RE: [PIUG List] Should PTO add patent status to patent database?

In a bureaucracy, nothing is trivial. It's more complicated for the
USPTO to modify its information dissemination systems than simply
determining that the public would be better served by providing links
among its various information collections. And let's not forget that
they're already providing a free full text search service, assignment
information, and the PAIR prosecution records to the public - incredible
improvements over what they provided only a few years ago.

 

The Federal Government's information dissemination policy is set forth
in O.M.B. Circular A130,

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a130/a130trans4.html. Tucked
away in the circular is the idea that the information doesn't have to be
provided to the general public in its most useable form, as long as it's
available at a reasonable cost, and that entities other than the Federal
Government (including the private sector) can make the information
available to the public. It's reasonable to ask for a fully integrated
USPTO information service, but I don't think it's high on their list of
prioirities.

 

Edlyn Simmons

 

________________________________

From: Michael White [mailto:mwihkiete_at_yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 10:06 AM
To: PIUG Discussion List @ Listbox
Subject: Re: [PIUG List] Should PTO add patent status to patent
database?

 

The exchange of information for patent rights is at the heart of the
modern patent system. In fact, if information about patents is difficult
and expensive to obtain, the public, inventors and businesses will lose
confidence in the system. This has been one of the themes touched on in
recent books such as Patent Failure and Innovation and Its Discontents
that criticize current US patent laws. I would argue then that patent
offices have a moral obligation and legal responsibility to disseminate
patent information to the public in the most effective, efficient and
economical manner possible. The playing field should be level so that
everyone has the same access to patent information. This is reflected in
the current mission statement of the USPTO, which includes the goal of
"delivering IP information and education worldwide", as well as various
statutes and regulations.

This is nothing new. Thomas Jefferson suggested in the early 1790s that
inventors should publish at their own expense notices of their patent
rights in federal court gazettes. He also proposed that patent documents
and other technical publications be made available to the public in a
national patent library. Nineteenth century patent commissioners, such
as Gen. Leggett (1871-1874), took a lot of flak for their efforts to
disseminate patent information. Leggett oversaw the first large-scale
printing of patent specifications (made possible by the development of
photolithography) and the introduction of the Official Gazette in the
early 1870s. He was accused of wasting inventors' money, naiviety and
even fraud. It's interesting to note that some private publishers
applauded these initiatives. The Scientific American, which published
patent abstracts and served as a kind of unofficial gazette from the
1840s-1860s, enthusiastically supported the OG. In one editorial it even
suggested that the OG would reduce examiners' workloads, as every
applicant would be expected to consult the OG and only apply for patents
on truly novel inventions.

The development of increasingly powerful and inexpensive ICT has been
the greatest boon to the dissemination of patent information since the
invention of photolithographic printing 150 years ago. Should patent
offices take full advantage of ICT, open source software and the web to
disseminate patent information. Absolutely. And these systems should
meet current standards in functionality and design, e.g. PDF as the
default standard for sharing electronic documents, faceted searching,
etc.

Should the USPTO include patent status information, fee payments, etc.
in its web-based patent databases? Of course. I suspect that the reason
it hasn't taken steps to do so already has a lot of it has to do with
old-fashioned bureacratic inertia, a hardened silo-and-stovepipe
organizational structure and other, more urgent, priorities. The
infrastructure for handling the various types of information generated
by the patent system has grown up over decades. Like many government
agencies, I think the USPTO has had a difficult time modernizing its
legacy systems and historical workflows.

Mike White

 

----- Original Message ----
From: Gregory Aharonian <srctran_at_TheWorld.com>
To: "PIUG Discussion List @ Listbox"
<piug_discussion_list_at_v2.listbox.com>
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2008 1:39:42 PM
Subject: [PIUG List] Should PTO add patent status to patent database?


I have two suggestions which I have to beleive are trivial to
implement:

    1) The patent full text database available from the PTO
    should indicate whether the patent is still active, i.e.,
    the assignee has paid the latest maintenance fee.

    2) For any U.S. patent application that has issued as a
    patent, the returned text data for the patent application
    should have a hyperlink for the corresponding issued patent.

I am sure others have the pet peeves, and maybe PIUG should make
a list and formally present it to the Patent Office. The PTO
search engines have always been retarded, decades behind real
search technology. But some of these fixes don't even require
new search engines, just a bit of ingenuity.

Greg Aharonian


-------------------------------------------
PIUG -- Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary

PIUG Discussion List @ Listbox
List owner: Patent Information Users' Group Inc., http://www.piug.org
List rules and guidelines: http://www.piug.org/list.php
List admins: piug_discussion_list-owner(at)v2(dot)listbox(dot)com

Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?&

 

________________________________

PIUG -- Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary

PIUG Discussion List @ Listbox
List owner: Patent Information Users' Group Inc., http://www.piug.org
<http://www.piug.org/>
List rules and guidelines: http://www.piug.org/list.php
List admins: piug_discussion_list-owner(at)v2(dot)listbox(dot)com

Modify
<https://www.listbox.com/member/?&
533a1> Your Subscription

 <http://www.listbox.com>

 




-------------------------------------------
PIUG -- Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary

PIUG Discussion List @ Listbox
List owner: Patent Information Users' Group Inc., http://www.piug.org
List rules and guidelines: http://www.piug.org/list.php
List admins: piug_discussion_list-owner(at)v2(dot)listbox(dot)com

Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=11140=
452&id_secret=110880373-a9001b

Received on Tue Aug 26 2008 - 17:50:13