In autumn 2024, a recertification audit of the Latvian Patent Office's (LPO) quality management system (QMS) for compliance with the requirements of the international standard ISO 9001:2015 “Quality Management Systems”, with a deeper focus on customer orientation, was successfully completed.
The audit gave high marks to the LPO’s customer service.
The implementation of the QMS in accordance with the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 aimed at improving the quality of services was started by the LPO in 2017. It was a joint initiative of the LPO and the European Union Intellectual Property Office within the framework of the ECP5 project “Management System Support for Intellectual Property Institutions”. In 2018, during the implementation period, extensive work was carried out to assess the LPO’s key processes. The necessary documentation was reviewed and updated, basic process flowcharts were developed, and employee training was conducted. As a result of this work, the external audit of the QMS was carried out at the end of 2018 and the first management system certificate was received, which confirmed that the LPO’s QMS complies with the requirements of ISO 9001:2015.
During the external audit conducted by the auditing company DNV Latvia in October this year, no non-conformities were found in the LPO’s QMS, and, as a result, no areas requiring improvements of the LPO’s operational processes were identified.
According to the audit findings in the customer service area, the LPO was assessed with the highest rating, which means a high level of internal control. The audit positively assessed the implemented Customer Service Manual, which contains complete information on communicating with customers, and the developed Customer Service Guidelines. A positive assessment was also given to the customer consultation record table, which was supplemented with customer evaluations of the quality of consultations, as well as to the possibility of electronically booking a consultation time with the LPO’s experts on the LPO’s website.
The certificate of compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001 issued as a result of the recertification audit by the international organization DNV, one of the leading certification service providers in the world, confirms that LPO is a reliable, quality- and development-oriented organization, whose services meet the needs of customers and the requirements of regulatory enactments.
By successfully recertifying the QMS every 3 years, the office continues to maintain the certificate.