Espacenet Assistant: a free resource to learn about patent information, search techniques, and more

The Espacenet Assistant is a new tool on the Espacenet site that aims to help users understand patent information, search basics, and new features within Espacenet itself. Available in English, German, and French, the tool is user friendly and easy to navigate. Especially helpful in that regard is the interface which includes a table of contents on the left side, back/forward advancement on the bottom, and web-like home/directory at the top of most pages.

From the start, the tool offers to let you take a guided tour through a large swath of information or cut to the chase with a listing of “crash courses” that get to the meat of a specific topic of information.

The “crash course” system allows users to learn at their own pace and review previous material.

European Unitary Patent: A Quick Primer

The European Unitary Patent has been a long time coming (depending on who you ask)! In any case, the process to get us where we are today has been a lenghty one. The reality of a European Union-centric patent may seem obvious to outsiders, following the economic ties generated by the creation of the EU, but the unitary patent has long been a subject of contention.

The European Patent Convention (EPC) of 1973 is the origin of the current “EP” patent administered by the European Patent Office. This patent provides protection in the member states (and extension states) party to the EPC.

The new unitary patent will live alongside the traditional “EP” patent as an option, according to the European Patent Office:

A unitary patent will be a European patent granted by the EPO under the provisions of the European Patent Convention to which unitary effect for the territory of the 25 participating states is given after grant, at the patentee’s request. The unitary patent will thus not affect the EPO’s day-to-day search, examination and granting work.

Search Resource Round-Up: EAST Training Package, 7 New Patent Translate Languages, and SureChem Direct!

Intellogist isn’t able to hand out candy during Halloween, but we do have some treats ready.  Instead of candy corn (who needs more of that, anyways?) we have a variety of useful patent search resources for you to sink your teeth into.  During a recent foray onto the USPTO website, I noticed that there was now an introductory training package available for EAST (Examiner Automated Search Tool), so we’ll take a quick look at this helpful learning resource.  Patent search professionals are constantly on the lookout for updates to both free and subscription patent search tools which may improve their prior art searches, so I was excited to hear about two such updates: the recent release of the chemical patent search product SureChemDirect and the addition of seven languages to the Patent Translate tool on Espacenet.

Continue reading for a round-up of patent search news and resources: the EAST training package, SureChemDirect, and the new languages on Patent Translate!

The EP-O’-Lantern

The European Patent Office (EPO) is a central cog in the intellectual property community, and according to the EPO website, it “offers inventors a uniform application procedure which enables them to seek patent protection in up to 40 European countries.”  The EPO contributes a wide range of valuable search and classification tools for both EP and international patent documents:

• Merger of INPADOC records and the EPO’s own master bibliographic file in 2007 to create the INPADOC/DOCDB database, which covers about 95 patenting authorities.
• The free online search service for EP and worldwide patent documents, Espacenet.
• The official register of legal status information for the EPO, the European Patent Register.
• The ECLA classification system, designed in-house by the EPO as an enhancement to the IPC classification system, which was frozen in July 2012 and will soon be replaced by the Cooperative Patent Classification (a joint effort between the USPTO and EPO).

These contributions are just scratching the surface of the deep wealth of knowledge and resources which the EPO has contributed to the patent search field.  As a small tribute to this fantastic organization, I’d like to create a Jack-o’-lantern in its honor (last year the USPTO got its own David Kapp-o’-lantern).

The easiest way to create an EP-O’-Lantern is to simply carve the EPO logo…

Logo for the European Patent Office.

…onto the face of a pumpkin:

The EP-O’-Lantern.

After the jump, see the EP-O’-Lantern lit up for Halloween night!

Candy ECLA Classifications

Soon the EPO will bid a fond farewell to the European Classification System (ECLA), which has already been frozen as of July 2012 and will soon be replaced by the  Cooperative Patent Classification System (CPC).  The full rollout for the CPC is January 1, 2013, but the EPO and USPTO have already released the complete CPC scheme, some finalized CPC definitions and an ECLA-to-CPC-to-IPC concordance in a recent “CPC launch package.”  Professional patent searchers will need to stay familiar with ECLA, since important patent prior art may have ECLA classification which will serve as a useful search tool.  Just in time for Halloween, let’s take a look at the sweetest ECLA classes, as well as some of the patents classified with these candy-themed codes!

After the jump, sample the sugariest ECLA class and sub-classes!

Patent Search Updates from the EPO: New Features on Espacenet and the Full Scheme of the CPC

Where do you get your EPO news? There are plenty of choices to pick from: you can subscribe to an RSS feed for news or website updates, receive a bimonthly e-mail newsletter, or simply check the EPO website directly for news on important patent search and classification products created by the EPO, such as the free online patent search system Espacenet and the upcoming Cooperative Patent Classification system (CPC).  The EPO  recently announced updates to both of these products, so I’ll give you a brief run-down of the newest features on Espacenet and exciting news about the release of the CPC scheme and some definitions prior to the full January 1, 2013 rollout. Prior art searchers use Espacenet on a regular basis as a free source of global patent data, and the CPC will soon replace ECLA and the USPC as the main global patent classification system.

Stay up-to-date on the latest EPO news about these crucial patent search and classification products, and continue reading for a summary of recent Espacenet updates and a sneak peak at the CPC!

Database Update Round-Up – European Patent Register and DWPI

Previously, we looked at updates to the Global Brand Database, SciFinder, and Google Patents, and today I have a fresh round of updates about two important resources for any patent professional: the European Patent Register and the Derwent World Patent Index (DWPI). The European Patent Register (formerly known as Register Plus) is the official register of legal status information for the European Patent Office, and it was recently updated in April with a variety of new features, bug fixes, and changes to both the user interface and back-end system.  Derwent World Patents Index® (DWPI) is a file of patent information produced by Thomson Reuters that “sources patent data from 47 patent-issuing authorities and 2 journal sources,” and the file contains many value-added special indexing features, including Derwent Titles and Abstracts, Derwent Assignee Codes, Derwent Families, Derwent Classes, Derwent Manual Codes, and Chemical Fragmentation Codes.  The DWPI file is available on numerous platforms, including Dialog, STN, and Thomson Innovation.  STN recently added numerical search options for the DWPI file, and DWPI has been discontinued on the Delphion platform.

After the jump, learn about the new features and interface changes to the European Patent Register, and we’ll also look at the new numerical search features for DWPI on STN and discontinuation of the file on Delphion.

Free Customizable Patent Citation Lists Through the CCD

In a past blog post, I looked at some of the notable features of the  Common Citation Document (CCD), a free tool where you can view citations from the EPO, USPTO, JPO, and PCT for entire patent families related to a specific patent application. Check out the first blog post for an overview of CCD coverage, search, and display features; you’ll be impressed by the wide range of functions offered by the tool, including multiple panes for viewing lists and patent documents simultaneously and a timeline visualization feature for viewing the timespan for a collection of citations.  One of the most noteworthy traits of the CCD is its customization options for viewing information.  The CCD allows you to control the flow of information and the final output of the citation data, so you are only viewing the data that is relevant to you.  Whether you are a patent examiner who wants a detailed list of citations in the format of a PCT international search report, or you’re a patent searcher looking for a simple, direct list of related prior art, the CCD offers viewing options that meet many types of user needs.

Continue reading to learn about the flexible options for viewing patent citation data on the CCD!

An Incredible Free Patent Citation Search and Analysis Tool: The CCD

Citation search and analysis tools are available in many subscription patent databases; PatBase allows users to view both patent and non-patent literature citations for entire patent families, and users can view the citations graphically through “citation trees.” A July 2011 update to PatBase added the additional features of a citation timeline and citation line graph.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if there was a patent citation tool, with similar functions to the PatBase citation features, that was also free?  Thanks to the EPO, JPO, and USPTO, such a tool now exists.  The Common Citation Document (CCD) allows users to view documents cited by the EPO, USPTO, JPO, and PCT citations for patent families related to a specific patent application.  The CCD application includes the capability to view full-text of cited patent documents, the division of cited documents in a list by source of citation and connection to a specific patent application, the category of relevance for EPO citations,  a compilation of “classifications and fields searched” for an entire patent family, and a timeline view to illustrate the time span for a collection of citations.

Read on for a detailed description of the coverage, features, and functions of the CCD application!

Update on Cooperative Patent Classification

It’s a little more than a year away, and it’s going to change patent information in a big way.

What is it?

It’s the Cooperative Patent Classification.

Last week the European Patent Office (EPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched a homepage for the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC). This important milestone denotes progress on this giant and important project that we continue to be excited about.

Read along as we tell you the state of the CPC, why it’s important, and where we’re headed!