Service responsibility

We are developing services for our customers

Service responsibility comes under the UN Sustainable Development Goal of Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (16).

We are responsible for ensuring that our services meet customer needs and that they are easy to use, accessible, safe and reliable. We are also responsible for ensuring that the guidelines, instructions and communications that we provide to our customers are up to date and easy to understand.

We measure our service capacity as well as the quality and impact of our services each year by means of surveys. As in previous years, customer satisfaction with our services remained high in 2022. Read more about customer satisfaction in our Annual Report.

Our aim is to provide easy-to-use services that are accessible to everyone and we also involve our customers in this work. Read more about this work below at ‘Case: Customers played a key role in the development of patent services’.

In 2022, we commissioned accessibility audits on all our new and updated online services and websites and scheduled the necessary accessibility corrections.

On this page, you can read more about the following:

Digitalisation is making progress

We are constantly increasing the degree of digitalisation of our services and operations.

In 2022, in addition to services intended for our customers, we also developed back-end systems and interfaces with shared central government services. We produced a survey of service times and criticality classification of online services and systems. We also started the work to define our service levels.

The progress of digitalisation at the PRH is measured using a digital maturity index and indicators describing the coverage of online services.

Digital maturity at PRH (scale 1–5)

In 2022: 3.14
In 2021: 3.23
In 2020: 3.15

In 2022, we remained slightly behind the target set for our digital maturity index. The weaker measurement result may be due to the fact that different assessment rounds have different evaluation teams that emphasise the criteria in slightly different ways.

We enhanced digital maturity by, for example, preparing a common, systematic ICT development model that covers the entire development life cycle of a digital solution. We also prepared an enterprise architecture management model and developed the testing of digital solutions in several different ways.

Percentage of matters managed online by our customers

In 2022: 92.3%
In 2021: 90.8%
In 2020: 89.6%

Use of online services at the PRH has increased steadily in recent years. In 2022, an average of 92.3% of all matters were managed online by our customers.

Predictable and secure services

Predictability and security of our online services are essential so that we can ensure easy-to-use services for our customers and guarantee the reliability of our operations.

To ensure secure services, an external information security audit is always carried out for new and updated online services and information provision interface solutions before they are made available. Several information security audits were conducted during 2022.

The PRH maintains a situational picture of information security on a regular basis. Critical incidents are reported immediately to the management and information security matters are also reported to the management four times a year on a report prepared in accordance with the management model.

No hacking or serious information security breaches were reported in 2022, and no serious data protection incidents were identified during the year.

Information security management model introduced

In 2022, the PRH introduced the information security management model systematically throughout the organisation. We prepared, processed and published the documents guiding information security at the PRH. We updated our information security guidelines and the PRH’s information security team was given permanent status.

An online training package on information secure practices was prepared for the PRH personnel and all staff members had to complete the training by the end of February 2023.

The aim of the management model is to standardise the management of information security, to ensure that it is of uniform quality and to regularly evaluate concrete needs to enhance information security.

Case: Customers played a key role in the development of patent services

The overhaul of the patent application processing system, which has lasted for several years, was finalised in 2022. In connection with the introduction of the new system in spring 2023, five new or updated electronic services were made available to PRH customers: Patent Information ServiceOpen link in a new tab, Patent Payment Service, Industrial Property Gazettes serviceOpen link in a new tab, Patent Document Service and Deposit Account.

The aim was to make the new services technically reliable, easy to use and to ensure that they meet all accessibility requirements. The design process was based on customer wishes and needs, and customers were also involved in the development work at different stages of the process.

The service design phase was preceded by collection of information and boosting of customer understanding. We conducted discussions with customers and analysed the feedback and results of customer satisfaction surveys collected over the years. We did not start the service conceptualisation process and user interface design until we fully understood what the customers wanted.

We arranged a range of different test events and interviews in which customers were able to test and comment on the plans and draft user interfaces. We introduced low-threshold remote events where a service or its part was presented to the customers at a suitable project stage, and where customers had a chance to comment on the development work and discuss the process. In this way, we were able to conduct a flexible dialogue with our customers during the coronavirus pandemic.

By using a broad range of different methods, we ensured that we understand what is most important to our customers in the services.

Cooperation with customers went well and, judging from both internal and external feedback, it was extremely rewarding on both sides. It was a pleasure to see how keenly customers were involved in the development work. We also learned a great deal from the projects for future agency-level service development at the PRH.