Free Search of Full-Text Indian Patents through the Improved IPAIRS 2.0 Portal

Back in November 2010, we looked the Indian Patent Information Retrieval System (IPAIRS), a search portal offered by the Indian Patent Office. We concluded that although IPAIRS is a useful free source to have access to, the site has a number of coverage and reliability problems, and users should rely on professional patent search services to obtain the most thorough and comprehensive results for prior art searches of any kind. IPAIRS Version 2.0 was released in April 2012, so how does this updated portal compare to the old version of the system?

The 2.0 interface includes a number of new and updated features, according to the “All about Patents” Blog:

The new search fields that have been added to expand the functionalities of the database are “Applicant Address”, “Inventor Address”, Journal Number (U/S 43(2)), PCT Application number and International classification. Similar to the integrated view of Espacenet, IPAIRS Version 2.0 allows one to view not only the complete specification of a specific patent but also valuable information of the patent on eRegister, Prosecution history and controller decision in a single window.

A patent agent search option is also integrated into the new version of the portal.  Despite these new updates, however, I still encountered some glitches while conducting searches and viewing records through the IPAIRS interface.  After the jump, learn about my experiences with IPAIRS 2.0!

Full Text Searching for Indian Patents and Application on MCPaIRS

India is a growing player in the international patent market, and the expanding partial and full-text coverage of Indian patent documents in major patent search systems reflects this increased importance. A quick look at the Intellogist Patent Coverage Map lists full-text coverage of Indian patent documents on major systems like PatBase, Orbit.com, and TotalPatent.  We’ve also discussed smaller search systems that exclusively cover Indian patent documents (with full-text, partial text, and bibliographic coverage), such as CIPIS, iPairs, India BigPatents, and First Indian Patent Searchable Database Ekaswa. A new search system known as MCPaIRS is now available online that offers users full-text access to Indian patent applications and granted patents, as well as legal status information. This search system is the first example that I’ve seen of a commercial database with a very user-friendly interface that exclusively covers full-text Indian patent documents.

Read on to learn more about the search and viewing features and subscription options for the full-text Indian patent database MCPaIRS!

Free Asian Patent Searching Information from the EPO Virtual Helpdesk

Here at Intellogist, we’ve always prided ourselves on reaching out to the global patent community. As part of this we’ve done many posts on one of the fastest growing patent regions: Asia. In the past few months alone we’ve done posts commenting on translations, chemical and sequence searching in China, and lessons learned from PATINEX 2011 in Korea.

Our sponsor, Landon IP knows that it’s more important than ever to incorporate Asian sources into any prior art search, and not just stick to the same old US and EP databases that English language searchers might be used to.

Intellogist reflects this belief, with resources such as the Interactive Patent Coverage Map for finding patent information around the world. Our Community Reports page is another great place to find niche search systems and tools; check out our China Patent Search tagged articles for example.

With this global focus in mind, let’s take a look at one of our favorite Asian patent information resources on the web: the EPO’s Asian Patent Information Virtual Helpdesk.

Read on to find out about how the Virtual Helpdesk can assist you with finding answers to your common questions, information about grant procedure and numbering, statistics on filing, and even a starter for your next patent search.

Pros and Cons of CIPIS: Search for Indian Patents, Designs, and Trademarks

Here at Intellogist, we’ve made an effort to locate as many possible sources for Indian patent, design, and trademark coverage as possible.  Patent searchers need access to a variety of search systems covering similar patent data, in case the data coverage of one system is lacking and an alternative system must be searched.  We’ve compiled a list of India Patent Search systems in our Community Reports section, we’ve located available sources of India patent coverage on the Interactive Patent Coverage Map, and we’ve written a post on the free Indian patent search systems India BigPatents and First Indian Patent Searchable Database Ekaswa.  In today’s post, we’ll take a closer look at CIPIS (Clairvolex Intellectual Property Information Services), a subscription-based online search and monitoring system for Indian patent applications, granted patents, designs and trademarks.

CIPIS is a product of Clairvolex Knowledge Processes Pvt. Ltd., and non-registered users can search the website through the Quick, Advanced, or Expert search forms for each database and view the hit list for the first four or five results.  Users must be registered to access the full result lists and full-record views.  Additional services, such as ordering full-text documents, file wrappers, and monitoring of document legal status, are also available through the CIPIS system.  The Intellogist Blog recently had the opportunity to test the Patent and Design databases in CIPIS, so read on to learn about the pros and cons of the system’s  search functions, display features, and data coverage!

Indian Patent Search: Alternatives

India is a fast growing economy with a fast growing appetite for intellectual property. We explored this issue last year with our profile of the iPairs system (a must read). On the other hand, several commercial patent search systems such as PatBase, the Questel/Orbit systems, TotalPatent, and CIPIS offer different levels of Indian patent coverage to go along with their respective features and interfaces.

What if you’ve taken a look at these options and they’ve left you wanting? Today we’ll look at India BigPatents and First Indian Patent Searchable Database Ekaswa, two interesting (and free) alternatives for your Indian patent searching needs.

Join us as we look to see if these Indian patent searching systems are worth checking out!

Gear Grinder #1: Complaints in the Patent World

Introductory Note: Welcome to “Gear Grinder with Danny Rooney,” our new blog series. This post is based on a fictitious character, and readers should be aware of the underlying snark and sarcasm. Just think of it as a way to have fun and let loose with some frustrations with life as a patent professional. We know you can relate!

Welcome to the Gear Grinder, where I hope to not only emulate my old curmudgeon third uncle Andy, but far surpass him. My fifth cousin Wayne had a glowing review of what I plan to do: he said, “It’s alright like!” In case you haven’t guessed, I plan on talking about the fabulous world of patents, not the boring old world of real life. Stay tuned and hear the first gear grind from the horse’s mouth…not that I’m a horse. It’s a doozy about working with different patent search systems.

Updated Patent Coverage on PatBase

Update: This post has been edited to reflect that PatBase is jointly operated by Minesoft and RWS Group.

As part of their recent system update (which went final on December 1st), Minesoft and RWS Group’s patent search system PatBase has touted their improved country coverage. These changes are ongoing, unlike the feature changes we covered in a previous blog post. Today we’ll take a look at some of the more interesting improvements.

Including more coverage is always a positive development for a patent search system (unless the data is corrupt or inaccurate). That being said, certain coverage serves to merely catch up to the competitive standard while other coverage nips at the heels of the state of the art or even pushes the envelope of patent coverage itself. Many systems are seeking to add more complete coverage for emerging markets such as BRICK (Brazil, Russia, India, China, Korea, and the many variants of this term). Mirroring economic development, these countries are the next frontier of patenting activity and thus are an essential part of a worldwide prior art search, a detail captured by the international and multi-lingual patent search team at Landon IP.

Read on to find out how the recent PatBase updates have impacted a couple of these key countries as well as an old standard collection!

The Indian Patent Information Retrieval System

India is an exploding market for intellectual property. Patent applications are exceeding 30,000 per year (see page 9) and this number is sure to erupt as Indian patent law reforms and becomes more easily enforceable. To keep up with demand, the Indian Patent Office has been revamped. As part of this new-look Indian Patent Office, the Indian Patent Information Retrieval System (also known as IPAIRS, iPairs or iPAIRS depending on what part of the site you look at) was established in early 2010.

iPairs has three main components: Granted Patent Search, Published Patent Application Search, and Application Status. Patent search for both granted and published applications includes bibliographic and abstract searching, while Application Status provides various legal status documents akin to a file history. Read on for more details!

Interactive Patent Coverage Map Update

Over on Intellogist, we’ve made an extensive update to our Interactive Patent Coverage Map. This tool allows you to click on a country to quickly find the known patent search systems which have been evaluated by Intellogist to determine coverage. Patent search systems are sorted by the type of coverage they offer (e.g., full text, bibliographic, etc.). Links to the country’s official patent authority are provided where possible and we’ve even provided information about any associated regional patenting authorities (especially helpful when there is no known electronic coverage of the country’s national patent collection).

In our recent update we’ve added several regional patent search sites as well as updated the information for a number of national intellectual property offices. There were over 20 countries updated, so read on to find out the latest in regional patent search sites!