Payment (check, wire)

ePayment

Electronic communicati

on

eMails

eBusiness

Paper and unstructured doc

Scan doc Registry

New examination

Refuse

Update

Control Payment

Translation

Notifications on paper

Electronic notifications

Publication on paper and

electronic format

eBusiness plublication

eBilling

Bottleneck : Letter of irregularities

Trademarks goods&Service status

Bottleneck : Translation tools and

classification

Bottleneck : Unknown payments

eBusiness = productivity, speed, collaboration and quality

eBusiness = productivity, speed, collaboration and quality

4 The future MAPS and DMAPS applications

Since wholesale redevelopment has been considered too risky for WIPO under the current circumstances, a strategy of gradually migrating the existing applications has been chosen in order to address the problems and requirements listed under paragraph 3.

This strategy is based upon three groups of small, self contained projects:

Group A addresses the requirements of the internal user; Group B addresses the requirements of the external user; Group C intends to fill the technical and methodological gaps in order to conduct

successfully the projects of groups A and B.

4.1 Projects of Group A

A1 Translation: Update translation tools to replace in-house translation tools with commercial ones.

A2 Classification: Update Nice classification tools by integrating databases of accepted goods and services into the classification procedure. Make the tools available on the Internet.

A3 Irregularity Letters and Notifications: Update the letter generation process to produce more understandable documents.

A4 Trademark last status: Create tools to show the goods and services protected within a given designated Contracting Party and show how these change over time.

A5 Monitoring and statistics: Create tools to monitor and analyze operational processes. Create statistics for internal and external use.

A6 Office automation: Integrate internal administrative tasks into the MAPS/IMAPS system, e.g., importing Word documents, e-mails, etc. directly into MAPS/IMAPS.

A7 IMAPS enhancements: IMAPS enhancements (e.g., search capabilities, new document formats, tighter integration with MAPS, etc.).

4.2 Projects of Group B

B1 e-Payment e-Billing: Create e-Billing (for extracts from the International Register) and e-Payment (for other transactions) for Holders.

B2 e-Modification: Allow holders to submit transactions electronically and to further automate their processing within MAPS.


B3 e-Status: Allow holders to monitor the status of their communications to WIPO eBusiness.

B4 Electronic Communication: Offices → WIPO: Enhance the transmission of information from national offices to WIPO.

B5 Electronic Communication: WIPO → Holders/Reps: Enhance the transmission of information from WIPO to holders and representatives.

B6 Electronic Communication: WIPO → Offices: Create tools that enhance collaboration between WIPO and national or regional offices with respect to the international procedure.

4.3 Projects of Group C

C1 Project Organization and Change Management: Put procedures into place which will facilitate the implementation of these projects.

C2 POC: Proof of Concept of technical solution. (Current RFP)

C3 SOA & tools: Create the IT architecture (SOA) and provide the necessary tools for its use. (Current RFP)

C4 Downsizing on UNIX: Migrate MAPS and DMAPS from the UNICC mainframe to a UNIX environment. (Under way)

C5 Pilot with an Office: Pilot project with a single national office based on direct access to MAPS (SOA+BPM+eBusiness+Portal+RIA).

C6 Complete architecture + BPM + Middleware: Adapt the IT architecture and BPM processes based on experience with Pilot (C5) to allow expansion to other interested offices.

C7 DBMS & Technical enhancements: Improve the database design of MAPS and resolve any technical issues.

C8 Remaining BPM, Portal and RIA: Migrate business logic from Natural to Java, but retain ADABAS.

C9 Remaining Interactive Web Services: If needed, define processes and develop a new user interface with common technology for WIPO and national or regional offices.

C10 Publication: Modernize the publication process including the replacement of the legacy Visual Basic programs.

C11 Remaining Java / Oracle conversion: Migrate the remaining Natural/ADABAS programs to Java/Oracle if and when needed, but not before 2010.
