Patent News Sources: Patent Information News from the EPO

The patent information industry is a swift and deep river of information. There’s so much new info every day that one needs to come up with a plan just to stay abreast of the state of the profession. On the other hand, each distinct topic and subtopic could be delved into for days to years at a time. Consider Alien Property Custodian documents or F-Index/F-Terms — both subjects that are steeped in patent history and varying degrees of present-day relevance that can help one understand this industry.

With that in mind, in addition to Intellogist, it helps to have a variety of current awareness sources at hand with which to better navigate this information river.

Today I’ll be telling you a little bit about the Patent Information News publication from the European Patent Office (EPO). I’ll tell you what it comprises and why you should be following this free information source. Read on as we examine the Patent Information News!

Unified Patent Classification One Step Closer to Reality

In an effort under the IP5 forum (Five IP Offices) banner, the European Patent Office (EPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have agreed to move forward on jointly developing a unified patent classification system based on the European Classification system (ECLA). The EPO was tasked with the project of Common Hybrid Classification as one of the ten IP5 projects. We previously covered the Common Search and Examination Support Tools project under the USPTO’s stewardship from the same forum. For more on what this joint patent classification system could mean, read on!

One Search System to Rule Them All

Does it sound ideal or dystopian that there may be a unified worldwide patent system in our future? Some believe the first step to such a system is the international collaboration of the top five patenting authorities in the world. Out of the many projects underway, one relates to more advanced and standardized patent search systems for examiners. What might this unified search system look like? What should it look like?