Monday, 31 December 2001
- Patent
Information for Pharma/Biotech Course
Edlyn Simmons has advised of the PERI "Patent Information for
Pharma/Biotech Course" which is being held in Arlignton, VA (USA) from 06 February to
08 February, 2002.
 "This course is designed
to provide a overview of the patenting process, sources of patent information and the
various means of answering patent information requests pertaining to drugs, devices,
chemicals, and biologics. The basics of US and foreign patent laws and the importance of
exclusivity and patent term extension in the pharmaceutical industry will be discussed.
Demonstrations of patent searching techniques will be provided and participants will have
an opportunity to tour the US Patent and Trademark Office. Vendors will be invited for
informal demonstration of databases and searching techniques."
The PERI website provides full details about the course including "Who
Should Attend", "Objectives", "Key Topics" and "Registration
Information".
PIUG members will recognise that the course director is Edlyn Simmons, Procter &
Gamble's Section Manager, Patent Information, so it is bound to be a well structured and
informative course. To find out more about this course, registration etc - visit the PERI website.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- Trilateral Statistical Report 2000
Well, we may be at the end of 2001, but the Trilateral Patent
Office has just released the "Trilateral Statistical Report" for 2000. "This
joint annual Trilateral Statistical Report contains a compilation of statistics from the
European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the United States Patent
and Trademark Office (USPTO). It is also partially based on statistics from the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva." You can access the report
from the Trilateral website here.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Thursday, 27 December 2001
- Australia
- Release of Generic "com.au" Domain Names
The organisation (auDA)
that administers the com.au domain has decided to remove teh restriction on the
registration of generic words (such as cars, accounting or bank). These domains were
previously considered to be generic and unregisterable. With this change in auDA
policy, it is expected that such generic domain names will be in high demand.
auDA have published a list of com.au domain names where application(s) have been
received under the current regime bu refused as the name was considered
"generic". Applicants now have only until 31 January 2002
to apply for names appearing on the list. If ther is more than one applicant for a
particular name a closed auction
wil take place and the winning beidder will be awarded the domain name. Generic
names not on this list will become available on a first come first served basis after 31
January 2002.
It is unfortunate, but auDA have only allowed a limited time to act in relation to
these generic domain names. There are eligibility requirement for applicants.
If you are interested in finding out more you can contact auDA . If you are interested in
establishing whether you meet eligibility requirements or are interested in applying for a
generic name, Phillips Ormonde &
Fitzpatrick (IP Menu's owners) will be happy to assist you. For further
information from Phillips Ormonde, contact Scott
Gardiner on domains@pof.com.au.
IP Menu has put a complete list of "generic" domain names available in
this first phase on our website. You can download the PDF document here.
Posted by Rodney Cruise
- Japanese
Patent Office Speakers at PIUG 2002
Lucy Akers, the Chair of PIUG has informed the PIUG list that PIUG
2002 Annual Meeting will have representatives from the Japanese Patent Office. "This
will include Mr. Yoshitaka HIRABAYASHI, Director-General of the Second Patent Examination
Department, as a representative of the Commissioner Mr. Kouzo OIKAWA, who will make a
speech on Tuesday, April 23, 2002. In addition, Mr. Koichi MINAMI, Director of the Patent
Information Promotion Policy Office, and a pharmaceutical patent examiner, will each give
a presentation in the session related to the JPO held on Tuesday afternoon."
Looks like PIUG 2002 is shaping up to be great meeting!
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- CAMBIA
Intellectual Property Resource Update
CAMBIA Intellectual Property have upgraded their free patent database.
There is a new interface to the patent search engine and they havee added US data
(1976-2000 with 2001 coming online very soon) to the collection. CAMBIA's collection now
contains US granted patents, EP granted patents and PCT patent applications. It is
important to note that this is a specialist database which covers a subset of patents
(based on IPC) relevant to agricultural biotechnology. For more information visit the CAMBIA Intellectual Property website.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Friday, 21 December 2001
- THE
LAUNCH OF THE HONG KONG LEGAL INFORMATION INSTITUTE (HKLII)
 The University of Hong Kong
Faculty of Law and the Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) have announced that access
is now available to the Hong Kong Legal Information Institute (HKLII). Access to HKLII and to all data
on it is free and includes:
- Court and Tribunal Judgments (approximately 10,000 in full text) from the
Court of Final Appeal, Court of Appeal, Court of First Instance, District Court, Family
Court and Lands Tribunal. The commencement dates of the collections vary, some commencing
in 1982. The judgments are provided by the Judiciary of the Hong Kong SAR. Practice
Directions, provided by the Judiciary of the Hong Kong SAR.
- All Current Ordinances of Hong Kong, provided by the Department of Justice and its BLIS
service.
- The table of contents of Historical Law of Hong Kong, an image database of Hong Kong's
Ordinances back to 1844 created by the Hong Kong University Libraries. Search results on
HKLII link users to the image of the Ordinance held by the Libraries.
- Domain name arbitration decisions under the .hk domain, provided by the Hong Kong
International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC)
- The Hong Kong Treaties Index, provided by the Centre for Comparative and Public Law of
the Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong.
- Miscellaneous Courts of Hong Kong Judgments 1982-1990 (approximately 2000 judgments in
full text) including decisions from the Supreme Court and High Court as they were then,
provided by the Deparment of Justice.
- HKLII also include a catalog and search engine for other legal resources on the
web from Hong Kong and elsewhere in China, provided via the World Law service. At present
only English language versions are provided on HKLII, but Chinese language versions of
some data will be provided later.
See also AustLII, BAILII, CanLII and PacLII.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- PCT- Modification of
Time Limit for Entering the UK National Phase
For those with an interest in the PCT, the UK Patent Office has posted the
following. To read the full text, click here. "Under
Article 22(1) of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), in order to ensure that an
international application proceeds in the PCT national phase, the applicant must perform
certain acts before the expiration of 20 months from the priority date (or the filing date
if no priority is claimed). The PCT Assembly, at its 13th Session, agreed that, with
effect from 1 April 2002, the period of 20 months should be changed to 30 months, that is,
the same as the time limit under Article 39(1)(a) of the PCT which applies where the
applicant requests international preliminary examination".
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- USA - Payment of Patent Maintenance Fees over the Internet
 The
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
has advised that it now accepts maintenance fee payments by deposit account over the
Internet. "For more than a year the USPTO has provided customers the capability
to pay maintenance fees by credit card or electronic funds transfer (EFT) using the USPTO
Internet website. Now, as a result of recent enhancements, the USPTO Internet website is
also capable of accepting maintenance fee payments by charging to a deposit account".
To read the full USPTO Notice, click here.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Thursday, 20 December 2001
- PIUG -
International Conference for Patent Information Professionals
Lucy Akers, PIUG Chair has provided updated details for the next PIUG Conference.
PIUG, Inc., The International Society for Patent Information will be holding an
International Conference for Patent Information Professionals from 20 April 2002 to 24
April 2002 at the Radisson Berkeley Marina Hotel in Berkeley, California, USA. The primary
theme of the meeting is on the "Pacific Rim".
"If you are a PIUG member with your membership renewed for 2002, then you may
register now for the conference! After Jan. 15, the conference registration fee will
increase for ALL registrants, including members, see below for more details."
SPEAKER HIGHLIGHTS:
Stephen Adams, Managing Director of Magister Ltd., will provide a fee-based workshop on
Saturday, April 20, 2002, entitled "Introduction to worldwide patent
information". He will also deliver the final meeting presentation on Wednesday,
April 24, "Internet tools providing professional support to the patent
searcher". For the last three PIUG annual meetings, Mr. Adams'
presentations have been rated most favorably by our conference attendees, so we are very
delighted that he, once again, plans to have an active role in our annual meeting.
Gary Hamilton, firmwide practice manager of the intellectual property practice group of
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P., will provide "An Introduction to the
Japanese Patent System, highlighting a comparison of the Japanese and US systems".
David T. Dickens, Director, Patent Business, Questel*Orbit, will present, "Japanese
Patent Information: Where to Find it, How to Use it".
Robin Zhao, a founding partner of Jeekai & Partners, will provide "An
Introduction to the Chinese Patent System".
Alan Engel will provide a talk entitled, "Paterra® Instant MT? Machine Translation
of Japanese Patent Documents - Version 2.0".
Ron Kaminecki, Senior Intellectual Property Consultant at Dialog, will present a
"Comparison of International Patent Trends: A Look at Asian, European and North
American Filings".
A representative from the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore will be featured.
Eun-Hwa Choi, Patent Attorney, First Law Offices of Korea, will present an
"Introduction to the Korean Patent System".
Rodney Cruise, Manager of the Information Services Department & Partner, Phillips
Ormonde & Fitzpatrick - Australian & New Zealand Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys,
will make a presentation entitled"Rationalising IP Information Delivery - An
Australian Perspective".
Ms. Wil van der Voorde, Secretary of WON since 1993 and a member of WON since its
formation in 1977, will deliver a presentation at the PIUG Business Meeting on Sunday
afternoon. We are very pleased that she has agreed to represent the Dutch patent
information group during our annual business meeting, as we further develop our ties with
our sister organizations worldwide.
The conference will also feature multiple systems and database updates from various patent
information vendors, as well as additional workshop(s) on Sunday."
For further information visit the PIUG website, contact
one of the organisers, or better still become a member!
Posted by Rodney Cruise
Wednesday, 19 December 2001
- SurfIP -
Technology Risk Reward Unit Metrics on SurfIP
SurfIP has announced the launch of Technology Risk Reward Unit (TRRU®)
Metrics on SurfIP. "TRRU metrics is an online IP valuation service. TRRU®
Metrics is a financially oriented, web-based tool for valuing IP provided by IPOS and the
Patent and License Exchange, Inc for SurfIP".
"With this tool, inventors, R&D department managers and IP owners can quickly
and cost-effectively obtain a benchmark value that is based on live market data. This
valuation tool provided by SurfIP consists of:
· TRRU® Valuation Services, a six (6) step calculator that allows users to value assets
using live market data and options-based mathematics; and
· Flexible Pricing Calculator, a pricing calculator that factors the influence of such
conditions as license exclusivity, restrictions placed on sublicensing and assignability,
breadth of fields of use, and geographic region on the actual value the market will
perceive in the IP valued".
For more information on this service and its pricing, visit the SurfIP website or click here.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Tuesday, 18 December 2001
- New
Addition to PIUG Newsletter Team
Janice Kelland, the PIUG Newsletter Editor has advised that Diane Webb of BizInt
Solutions has joined the PIUG Newsletter Committee in the newly created role of Production
Editor. "In this role, she will provide much needed and appreciated help with the
technical aspects of producing the newsletter and her expertise in desktop and HTML
publishing make her an invaluable complement to the team". Best wishes from the
team at IP Menu.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Monday, 17 December 2001
- Notice
from the President of the European Patent Office dated 26 November 2001 concerning
limitation of the EPO's competence as a PCT authority
An important notice has issued from the EPO affecting PCT international searches.
"1. Pursuant to Article 3(4)(a)(ii) of the PCT Agreement between the European
Patent Organisation and the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property
Organization, as amended with effect from 1 November 2001 (OJ EPO 2001,601), the European
Patent Office (EPO) will not carry out
(a) international search in respect of any international application filed on or after 1
March 2002 by a national or resident of the United States of America with the United
States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or the International Bureau (IB) as receiving
Office where such application contains one or more claims relating to the fields of
biotechnology or business methods, as defined by the International Patent Classification
units indicated below in paragraphs 3 and 4.
(b) international preliminary examination in respect of any international application
filed by a national or resident of the United States of America with the USPTO or the IB
as receiving Office where the corresponding demand is filed with the EPO on or after 1
March 2002 and the application contains one or more claims relating to the fields of
biotechnology or business methods as referred to in sub-paragraph (a) above or to the
field of telecommunication as defined by the International Patent Classification unit
indicated below in paragraph 5."
For the full text of the notice click here.
Posted by Simon Ware
- IP
History - The Great Patent Office Fire of 1836 - Flames Destroyed a Significant Period of
U.S. Patent History
"On the morning of December 15, 1836, the Patent Office, then located at
the Blodgett's Hotel in Washington, D.C., was consumed by fire. Among the lost
patent-related materials were an estimated 7,000 models and 9,000 drawings of pending and
patented inventions. Also destroyed in the flames were the file histories of thousands of
patents and pending applications; these losses were considered the most serious because
without supporting documentation, a patent was not valid and an application could not be
prosecuted". To read more, visit the USPTO website here.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- EUROFORUM
Trade Marks Conference, 6-7 May, 2002 in Prague
The EUROFORUM - Trade Marks conference to be held in Prague from 6-7 May 2002, will
be the first European scale meeting that brings together a relevant number of people
interested in the trade mark field both from the European Union and from the Candidate
Countries in Central and Eastern Europe. "The objective of this Forum is to
promote the Community trade mark system in the Candidate Countries and to establish
grounds for real cooperation between these states and the Member States of the European
Union in all fields dealing with trade mark registration and protection. It also foresees
to enhance cooperation and to promote trade mark awareness in Europe among the private
sector and universities. This event will be a two-day meeting gathering all the different
actors interested in trade mark protection and the Community trade mark system. The
participants and the audience will be able to learn, discuss and exchange their respective
experience over various topics by means of workshops or mini-seminars. Some of them will
target the general public and others, specific groups of experts from the trade mark
field. In parallel participants will be given the opportunity to present and disseminate
their information products in tailor-made stands. The European Commission, the OHIM, other
international organisations, the Industrial Property Offices of the Candidate Countries
and the Member States will be setting up stands". For further information, visit
the Euroforum website.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Friday, 14 December 2001
- Questel-Orbit
: Published US Patent Applications
Darlene Slaughter from IFI CLAIMS Patent Services has indicated that published US
patent application records are now available in the IFIPAT, IFICDB and IFIUDB US Patents
databases on Questel.Orbit. Published US patent applications, or PGPs, are published by
the USPTO each Thursday, since March 2001. In addition to each regular weekly update to
add granted patent records to the IFIPAT database, a second weekly update will add PGP
records to the database. For more information visit Questel-Orbit.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- Questel-Orbit :
Largest Collection of Patent Images displayable in PlusPat
David Dickens from Questel Orbit has advised that the PlusPat database now
provides access to "approximately 9 million images......In addition to the some
2.6 million images in PlusPat, there are now 6 million more images for EP, PCT, FR and JP
PlusPat displays. This image collection for PlusPat is updated on a weekly basis and the
EP,PCT, and FR images are available at the time of updating". David also advises
that "this image release works with individual PlusPat records and is available,
at this time, for online displays only. In the near future, images will be available with
the PlusPat Family displays, e.g. MABS, MSTD, MMAX, etc. This new PlusPat
image enhancement is also available in the new version of Qpat (www.qpat.com)".
For additional information, you can contact your local Questel-Orbit Help Desk.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- Pierre
Buffet Awarded the Online Information Lifetime Achievement Award
Reproduced below is a press release from Questel Orbit (Thanks David Dickens) about a recent (6 December 2001)
acknowledgement of Pierre Buffet's contribution to online information.
"Pierre Buffet, Questel-Orbit Managing Director, was awarded the Online
Silver Jubilee Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to the
information industry. As Martin White, Online 2001 Conference Chair explained, the award
recognizes individuals that epitomize "excellence in all things and a constant quest
for quality. Excellence in supporting others, in creating networks among professionals.
Excellence in understanding the principles of information. Excellence in languages...Above
all, a commitment to the information profession."
Pierre Buffet began his career in the electronic information industry 31 years ago. He
received a degree in Engineering in Informatics in 1969. He worked for the Operational
Research group of the French Navy before serving as Head of the CNRS Documentation
Center's Computer Department, where he established the Pascal System. He co-founded
Questel in 1978 and served as Database Manager. Currently, he is Managing Director in
charge of strategy.
Mr. Buffet is a programme committee member of the International Chemical Information
Conference organized by Infonortics and a trustee of the Chemical Structure Association
Trust. Previously, he served for 10 years as Associate Editor of the ACS Journal of
Chemical Information and Computer Sciences and received the Eusidic Personality Award in
1987.
Two years ago, together with Questel-Orbit Chairman and CEO Jean Besson, he spear-headed
two strategic initiatives:
- the management buy-out
- narrowing the company's focus on its core strength:
industrial property information services
These moves have set the company on the road to financial independence and reaffirmed its
position as the world's leading provider of patent and trademark information.
Mr. Buffet expressed his gratitude to customers, friends, colleagues and bosses around the
world who supported him throughout his career and inspired his significant contributions
to the information industry. He saved his most important thanks for last to his wife and
family, saying: "Behind every successful man is a woman who made it all happen."
Thursday, 13 December 2001
- November/December Edition of STNews Now Available
The November/December Edition of STNews (a bimonthly newsletter) is now available
in both HTML
and PDF
format from STN. The current issue includes articles on the following:
- Feature - CAS file enhancements expand the horizons of current research topic
- Ask REGgie - Using USPATFULL to search for patents on specific compounds
- STN Express Interactive Desktop Training modules now available
- STN on the Web - BLAST® search capabilities will be added to the Sequence Search
Assistant on STN on the Web.
To find out more, or to subscribe, visit the STN website.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- United
Kingdom - Free Seminars - Update on Practices before the Registrar
The UK Trade Marks Registry will be holding a series of seminars in the
coming months. The seminars will cover:
- an update on examination practice;
- an update on extension of time requests in inter partes proceedings and evidence before
the Registrar;
discussion on possible changes to opposition proceedings, and
- a question and answer session on the future of examination on relative grounds.
The first of these seminars in the New Year will take place in January. For more
information visit the UK Patent Office website.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Wednesday, 12 December 2001
- New Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
James E. Rogan was sworn in as Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO) on December 7, 2001. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on May 25, 2001,
and confirmed by the United States Senate on November 30, 2001. To read the USPTO press
release, click here.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Monday, 10 December 2001
- Derwent Guide to Patent Expiries - New Edition
Derwent has released the new edition of "The Derwent Guide to
Patent Expiries". This text provides a guide to calculating patent expiries from
around the world. "It is ideal for anyone who needs to calculate expiry dates and
for those involved in the clerical and legal aspects of record keeping and fee
payments". We at IP Menu think it is indeed a very useful text to have around.
You can find out more information including price at the Derwent website.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- USPTO Pulse - December 2001 - Volume 9 Number 12 Now Available
The December 2001 edition of the USPTO Pulse is now available from
the USPTO. The articles this month include:
- USPTO Holds Second Business Methods Partnership Meeting "Approximately
30 representatives from the business and legal community, trade associations, and the
USPTO, attended the second in a series of future partnership meetings that will occur as
part of the Business Method Patent Initiative Action Plan."
- USPTO APANet "The United States Patent and Trademark
Office Asian Pacific American Network (APANet), blasted off with its first membership
drive picnic this past July with overwhelming success."
- News from Anne H. Chasser "Commissioner for Trademarks Commissioner
Chasser shares with us how trademarks are helping other organizations within the
USPTO."
To read Pulse, click here.
Posted by Rodney Cruise
- WIPO
- 30TH Accession To Key Copyright Treaty Paves Way for Entry Into Force
"Gabon's accession on December 6, 2001 to the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT)
paves the way for entry into force of this key treaty that will bring copyright law in
line with the digital age, a move welcomed by the Director General of the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Kamil Idris. This accession means that the
WCT will enter into force in three months time, on March 6, 2002. The WIPO Performances
and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) is also expected to enter into force in the near future when
30 countries have become party to it (28 to date). By safeguarding the interests of
creators in cyberspace, the WCT opens new horizons for composers, artists, writers and
others to use the Internet with confidence to create, distribute and control the use of
their works within the digital environment". For more information, click here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
Friday, 7 December 2001
- New Dialog Company Profiles Service
The Dialog Corporation has announced the launch of a new product
called Dialog Company Profiles, "offering one-stop access to up-to-the-moment,
comprehensive profiles of nearly 500,000 publicly traded and privately owned companies
from 188 countries". According to their recent press release, the "new web-based service gives users the
ability to quickly generate a list of relevant company profiles and articles drawn from a
large collection of reliable online databases, news and business information services, and
financial data sources". To find out more information, click here.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- Patent Re*Search ToolBox - Disappeared??
I noticed today that the website for the Patent Re*Search ToolBox has disappeared.
The website indicates that "this page was closed down". On the corresponding Japanese page, it
appears a similar message has replaced the site (although I must admit I am unclear as to
what it says exactly). Patent Re*Search ToolBox provided some very useful patent data
downloading and analysis tools. If anybody has any information as to what happened to this
website, I would appreciate it. I will post any info I get here. It would be a shame to
see such a site disappear for good.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- Homology Searching for
Derwent Geneseq on STN
FIZ Karlsruhe has announced the release of BLAST homology searching for
Derwent Geneseq on STN (file DGENE) from December 3rd, 2001. "DGENE BLAST will
supplement the existing specific code match module GETSEQ, and FASTA-based homology module
GETSIM, to provide DGENE users with a diverse and powerful suite of biosequence analysis
tools". They have also announced that throughout December 2001 DGENE BLAST
searching will be free of charge.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Thursday, 6 December 2001
Wednesday, 5 December 2001
- IPFee -
Free Service That Calculates Legal Fees for IP Legal Services
Susan Cho of IPTools LLC has advised IP MENU of a new, free service
called IPFee. "Designed by real IP lawyers, IPFee's revolutionary fee generation
engine creates customized fee quotes for over 100 types of inventions in 8 categories,
including prior art search and prosecution fees, plus trademarks and copyrights. IPFee
generates customized legal fee quotes for every geographic region of the United States.
IPFee's patent pending fee generation system factors in the types of variables real IP
lawyers evaluate when making fee estimates. IPFee is quick and completely
confidential". If you are interested to find out more visit the IPFee website.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- Swiss Patents and Trademarks Now Online And Free
In a press releaase today, the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual
Property has announced the availability of a new service for accessing the Swiss registry
of protective rights (trademarks, patents, industrial designs, etc.). To read the complete
press release, click here.
To visit the Swiss Registry Online, click here.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- CAS Data
Since 1907 Now Accessible Online Through STN, SciFinder and SciFinder Scholar
Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) has announced (4 December 2001) at the Online
Information 2001 conference being held this week in London, that they have significantly
expanded the "digital research environment for scientists by making the
bibliographic and abstract information from the entire Chemical Abstracts (CA) collection
back to 1907 available for searching through STN, SciFinder and SciFinder Scholar research
tools". For more information, visit the CAS website.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Tuesday, 4 December 2001
- Europe - EPIDOS News Online (4/2001) Now Available
Now available on the European Patent Office website is the latest edition
of EPIDOS News. The main headlines include:
- EPOline Europe's patent professionals gather in Cardiff "More attendees than
ever before came to the PATINNOVA and EPIDOS Annual Conference conference this October.
The EPO used the opportunity to stress its policy that "the user must come
first" and to present recent developments in patent information".
- PATINNOVA achieves far-reaching conclusions "Heinz Zourek, Deputy Director
General of DG Enterprise presented the conclusions at PATINNOVA as he saw them. The main
topics: Infringement and litigation; business methods and software patents; universities
and inventions".
- epoline® officially launched "epoline® was officially launched on 18 October
2001 - this is a significant milestone in the development of online communication and
transactions between the EPO and the IP community".
- esp@cenet news "New English-language abstracts from Korea. Display of cited
documents. ECLA statistics tool".
- ESPACE® GLOBALPat "The relaunch of this enormously popular product has been
made possible by a new co-operation agreement between WIPO and the EPO".
Two versions are available, PDF and HTML.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Monday, 3 December 2001
Friday, 30 November 2001
- Derwent
- New and Revised Manual Codes
Derwent has finalised the new Derwent Manual Codes for introduction in 2002: the
changes will be implemented in Derwent Update 200201. Derwent will be updating the Derwent
Tailor Made Profile searches created by Derwent for customers as necessary. For more
information click here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
Thursday, 29 November 2001
Wednesday, 28 November 2001
- WIPO - Meetings
WIPO has released its list of selected WIPO meetings from Novemebr 2001 to December
2002. Some of these meetings are:
- Working Group on Constitutional Reform (Fifth session) - February 18 to 22
- WIPO Workshop for Mediators in Intellectual Property Disputes - June 27 and 28
- Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO (Thirty-seventh series of meetings) - September
23 to October 1
For more details click here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
Tuesday, 27 November 2001
- CIPO
- Printed US Patents
The Canadian Patent Office (CIPO) has announced that printed US patent collection
are no longer available in the Client Service Centre. This will be effective from December
1, 2001. For more information click here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
Monday, 26 November 2001
- EPO - 14th Seminar on Search and Documentation Working Methods
The EPO has released information on the 14th Seminar on Search and Documentation
Working Methods will be held at Directorate General 1, The Hague, from 11 to 14 March 2002
and is free to participants.
"The Seminar will take the form of a series of lectures and workshops
in which procedures in the various technical fields will be explained and demonstrated by
examiners and documentation specialists. Following an evaluation in the form of a
round-table discussion, the participants will be given the opportunity to work together
with an experienced patent examiner on a free search on a subject of their choice."
For further information clicke here.
Posted by Simon Ware
Friday, 23 November 2001
- KIPO/WIPO - Cooperation Agreement
"Mr. Laegue Leem, the Commissioner of KIPO and Dr. Kamil Idris, the Director
General of WIPO held a signing ceremony for a cooperation agreement on Nov. 19, 2001. The
agreement embraces the goals of cooperation in nine priority fields, such as the use of
information technology, the promotion and protection of intellectual property in the small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the development of human resources." For
further information click here.
Posted by Simon Ware
Thursday, 22 November 2001
- USPTO - Fillable
PDF Forms
"The USPTO is pleased to announce the posting of the first set of ten USPTO
patent forms in the PDF fillable format to the USPTO website at http://www.uspto.gov/web/forms/index.html.
This means that a customer can fill out the information required by the form by typing in
the information while the form is displayed on the computer monitor." For more
information click here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
- USPTO - Suspension of the "Express Mail" Service
"On Friday, November 16, 2001, the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice
President of the United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a memorandum temporarily and
immediately suspending Express Mail service to Washington, D.C., ZIP Codes 202xx through
205xx (e.g., 20231). The USPTO is designating this interruption in the Express Mail
service of the USPS as a postal service interruption within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. 21(a)
and 37 CFR 1.6(e).
The USPTO is establishing the following address which may be used (as an alternative to
the address set out in 37 CFR 1.1) on an emergency basis for patent-related correspondence
being delivered to the USPTO by the USPS's Express Mail service:
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
P.O. Box 2327
Arlington, VA 22202
Special box designations (e.g., Box PCT) should be also included in the address as
appropriate."
For further information click here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
Wednesday, 21 November 2001
- Questel-Orbit
- QPAT Version 3
"Questel-Orbit announces the launch of a completely revised and enhanced QPAT.
QPAT features significantly expanded coverage, enhanced search and display features, and
free PDF patent copy delivery. It includes open access to the Pluspat database, unlimited
patent family searching, detailed legal status information, and full-text searching of
published applications and patents from the United States and the European Patent
Offices." For further information visit the QPATv3 website here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
- STN - USPATFULL
"STN announces important news about searching in USPATFULL.
A new file, USPAT2, has been created. USPAT2 is a companion file to USPATFULL. In this new
full-text U.S. patent searching environment, USPATFULL contains the earliest or first
publication (A1 and B1 kind codes) and USPAT2 contains the latest publication associated
with a particular invention (A2, A9, and B2 kind codes)." Also "a new database
cluster, USPATALL, has been created to provide an easy method of searching both the
USPATFULL and USPAT2 files at one time." For more information see STNote 28 here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
Tuesday, 20 November 2001
- Software - INAS
Steve Mayall of Image Applications has informed IP MENU that INAS (Information
Analysis System) will be released towards the end of the year. INAS is a software tool for
automatically extracting patent information from free and commercial searches into a
self-contained database. INAS can then be used to interrogate the data, mine down to
abstracts, claims or description etc. and present the data in text or visually stunning
graphical form for easier analysis. The patent information may be derived from PatSee
downloads from free databases such as Esp@cenet, JPO, USPTO etc. or from commercial
searches from Micropatent and Derwent. For more information click here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
Monday, 19 November 2001
- International
- "Law Alert"
Law Alert is a new daily E-mail alert of opinions/judgments from seven
jurisdictions world wide - the United States, England & Wales, Scotland, the European
Union, Australia, Canada and New Zealand - dealing with Patents Copyright and Trade Marks.
Law Alert offers a free 10 day trial. For more information click here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
Friday, 16 November 2001
Thursday, 15 November 2001
- PatSee Release Update
PatSee has released an update to both the 'Lite' and 'Pro' versions of it's PatSee
software - Version 3.01. To find out more, visit PatSee here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
- Japan - Industrial Property Legislative Affair Office Draft Report
"The Intellectual Property Committee of the Industrial Structure Council, the
Legislative Affair Subcommittee has discussed the ideal status of the Patent Law as well
as the Trademark Law in relation to the construction and development of an information
technology oriented society.
We are now at the stage of summarizing what we have hitherto discussed as a report. To
make the final and actual report as efficacious as possible, we would like to invite
people from various fields to make comments on this draft." For more informaion click
here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
- EPO - Notice of the President of the European Patent Office
Notice of the President of the European Patent Office dated 2 November 2001
concerning rationalisation of international preliminary examination procedure at the EPO.
The notice covers:
- Procedure without detailed substantive examination
- Partial refund of the international preliminary examination fee
- Discontinuation of the 50% reduction in the European examination fee
- Further rationalisation measures
For more information view the Notice here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
- Trilateral
Offices - Statistical Report 2000
The Trilateral Offices of the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office
(JPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have the annual Trilateral
Statistical Report 2000. To view the report click here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
Wednesday, 14 November 2001
- France - Intellectual Property Law Amendments
Cabinet Chaillot provide a summary of the amendments to the French Design and
Trademark Law made in July 2001. "The essential modifications are the following :
- a design shall be protected by a design right to the extent that it is new at the filing
date or the priority date and no more at the creation date.
- a design shall be protected by a design right to the extent that it has individual
character.
- the protection of a design is of 5 years from the date of filing. The term of protection
may be renewed for one or more periods of five years each, up to a total term of 25 years
from the date of filing ."
The For more information click here.
Posted by Simon Ware
Tuesday, 13 November 2001
- ESPACE SI CD-ROM - EPO
The EPO has released a new CD-ROM database containing bibliographic data and images
of Slovenian patent application documents. The bibliographic data is fully searchable
whilst the images of the full documents can be displayed, and printed. For more
information click here.
Posted by Simon Ware.
- SDRP - Singapore Domin Name Dispute Resolution policy launched
The Singapore Network Information Centre Pte Ltd (SGNIC) has
launched its own domain name dispute system called the Singapore Domain Name Dispute
Resolution Policy (SDRP). The SDRP establishes a framework for resolving ".sg"
domain name disputes between a ".sg" domain name registrant and any party other
than SGNIC. The framework is based on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN) Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, and is consistent with the
World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) guidelines on "country code Top Level
Domains (ccTLDs) Best Practices for the Prevention and Resolution of Intellectual Property
Disputes". SDRP will be implemented on 15 November 2001. To view the press release
click here, or for more information click here.
Posted by Simon Ware
Monday, 12 November 2001
- Trademark
Law Revision - NTD Patent & Trademark Agency
NTD Patent & Trdemark Agency Ltd report that the revised Trademark Law
for China was adopted on October 27,2001, which shall enter into force as of December 1,
2001.
"The revised Trademark Law contains eight chapters with 64 Articles in total, which
includes General Provisions, Applications for Trademark Registration, Examination for and
Approval of Trademark Registration, Renewal, Assignment and Licensing of Registered
Trademarks, Adjudication of Disputes Concerning Registered Trademarks, Administration of
the Use of the Trademarks, Protection of the Exclusive Rights to Use Registered Trademarks
and Supplementary Provisions.
Comparing with the second draft of the Trademark Law, the revised Trademark Law has made
necessary amendments in following aspects: protection for origin place as certification
trademark; co-registrant for a trademark; the trademark user being responsible for the
quality of goods bearing the mark; the identifications that cannot be used as trademark;
the basic standard for acknowledgement of well-known trademark; the final adjudication of
opposition in the procedure of trademark registration; preemptive registration and prior
rights; the modification for filing and registration documents; the term for applying for
trademark disputes; strengthening the enforcement of law; the compensation liability for
persons selling infringing goods but not knowing the same; the right and procedure in
preservation of evidences before trial; the legal liability for State functionary working
for trademark registration, administration and review."
For more information, click here.
Posted by Simon Ware
- IP
MENU Update
IP MENU has updated the following - IP Resources - IP Software, IP Firms - Germany, IP Firms - China, IP Firms - Hong Kong, IP Firms - Italy, IP Firms - Spain, IP Firms - United Arab Emirates, IP Firms - Belgium, IP Firms - United Kingdom, IP Firms - France, IP Firms - Portugal, IP Firms - Japan, IP Firms - USA - New York, and IP Firms - USA - Conneticuit.
Posted by Matthew Downing and Simon Ware
Friday, 9 November 2001
- WIPO
- Seminar on International Classifications of Goods and Services
WIPO will hold a seminar on Friday, January 25, 2002 covering
innovations which were brought to the Nice Classification last year will change
fundamentally, inter alia, the classification of many services. It is thus essential to
direct the public in the implementing of those changes on January 1, 2002.
The Seminar will deal primarily with these innovations, such as the three new classes of
services established out of Class 42 of the seventh edition of the Nice Classification, as
well as with issues in classifying goods and services relating to the Internet and retail
store services. The aim of the seminar is to impart to users a better comprehension of the
eighth edition of the Nice Classification and of its utilization. It is open to all those
working in the field of the registration of marks, whether in industry, in the private
sector or in national offices. For more information, click here.
Posted by Simon Ware
Thursday, 8 November 2001
Wednesday, 7 November 2001
- Melbourne Cup
You may have noticed there was no news yesterday (Tuesday).
This was because of a very famous horse race. The "Melbourne Cup" is a
tradition in Australia, and so much so in my home town Melbourne that we have a public
holiday. Yes, that is right - a holiday because of a horse race! For those
interested the result of the great race was:
First - Ethereal
Second - Give The Slip
Third - Persian Punch
Unfortunately, I think my horse is still running!
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- Employment
Opportunity - Information Scientist
Greater Detroit, MI Area (USD$55,000 - 70,000)
Stephanie Ethier of Xavier Associates has informed me of an employment opportunity that
may be of interest to one of our readers:
"Our client, employing nearly 12,000 people internationally, with a $4.7
billion R&D budget, is the research and development division of a global
pharmaceutical company. Their purpose is to continually expand the pharmaceutical and
animal health product development pipelines. These pipelines are already considered the
strongest in the world, and are well known for producing dozens of breakthrough drugs.
Our client has immediate openings for highly motivated and energetic individuals
specializing in the fields of patents, molecular biology and biomedical information.
Job Description:
Candidates will perform detailed biosequence and text based prior art and infringement
searches utilizing STN or Dialog. Additionally, candidates will be expected to analyze,
sort, and package results to clients' specifications. Content is analyzed for competitive
intelligence, patent infringement, and how this information can benefit the company. Using
strong interpersonal skills, the Information Scientist will interact with peers,
scientists, attorneys, and management.
Requirements:
· MS in Molecular Biology or related field preferred
· Minimum of two years experience in the pharmaceutical industry is
required
· Strong set of computer software skills
· Prior literature/patent searching experience
Benefits:
Excellent benefits; relocation assistance available
Location Information:
· All of the amenities of a big city such as a symphony, cultural and
arts events
· Population of 150,000
· Very "green" - lots of parks
· Detroit one hour away so sports events are accessible
· Top school system"
For further information on this position please contact Stephanie Ethier, Research
Associate of Xavier Associates (508/230-9699), email sethier@xavierassociates.com
- PIUG
Annual Meeting - Call for Papers
Lucy Akers, the Chair of PIUG has called for papers relating to Japanese patent
information. The next PIUG annual meeting is scheduled for April 20-24, 2002 in Berkeley,
(California - USA), with a Pacific Rim theme. The Tuesday (23 April), will be dedicated to
topics relating to Japanese patent information. If there is anyone interested in
delivering a presentation on Tuesday, please submit an abstract, title, together with your
contact information & biography (mini-CV) directly to ltakers@btopenworld.com for consideration as a
potential speaker. Abstracts must be received by 15 December 2001. Lucy has provided some
sample topics: (a) Practical Tips for Japanese Patent Info. Research (e.g. methods for
online searching,a voiding nomenclature and date related issues / pitfalls, etc.) and (b)
Japanese Legal Status Information Sources (e.g. Patolis, Inpadoc, PlusPat, etc.). All
presentations will be given in the English language. If you are interested in presenting,
please contact Lucy Akers.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- USPTO Issues Consumer Alert
Issued 6 November 2001 - "An entity or person issuing a document, for
example, a "certificate," allegedly by the Chief Financial Officer of the United
States Patent and Trademark Office for payment of USPTO fees and lawyer fees is NOT
affiliated with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The United States Patent
and Trademark Office does NOT issue such "certificates." If you have any
questions, please call Richard Apley, Director of the Office of Independent Inventor
Programs at (703) 306-5568."
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- MicroPatent Offers Detailed Forward Patent Citations
I just notice this new feature on the MicroPatent site. "MicroPatent
is pleased to announce a new forward patent citation feature in PatSearch FullText,
allowing you to view and link to patents that cite the source document. This feature
integrates the patent number, issue date, assignee and title of each citing-patent
document directly into the original record". If you want to read more, please
visit the MicroPatent
site.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- DIALOG News and
Updates
DIALOG has announced several new services, full details can be found from
their pressroom.
Dialog launches Dialog Company Profiles, offering one-stop access to up-to-the-moment,
comprehensive profiles of nearly 500,000 publicly traded and privately owned companies
from 188 countries.
Dialog and the Association of Independent Information Professionals
(AIIP) jointly announce the creation of the Dialog & AIIP Search Services Referral
Program, a new business development initiative for AIIP members.
Dialog announces that the full text content of the Financial Times (FT) and its online
partner FT.com are available on Dialog products, with the 20-year archive available on
Dialog and DataStar, and a five-year archive available on Profound.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Monday, 5 November 2001
- USPTO Encourages Use
of Facsimile Transmisions
The USPTO has advised that in view of recent delays in mail delivery they
are encouraging patent office customers to communicate with the USPTO via facsimile. "Facsimile
transmissions may be used for correspondence as set forth in 37 CFR 1.6 such as:
amendments, petitions for extension of time, authorization to charge a deposit account, an
IDS, terminal disclaimers, a notice of appeal, an appeal brief, CPAs under 37 CFR 1.53(d),
and RCEs." To read more, visit the USPTO site here.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- The Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of
Industrial Designs
Extension to 25 years of the term of protection accorded by Benelux and Italy to
designs deposited internationally.
- "The International Bureau has been advised by the Italian Patent and Trademark
Office that Italian design registrations still in force on April 9, 2001, may be prolonged
up to a maximum of 25 years from the date of deposit. This extension of the maximum term
of protection from 15 to 25 years will also be applicable to international deposits having
effect in Italy." Read more at WIPO (MS Word / PDF).
- "The International Bureau has been advised by the Benelux Designs Office that
Benelux design registrations whose maximum period of validity has not expired on October
28, 2001, may as from that date be prolonged up to a maximum of 25 years from the date of
deposit. This extension of the maximum term of protection from 15 to 25 years will also be
applicable to international deposits having effect in Benelux." Read more at
WIPO (MS
Word / PDF).
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Friday, 2 November 2001
- Australian Innovation Patent Index - Now Available
As mentioned yesterday, IP MENU have created the "Australian Innovation
Patent Index" database which provides bibliographic information on all Australian
Innovation Patents. The Australian
Patent Office (IP Australia)
currently do not have this information online (due to ongoing database restructuring), and
the only way to access this information previously has been via the subscription CD-Rom
products. This is the first time this information has been made freely available
online. We source the data directly from the AU-I CDRoms and it is updated
weekly. It is important to note that IP MENU's "Australian Innovation Patent
Index" is not an official database of IP Australia and is supplied free of charge,
"as is" for all users of IP MENU. We will shortly be placing a form on the
site to allow users to obtain (for free) electronic copies of innovation patent
specification, however in the mean time if you require a copy of an innovation patent,
please email me with the patent number and I
will respond as soon as I can.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- Canada
- Note from CIPO
Corrections To The Patent Office Record - Due to a scheduling
error, the information contained in the Canadian Patent Office Record Volume 129 edition
Nos. 41 and 42 (October 9, 2001; October 16; 2001) was not published on the proper dates.
We have corrected the information and on October 24 replaced the erroneous copies with new
versions.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- Dialog Adds Australian Content from Publisher John Fairfax
Although this is slightly off the IP topic, I'd thought I'd let you know
that the Dialog Corporation has announced that it has added 10 Australian newspapers and
periodicals published by John Fairfax Holdings Limited to its already extensive
collection. You can read the full press release here.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- Update
on Derwent Polymer Indexing Training
An update on the Derwent training news from 26 October 2001. Training
will be in Texas from 14-15 November. Repost - Derwent Information Americas will be
conducting a course on How to Search Derwent's Polymer Indexing. "Derwent's
Polymer Indexing - Derwent has created a powerful indexing system to help you find patents
on polymers with particular structures, modifications, preparation, properties and uses.
Searching by indexing routinely finds relevant patents that are otherwise not retrievable.
This course will teach you what is covered by the indexing, and how to use it".
Derwent recommned that searchers who commonly need to find patents on polymers for their
technical information or legal information content and subscribe to Derwent's Polymer
Indexing should attend. Contact Donald Walter, Manager, Customer Training at Derwent
Information Americas (telephone 703 519 5820 fax 703 519 583) or at Don.Walter@derwentus.com.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- Correction
- "French Trademark Searching...."
Steve van Dulken from the British Library (who has much better
French than me!) has written to let me know that the Societe.com French Trademark database
that I mentioned yesterday is not in fact free. Steve tells me that they charge 8
francs per trade mark. Thanks Steve for the info.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
Thursday, 1 November 2001
- IP Menu Innovates!
Every now and then it is nice to "be" the news, rather
than just report it. Tomorrow IP
MENU will be making a bit of it's own news with the launch of the Australian
Innovation Patent Index. As you may recall, earlier this year Australia
introduced a new form of patent protection call an Innovation Patent. Unfortunately, with the current
redevelopments of the patent database at IP Australia, the data for Innovation Patents has not been included on
IP Australia's online PatAdmin database. So unless you subscribe to the CDROM AU-I
product, searching Innovation Patent information is not possible. How does IP MENU
fit in? Well, quite simply IP MENU has created the Australian Innovation Patent
Index - a simple bibliographic database providing details of Australian Innovation
Patents. The data is sourced from the AU-I CDROMs which are issued weekly.
This will provide access to innovation patent information for those who do not subscribe
the CDROM product. Oh, and I forgot to mention - it is completely free.
We will also provide free access to innovation patent specifications (just finalising the
tech side of that). Please visit again tomorrow and we will provide information
about how to access the database.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- French Trademark Searching for Free
I have recently discovered that Societe.com provides free trademark searches
for French trademarks. Unfortunately, I don't read French so I can not add any
further information about the service at this stage. If anyone out there cares of
help out with their linguisitic talents, I will happily post a review here.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
- Wisdomain
- Focust - Search/Citation/Anlaysis
Many of you will already be familar with PatentLab-II. PatentLab-II is a free
software to analyze patent data downloaded from the Delphion Intellectual Property
Network. Well, the company behind PatentLab-II are also behind "Focust -
Comprehensive system for maximizing patent value". "Our Focust is a suite of
integrated solutions and services that help companies derive tangible results from
intangible assets in the new economy. Through Focust, companies can realize the full value
of patents and take the right actions. Be innovative with your innovation assets!
Wisdomain brings you new opportunities that you have not yet recognized".
Wisdomain Focust consists of the Search Module, the Citation Module and the Analysis
Module:
Focust - Search Module - "As the basis of the entire Wisdomain Focust system, the
Search Module secures patent searching, viewing, organizing through standard browser
interface".
Focust - Citation Module - "As an integral component of Focust, the Citation
Module uncovers all references to a selected patent and shows the full-history of patent
citation relationships to help you mainly in; Finding new lines of revenue from holding
patents; Identifying the way to cope with unexpected patent infringement lawsuit; Seeking
external business partners to market faster and to avoid risks".
Focust - Analysis Module - "In combination with the Search Module, the Analysis
Module - by leveraging the full value of patents - helps companies gain the overall
technical intelligence to create a sustainable market advantage in their business
environments. This powerful module provides two flexible interfaces to satisfy both online
and offline analysis requirements".
To find out more about Focust or PatentLab-II, visit Wisdomain.
Posted by Rodney Cruise.
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![main00[1].gif (6424 bytes)](images/main001.gif){kind=small}
The Japanese Patent Office has
just released A Report Presented by the Intellectual Property Committee of the Industrial
Structure Council. You can find the 
The Industrial Design Office of the
Canadian Intellectual Property Office is now inviting any interested person to submit
comments by February 28, 2002 concerning Proposed Industrial Design Amendments for an IP
Law Improvement Bill. You can obtain the following documents from the CIPO website: