MAPS / DMAPS / IMAPS Modernization · IMAPS applications in an effort to provide more efficient services to users and clients. ... 3 Web Enabling Strategy, Architecture and Technical

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 IntellectualProperty Organization (WIPO). The information may not be used, disclosed, orreproduced without the prior written authorization of WIPO, and those so authorized mayonly 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

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

I – Background

1 Introduction

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Sector of Trademarks, IndustrialDesigns 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 toexecute it’s institutional responsibilities under the Madrid Agreement and its Protocol,and the Hague Agreement dates from 1996, and is a mainframe based ADABAS/Naturalsolution. IMAPS is a third system used for managing document images.

A study of user satisfaction undertaken on 2007 concluded that the functionality offeredby the existing legacy solution met user expectation and gave satisfaction to a very highdegree, with only minor exceptions (namely translation, classification and text processingfunctionalities).

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

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


Bidders shall be invited to make proposals concerning a technical architecture that wouldweb enable MAPS/DMAPS/IMAPS. Proposals from bidders may be for an iterativeapproach and if so, the proposal should clearly indicate all the dependencies of a giveniteration, and any interactive approach should not preclude or compromise the eventualestablishment of a full SOA environment. In addition, bidders shall clearly identify theextent 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) theirtechnical proposal. Bidders shall also make proposals for the establishment and technicalproving of the architecture that they propose and shall be required to prove their solutionshould their bid be successful.

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

2 Main business requirements impacting current automation

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

Based on the input from WIPO clients, management and users, the four areas ofimprovement that would have most impact on application architecture and technologytools (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 flexiblemodernized Information System (IS) that will first concentrate on adding featuresrequested 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 anSOA implementation;

• Implement the list of functional sub projects (List A under chapter IV.4) toenhance 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 andDMAPS transactions into web services;

• Rewrite MAPS and DMAPS workflow using BPM and BAM tools;

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

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

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

4 Helpful Facts and Figures

Domain Area Subject AnswerConcurrent users 120IT support staff 3 Internal + 2 externalBusiness Users

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

1173MAPS / DMAPS

N° lines Int.programs

774’972

Language C++Hardware IntelOS WindowsDB Oracle

Application

IMAPS

Hardware IBM mainframeOS Z900Current Infrastructure

Hardware To be definedOS UNIX/LINUXLanguage J2EE

Target Infrastructure Defined

DB 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 thissub project is to identify and prove appropriate technical architecture components andtools 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 anddeployment of such tools.

The sub project has been split in three domains:

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

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

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

Once proven successful, the legacy code conversion resulting in the establishment of webservices, will enable WIPO to proceed with integrating existing and new featuresincluded in the portfolio of sub projects. These sub projects will include new tools fortranslation, production of letters, classification, etc.

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

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


2 Sub Project Schedule

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

Steps Objective Period and deadlineSend RFP to suppliers Early November 08

Deadline for supplier to send back answers Mid-December 081. RFP selectionShortlist suppliers Early January 09

Meeting with shortlisted suppliers During January 092. Preliminaryproof of concept(PPOC)

Run 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 theirresponses, to ask additional questions and to describe the specifications of thePreliminary Proof of Concept (PPOC) step.

During January 2009, selected supplier(s) will be invited to demonstrate the capability oftheir solution(s) by applying them to the conversion of a simple MAPS transaction. Thiswould 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 touse 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’ maintransactions, probably the registration of new trademarks into the proposed new SOAplatform.

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

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


The supplier(s) for the POC step will be subsequently selected with the acquisition ofSOA 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 asequence controlled by the workflow data held in the application.

For more information consult Part III (Annex to Specification) that describes this aspectwith 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 50 230 128 755

1) Online access by Office 98 359 390 82 40 986 21 058 62 044

2) Data capture 63 411 380 91 26 036 22 813 48 849

3) Examination 307 085 1 281 337 141 857 101 816 243 673

4) Translation 55 143 291 56 20 473 11 968 32 441

5) Inscription 104 635 432 119 54 485 33 384 87 250

6) Publication 92 988 272 13 7 753 4 332 12 085

7) Electronic communications (in) 65 456 301 52 18 443 11 826 30 269

8) 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 over750,000 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% GUILines

%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 toconcentrate first on developing new business requirements instead of spending time andmoney to convert mainly technology.

Therefore, the cost-benefit of this approach will depend largely on the degree to whichthe 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 thepreliminary POC, then the final POC implementation will be carried out using Java toreplace the Natural code of interactive transactions.

In either scenario, the long term objective will be to migrate to a full Java and Oracleimplementation. This will only occur on the basis of a sound business case, of which animportant factor will be the degree of obsolescence of the Natural code and of theNatural/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 emulationprotocol to render the legacy “green screens” as Web Services. The main benefit of suchtools 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 SOAintegration tools are understood as tools exposing Natural subprograms as Web Services.

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


4.3 Data integration tools

Data integration for MAPS, DMAPS and IMAPS would involve giving access to theirraw data via Web Services. In other words, the Natural/ADABAS or Oracle (Sql) datamanipulation commands would be encapsulated as Web Services. This would allowWIPO to build new transactions accessing, remotely, through a single data layerheterogeneous 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 therequirement of internal and external users (hopefully Thin client using internetinfrastructure);

• Business Process Management (BPM) will be decoupled from Business and Datalogic to give more flexibility to the business to adapt to new functional andorganizational challenges;

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

WIPO would like to select the most integrated tools to reduce the learning curve andcomplexity. Business analyst should be able to build and maintain BPM, BAM and userinteraction (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 SOAplatform;

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

6.1 Anticipated Project Structure

In order to fully validate the SOA approach WIPO intends to enforce a clear boundarybetween the Web Services deployment and life cycle management, the development ofrich web clients, in the hands of IT, and the orchestration and monitoring of the businessprocess, in the hands of the Madrid and Hague business units. The Technology mustbelong 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, aswell as for future developments, the contracting of services from distinct suppliers, thusenhancing 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 theircoordination 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 asfor the coordination unit. To ensure an optimal acquisition of SOA expertise for WIPOeach structure must consist of a mix of external experts and WIPO staff. Every proposedstructure must be clearly encapsulated with a definition of the interfaces or interactionswith 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 existingmainframe based program for the processing of new or existing trademarks.

Since POC’s key objectives are concept validation and expertise building WIPO choosesnot 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 thewinning bidder’s consultant. It is anticipated that in addition to proposing an optimalproject structure the bidders will recommend the most suitable lead time for POC. Theselection of the program(s) to be converted during POC will therefore be based on thisfigure 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 trademarksprocessing program. POC will be a first iteration within a spiral (Rational UnifiedProcess – RUP-like) development cycle.

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

• 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 exposureto the UML language.


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

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

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

The system specification and documentation must make extensive use of the UMLLanguage. Bidders are invited to specify which type UML diagrams the three teams willproduce 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. Aworkflow is associated with each document type.

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

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

1.2 The workflow

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

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

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

• The program to perform the action: at the completion of this program businessrules are applied to determine the completion status of the action, successful or inerror. 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 tableMP-SERV-ACTN. This table records the subsequent actions for a given document typeand 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. Thestructure 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 useof some of the subprograms.

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

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


IV – Introduction of WIPO and its Information System

1 The Business

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

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

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

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

WIPO’s Sector of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications havedeveloped a computer system to administer the provisions of the Madrid Agreement, theMadrid Protocol and the regulations common to both treaties. This is called MAPS.MAPS has been modified to enable the International Registrations Department toadminister Industrial Designs. This subsystem is called DMAPS. The IMAPS DocumentImage Processing (DIP) subsystem manages the electronic images of all the documentsbeing processed by the International Registry of Marks. The Publication subsystemprepares and prints paper notifications of records made in the International Register ofMarks, 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 makeuse of the United Nations International Computer Centre (UNICC) mainframeinfrastructure. The IMAPS and publication Sub-systems have been implemented in-house.

The rapid technological advancement in Information Technology in recent years, inparticular the emergence of the Internet and new multi-tiered application architectures,and the significant business challenges that WIPO’s Sector of Trademarks IndustrialDesigns and Geographical Indications face in the future have led to the desire to revampthe 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 UNIXmulti-tiered platforms. Since there was also a serious concern regarding the cost ofoperation of this Sector’s IT systems, the decision to downsize from the mainframe toUNIX server was made in 2007 and is currently underway, to be completed by the end of2008.

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

2 The Applications

The current architecture supporting the Sector of Trademarks, Industrial Designs andGeographical 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 comprehensivelysupports the administrative processes involved from the birth to the death of theTrademark. During their life cycle, International Registrations are submitted to changesin scope, ownership and duration. All changes are governed by regulations of the Madridtreaties.


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 theregistration is requested. This triggers a number of events known as “refusals” thatoriginate 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 theregulations of the Hague treaties.

2.3 IMAPS

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

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

2.4 The current architecture and technology

The two registers, MAPS for trademarks and DMAPS for industrial designs, areimplemented on an ADABAS database. ADABAS is not a relational database; it couldbe best described as a set of indexed files supported by an adequate transaction controlsystem and facilities for backup, file loading/unloading, security, etc. The current versionof 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. Itcan be described as scripting tool offering facilities for database access and producingmainframe screens and reports. The version of the language used for MAPS andDMAPS is V.4.2.3; it is worth mentioning that the full potential of this version is notcurrently exploited since the bulk of the MAPS development occurred in the earlynineties.


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

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

WIPO is planning to migrate the MAPS and DMAPS applications from themainframe platform to UNIX servers during the last quarter of 2008. It isanticipated that the application will remain largely unchanged and based on the currentversions of NATURAL & ADABAS with the terminal emulation protocol still beingVT220.

3 The Assessment of the Current Applications

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


3.1 Requirements expressed by external actors (Holders, Offices)

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

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

• The quality of some communications, mainly irregularity letters, remains poor orinadequate in some instances. The quality of the content must be improved andalternative media must be developed.

• One key activity performed by WIPO is the matching of payment made byapplicants with the relevant requested services. This is essential since failure topay 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 paymentsoffered by financial institutions since the mid nineties.

• The ageing nature of WIPO’s Trademark and Industrial Design computer systemsreveals itself through increasing occurrences of incorrect data. This must beaddressed as it harms public confidence in the trademark system and may result ingaps of protection.

• In an era where the information system must comprehensively integrate thebusiness process, the current system boundaries between WIPO, national offices,holders and representatives are less acceptable. Manual data entry of informationthat resides in the partner’s information system is a waste. Furthermore, any dataredundancy between information systems involved in the international registrationprocess should be questioned. WIPO must respond to this by implementing up todate technologies and IT architectural styles in order to enable proper integrationof 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 alack of alignment between the current IT systems and the business process. A corollaryto this is the lack of business processing monitoring capabilities, resulting in end to endprocessing 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 computersystem:


• Administrative and operational activities should be more integrated. Too manyboundaries are imposed by the system between activities such as the examinationand production of letters. For instance, reversing the sending of an irregularityletter is very cumbersome with the current system.

• The processing of requests conveyed through different channels or media requiresa 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 isan obvious need to reduce the end to end processing time. To achieve this, thesystem must offer business activity monitoring facilities.

• It is felt also that improved productivity may be drawn from rationalization of theprocesses as well as their reorganization. Merging some IT dialogs and, moreimportantly, enabling agile reconfiguration of the business process is seen as aprerequisite 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 systemmust offer better search capabilities.

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


4 The future MAPS and DMAPS applications

Since wholesale redevelopment has been considered too risky for WIPO under thecurrent circumstances, a strategy of gradually migrating the existing applications hasbeen 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 withcommercial ones.

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

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

A4 Trademark last status: Create tools to show the goods and services protectedwithin a given designated Contracting Party and show how these change overtime.

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

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

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

4.2 Projects of Group B

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

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


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

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

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

B6 Electronic Communication: WIPO→ Offices: Create tools that enhancecollaboration between WIPO and national or regional offices with respect to theinternational procedure.

4.3 Projects of Group C

C1 Project Organization and Change Management: Put procedures into placewhich 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 necessarytools for its use. (Current RFP)

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

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

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

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

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

C9 Remaining Interactive Web Services: If needed, define processes and developa new user interface with common technology for WIPO and national or regionaloffices.

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

C11 Remaining Java / Oracle conversion: Migrate the remainingNatural/ADABAS programs to Java/Oracle if and when needed, but not before2010.