The purpose of INID Codes ("INID" is an acronym for "Internationally agreed Numbers for the Identification of (bibliographic) Data") is to provide a means whereby the various data appearing on the first page of patent and like documents or in patent gazettes can be identified without knowledge of the language used and the laws applied. They are now used by most patent offices and have been applied to U.S. patents since August 4, 1970. Some of the codes are not pertinent to the documents of a particular country and some which are pertinent may, in fact, not be used. INID codes for industrial designs are similar to, but not identical to, those used for patents and like documents. INID codes for industrial designs are provided separately below.
(10) Identification of the patent, SPC or patent document
°(11) Number of the patent, SPC or patent document
°(12) Plain language designation of the kind of document
°(13) Kind of document code according to WIPO Standard ST.16
°(15) Patent correction information
°°(19) WIPO Standard ST.3 code, or other identification, of the office or organization publishing the document
Notes:
(i) For an SPC, data regarding the basic patent should be coded by using code (68).
(ii) °° Minimum data element for patent documents only.
(iii) With the proviso that when data coded (11) and (13), or (19), (11) and (13), are used together and on a single line, category (10) can be used, if so desired.
(20) Data concerning the application for a patent or SPC
°(21) Number(s) assigned to the application(s), e.g., "Numéro d’enregistrement national," "Aktenzeichen"
°(22) Date(s) of filing the application(s)
°(23) Other date(s), including date of filing complete specification following provisional specification and date of exhibition
(24) Date from which industrial property rights may have effect
(25) Language in which the published application was originally filed
(26) Language in which the application is published
Notes:
(i) Attention is drawn to the Appendix 3 of WIPO Standard ST. 9 which contains information on the term of protection and on the date from which industrial property rights referred to under code (24) may have effect.
(ii) The language under code (25) and (26) should be indicated by using the two-letter language symbol according to International Standard ISO 639:1988.
(30) Data relating to priority under the Paris Convention and other agreement not specifically provided for elsewhere
°(31) Number(s) assigned to priority application(s)
°(32) Date(s) of filing of priority application(s)
°(33) WIPO Standard ST.3 code identifying the national industrial property office allotting the priority application number or the organization allotting the regional priority application number; for international applications filed under the PCT, the code "WO" is to be used
(34) For priority filings under regional or international arrangements, the WIPO Standard ST.3 code identifying at least one country party to the Paris Convention for which the regional or international application was made
Notes:
(i) With the proviso that when data coded (31), (32), and (33) are presented together, category (30) can be used, if so desired. If an ST.3 code identifying a country for which a regional or international application was made is published, it should be identified as such using INID Code (34) and should be presented separately from elements coded (31), (32) and (33) or (30).
(ii) The presentation of priority application numbers should be as recommended in WIPO Standards ST.10/C and in ST.34.
(40) Date(s) of making available to the public
°°(41) Date of making available to the public by viewing, or copying on request, an unexamined patent document, on which no grant has taken place on or before the said date
°°(42) Date of making available to the public by viewing, or copying on request, an examined patent document, on which no grant has taken place on or before the said date
°°(43) Date of making available to the public by printing or similar process of an unexamined patent document, on which no grant has taken place on or before the said date
°°(44) Date of making available to the public by printing or similar process of an examined patent document, on which no grant or only a provisional grant has taken place on or before the said date
°°(45) Date of making available to the public by printing or similar process of a patent document on which grant has taken place on or before the said date
(46) Date of making available to the public the claim(s) only of a patent document
°°(47) Date of making available to the public by viewing, or copying on request, a patent document on which grant has taken place on or before the said date
°(48) Date of issuance of a corrected patent document
Note:
°°Minimum data element for patent documents only, the minimum data requirement being met by indicating the date of making available to the public the patent document concerned.
(50) Technical information
°(51) International Patent Classification or, in the case of a design patent, as referred to in subparagraph 4(c) of WIPO Standard ST.9, International Classification for Industrial Designs
(52) Domestic or national classification
°(54) Title of the invention
(56) List of prior art documents, if separate from descriptive text
(57) Abstract or claim
(58) Field of search
Notes:
(i) The presentation of the classification symbols of the International Classification for Industrial Designs should be made in accordance with paragraph 4 of WIPO Standard ST.10/C.
(ii) With regard to code (56) attention is drawn to WIPO Standard ST.14 in connection with the citation of references on the front page of patent documents and in search reports attached to patent documents.
(60) References to other legally or procedurally related domestic or previously domestic patent documents including unpublished applications therefor
°(61) Number and, if possible, filing date of the earlier application, or number of the earlier publication, or number of earlier granted patent, inventor's certificate, utility model or the like to which the present document is an addition
°(62) Number and, if possible, filing date of the earlier application from which the present patent document has been divided up
°(63) Number and filing date of the earlier application of which the present patent document is a continuation
°(64) Number of the earlier publication which is "reissued"
(65) Number of a previously published patent document concerning the same application
(66) Number and filing date of the earlier application of which the present patent document is a substitute, i.e., a later application filed after the abandonment of an earlier application for the same invention
(67) Number and filing date of a patent application, or number of a granted patent, on which the present utility model application or registration (or a similar industrial property right, such as a utility certificate or utility innovation) is based
(68) For an SPC, number of the basic patent and/or, where appropriate, the publication number of the patent document
Notes:
(i) Priority data should be coded in category (30).
(ii) Code (65) is intended primarily for use by countries in which the national laws require that republication occur at various procedural stages under different publication numbers and these numbers differ from the basic application numbers.
(iii) Category code (60) should be used by countries which were previously part of another entity for identifying bibliographic data elements relating to applications or grants of patents which data had initially been announced by the industrial property office of that entity.
(70) Identification of parties concerned with the patent or SPC
°°(71) Name(s) of applicant(s)
(72) Name(s) of inventor(s) if known to be such
°°(73) Name(s) of grantee(s), holder(s), assignee(s) or owner(s)
(74) Name(s) of attorney(s) or agent(s)
°°(75) Name(s) of inventor(s) who is (are) also applicant(s)
°°(76) Names(s) of inventor(s) who is (are) also applicant(s) and grantee(s)
Notes:
(i) °°For patent documents for which grant has taken place on or before the date of making available to the public, and gazette entries relating thereto, the minimum data requirement is met by indicating the grantee, and for other documents by indication of the applicant.
(ii) (75) and (76) are intended primarily for use by countries in which the national laws require that the inventor and applicant be normally the same. In other cases (71) or (72) or (71), (72) and (73) should generally be used.
(80) Identification of data related to International Conventions other than the Paris Convention and to legislation
(90) with respect to SPC’s
(81) Designated State(s) according to the PCT
(83) Information concerning the deposit of microorganisms, e.g., under the Budapest Treaty
(84) Designated Contracting States under regional patent conventions
(85) Date of commencement of the national phase pursuant to PCT Article 23(l) or 40(l)
(86) Filing data of the PCT international application, i.e., international filing date, international application number, and, optionally, the language in which the published international application was originally filed
(87) Publication data of the PCT international application, i.e., international publication date, international publication number, and, optionally, the language in which the application is published
(88) Date of deferred publication of the search report
(91) Date on which an international application filed under the PCT no longer has an effect in one or several designated or elected States due to failure to enter the national or regional phase or the date on which it has been determined that it had failed to enter the national or regional phase
(92) For an SPC, number and date of the first national authorization to place the product on the market as a medicinal product
(93) For an SPC, number, date and, where applicable, country of origin, of the first authorization to place the product on the market as a medicinal product within a regional economic community
(94) Calculated date of expiry of the SPC or the duration of the SPC
(95) Name of the product protected by the basic patent and in respect of which the SPC has been applied for or granted
(96) Filing date of the regional application, i.e., application filing date, application number, and, optionally, the language in which the published application was originally filed
(97) Publication data of the regional application (or of the regional patent, if already granted), i.e., publication date, publication number, and, optionally, the language in which the application (or, where applicable, the patent) is published
Notes:
(i) The codes (86), (87), (96), and (97) are intended to be used:
• on national documents when identifying one or more of the relevant filing data or publication data of a PCT international application, or of the regional application (or of the regional patent, if already granted), or
• on regional documents when identifying one or more of the relevant filing data or publication data of the PCT international application or of another regional application (or the regional patent, if already granted).
(ii) All data in code (86), (87), (96), or (97) should be presented together and preferably on a single line. The application number or publication number should comprise the three basic elements as shown in the example in paragraph 17 of WIPO Standard ST.10/B, i.e., the two letter code identifying the republishing office, the document number, and the kind of document code.
(iii) When data to be referenced by INID Codes (86) or (87) refer to two or more regional and/or PCT applications, each set of relevant filing or publication data of each such application should be displayed so as to be clearly distinguishable from other sets of relevant data, e.g., by presenting each set on a single line or by presenting the data of each set grouped together on adjacent lines in a column with a blank line between each set. When data to be referenced by codes (86), (87), (96), or (97) refer to two or more PCT international applications and/or regional applications (or regional patents, if already granted), each set of relevant filing or publication data of each such application (or granted patent) should be displayed so as to be clearly distinguishable from other sets of relevant data, e.g., by presenting each set on a single line or by presenting the data of each set grouped together on adjacent lines in a column with a blank line between each set.
(iv) The languages under codes (86), (87), (96), and (97) should be indicated by using the two-letter language symbols according to International Standard ISO 639:1988.
(v) The country of origin in code (93), if mentioned, should be indicated by using the two letter code according to WIPO Standard ST.3.
(vi) Attention is drawn to the Appendix which contains information on the term of protection and on the date from which SPCs referred to under code (94) may have effect.
INID codes for industrial designs are similar to, but not identical to, those used for patents and like documents. INID codes for industrial designs may be of most interest to design patent examiners.
(10) Data concerning the registration/renewal
°(11) Serial number of the registration and/or number of the design document
°°(12) Plain language designation of the kind of published document
°(14) Serial number of the renewal where different from initial registration number
°(15) Date of the registration/Date of the renewal
(17) Expected duration of the registration/renewal
(18) Expected expiration date of the registration/renewal
°°(19) Identification, using the two-letter code according to WIPO Standard ST.3, of the authority publishing or registering the industrial design.
Note:
°°Minimum data element for design documents only
(20) Data concerning the application
°(21) Serial number of the application
°(22) Date of filing of the application
°(23) Name and place of exhibition, and date on which the industrial design was first exhibited there (exhibition priority data)
(24) Date from which the industrial design right has effect
(27) Kind of application or deposit (open/sealed)
(28) Number of industrial designs included in the application
(29) Indication of the form in which the industrial design is filed, e.g., as a reproduction of the industrial design or as a specimen thereof
(30) Data relating to priority under the Paris Convention
°(31) Serial number assigned to the priority application
°(32) Date of filing of the priority application
(33) Two-letter code, according to WIPO Standard ST.3, identifying the authority with which the priority application was made
Notes:
(i) With the proviso that when data coded (31), (32) and (33) are presented together, category code (30) can be used, if so desired.
(ii) For international deposits made under the Hague Agreement, the two-letter code "WO" is to be used.
(40) Date(s) of making information available to the public
(43) Date of publication of the industrial design before examination by printing or similar process, or making it available to the public by any other means
(44) Date of publication of the industrial design after examination, but before registration, by printing or similar process, or making it available to the public by any other means
(45) Date of publication of the registered industrial design by printing or similar process, or making it available to the public by any other means
(46) Date of expiration of deferment
(50) Miscellaneous Information
°(51) International Classification for Industrial Designs (class and subclass of the Locarno Classification)
(52) National classification
(53) Identification of the industrial design(s) comprised in a multiple application or registration which is (are) affected by a particular transaction when not all are so affected
°(54) Designation of article ( ) or product ( ) covered by the industrial design or title of the industrial design
°°(55) Reproduction of the industrial design (e.g., drawing, photograph) and explanations relating to the reproduction
(56) List of prior art document, if separate from descriptive text
(57) Description of characteristic features of the industrial design including indication of colors
(58) Date of recording of any kind of amendment in the Register (e.g., change in ownership, change in name or address, renunciation to an international deposit, termination of protection)
Notes:
(i) Code (52) should be preceded by the two-letter code, according to WIPO Standard ST.3, identifying the country whose national classification is used (the two-letter code should be indicated within parentheses).
(ii) °°Minimum data element for design documents only.
(60) References to other legally related application(s) and registration(s)
(62) Serial number(s) and, if available, filing date(s) of application(s), registration(s) or document(s) related by division
(66) Serial number(s) of the application, or the registration, of the design(s) which is (are) a variant(s) of the present one
Note:
Category code (60) should be used by countries which were previously part of another entity for identifying bibliographic data elements relating to applications or registrations of industrial designs, which data had initially been announced by the industrial property office of that entity.
(70) Identification of parties concerned with the application or registration
°°(71) Name(s) and address(es) of the applicant(s)
(72) Name(s) of the creator(s) if known to be such
°°(73) Name(s) and address(es) of the owner(s)
(74) Name(s) and address(es) of the representative(s)
(78) Name(s) and address(es) of the new owner(s) in case of change in ownership
Note:
°°If registration has taken place on or before the date of making the industrial design available to the public, the minimum data requirement is met by indicating the owner(s); in other cases, by indicating the applicant(s).
(80) Identification of certain data related to the international deposit of industrial designs under the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Deposit of Industrial Designs and data related to other international conventions.
Designated State(s)/State(s) concerned:
(81) Designated State(s) according to the 1960 Act
(82) State(s) concerned according to the 1934 Act
(84) Designated Contracting State(s) under regional convention.
Information regarding the owner(s):
(86) Nationality of the owner(s)
(87) Residence or headquarters of the owner(s)
(88) State in which the owner(s) has (have) a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment
Note:
The data to be referenced by INID codes (81) to (88) should be indicated by using the two-letter code according to WIPO Standard ST.3.
Until October 1, 1995, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Office) received copies of the published specifications of patents and patent applications from nearly all the countries which issue them in printed form. The Office now receives most foreign patents in the form of CD-ROM and other electronic media. The foreign patents so obtained are available to examiners from the USPTO’s automated search tools such as the Examiner’s Automated Search Tool (EAST), the Web-based Examiner's Search Tool (WEST), the Foreign Patent Access System (FPAS), and from the Foreign Patents Service Center in STIC.
Until October 1995, it was the practice in the Office to classify and place only a single patent family member for each invention in the examiner search files. In addition, all non-English language patent documents placed in the examiner files were accompanied, to the extent possible, by an English language abstract. For countries where the specification is printed twice, once during the application stage and again after the patent has been granted, only the first printing was, in general, placed in the search files, since the second printing ordinarily does not vary from the first as to disclosure. The Derwent World Patents index is available on the EAST and WEST systems and provides patent family information and Derwent titles and abstracts in English of foreign patent documents.
Copies of various specifications not included in the search files, whether non-English-language patent documents or documents not printed or available for exchange, may come to the examiner’s attention. For example, they may be cited in a motion to dissolve an interference, be cited by applicants, or turn up in an online search. Upon request, STIC will obtain a copy from its extensive collection, or if necessary, from the patent office of the particular country. In the case of unprinted patent documents, STIC will request that the date of granting and the date the specification was made available to the public be indicated on the copies provided by the country of origin. If the examiner wishes to obtain a copy of a specification from an international application filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) or a patent application from a WIPO-CASE participating Office, the Global Dossier Public Access is a tool which provides online access to the file histories of related applications. See MPEP § 901.08 for additional information.
Examiners can request copies of any foreign patent documents by submitting an online request using the Foreign Patent Request Form available through STIC’s NPL website on the USPTO intranet. Examiners may also request copies directly from the Foreign Patents Service Center of STIC. If examiners so choose, they can make copies themselves. The most current patent documents are accessible through the USPTO’s automated search systems, which allow public and USPTO users to look up, view, and print foreign documents. Older documents can be found on microfilm or print copies in the Main Service Center of the STIC. See MPEP § 903.03. The STIC Foreign Patents Service Center and the Electronic Information Centers (EICs) will assist examiners with accessing patent data from foreign countries. If examiners prefer self-service, EAST, WEST and other foreign patent websites are available for foreign patent retrieval. Additionally, STIC translation staff is able to retrieve foreign patent information for examiners.
Examiners may consult the translators in the Translations Service Center of the Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) for oral assistance in translating foreign patents or literature that are possible references for an application being examined. Examiners may also request human (written) translations of pertinent portions of references being considered for citation or already cited in applications. See MPEP § 901.06(a), STIC Services - Translations, and MPEP § 903.03, Availability of Foreign Patents.
Examiners may request human (written) translations at any point in the examination process, at the discretion of the individual examiner, but are encouraged to use oral assistance, language reference resources, and machine translations where possible in the early phases of examination. See MPEP § 2120. Examiners can request human (written) translations, or machine translations, by submitting an online request using the Translations Request Form available through STIC’s NPL website on the USPTO intranet. Examiners should check the box for either a human (written) translation or machine translation. The Translations Service Center uses email as the sole delivery method for human (written) translations. The STIC maintains a listing of available machine translations tools on its website https://usptogov.sharepoint.com/sites/09cdab00/.
Examiners may also contact in-house translators directly via phone or email. To obtain immediate oral and partial human (written) translations, Examiners may walk-in to the Translations Service Center and meet directly with a Translator.
Equivalent versions of foreign specifications, that is, members of the same patent family, are often available in English or other languages known to the examiner. In addition, copies of previously translated documents are stored in the Translations Service Center. Before any translation request is processed, the staff of the Translations Service Center checks for equivalents or previous translations. The staff of STIC’s Foreign Patent and Scientific Literature Service Center or the Translations Service Center can assist examiners in locating equivalents or abstracts. See MPEP § 901.06(a), STIC Services - Foreign Patent Services.
All printed publications may be used as references, the date to be cited being the publication date. See MPEP § 2128 - § 2128.02.
The Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) maintains an Electronic Information Center (EIC) or Library in each Technology Center. Copies of non-patent literature can be requested from these facilities. See MPEP § 707.05(e) for information on how to cite such publications.
The main Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) is located at the Remsen Building, Room 1D58, 400 Dulany Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. STIC maintains Electronic Information Centers (EICs) in each Technology Center (TC) whose mission is to assist patent examiners in the patent process by providing fast, accurate, prior art searches, document deliver services, the provision of foreign patent copies, translations of foreign documents, and access to non-patent literature in electronic format and in print.
The Director shall maintain a library of scientific and other works and periodicals, both foreign and domestic, in the Patent and Trademark Office to aid the officers in the discharge of their duties.
Technical literature, foreign patent documents, and reference and online search services available in STIC are all important resources for the patent examiner to utilize. These resources provide material which must be known or searched to determine whether claims of applications are directly anticipated and, therefore, unpatentable under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 102. STIC handbooks, textbooks, periodicals, reports, and other materials assist examiners in deciding the question of patentable invention in cases in which the primary search indicates that there is some novelty as compared to any single reference in the art (35 U.S.C. 103 ). These resources enable the examiner to determine whether the features novel in the particular combination searched would be obvious to a person skilled in the art from the general state of knowledge as reflected in the technical literature.
Based on recommendations by patent examiners and subject area experts, STIC reviews, selects and purchases primarily English-language publications in all fields of applied technology. Collections of e-books, books in print, and trade catalogs are also purchased by STIC for permanent location in specific Technology Centers (TCs). For instance, the Design Patent Art Units have a great many manufacturers’ catalogs. Books in print, and e-books may be ordered by examiners by contacting the STIC EIC in each TC. A request for a publication can be submitted by using the NPL Purchase Request Form which is available on the STIC NPL website. The physical location or database resource of all acquired publications are recorded in the STIC Online Catalog so that users will know where to look for a particular publication, be it on the shelf in the EIC or in particular electronic resource or database. All publications, regardless of location, are processed in STIC’s Collection Management Service Center.
Reference works including encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and abstracting and indexing services are also available in print in the EIC. Many are available in electronic form and can be accessed via an electronic resource or database. EIC staff can assist examiners in finding information pertinent to the subject matter of a patent application. STIC does not circulate reference materials. Books in the reference collection are so labeled.
Requests for the purchase of books in print or electronic books are accepted at any time throughout the year, with subsequent purchase dependent on demonstrated need and availability of funds. If an electronic copy of a book in print exists STIC will purchase the electronic copy first.
STIC provides access to a large collection of print and electronic resources. Incorporated into the collection are a number of titles pertinent to the examination of design patent applications and titles of interest to nonexamining areas of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Requests for the purchase of new subscription titles are accepted at any time throughout the year, with subsequent purchase dependent on demonstrated need and availability of funds.
Most periodicals are available electronically via the STIC NPL website. Current issues of select periodicals in print are arranged alphabetically and located on shelves near the reference collection in EICs and in Main STIC. Bound periodicals are interfiled with the book collection. Periodicals on microfilm and CD-ROM are housed in cabinets.
The USPTO receives foreign patent documents through exchange agreements with almost all countries that print or otherwise publish their patent documents. This makes STIC’s collection of foreign patent documents the most comprehensive in the United States.
The collection is located in Main STIC. The most current part of the collection is made available to examiners and the public through the USPTO’s automated search tools which allow users to look up, view, and print documents. The earliest patent documents, as far back as 1617, and documents from smaller countries are found in the paper collection in the stacks or at remote sites.
Most foreign countries issue official patent and trademark journals corresponding to the Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. These journals are shelved under country name. Most countries issue name indexes; some also issue classified indexes. Indexes are shelved with the journals.
The official journals of a few countries include abstracts of the disclosures of the patents announced or applications published.
Although STIC still houses substantial print collections, the majority of the collections are now in the form of electronic books, journals, and foreign patents. Many rare and historical book collections have been digitized in order to provide electronic access and preserve the materials. The electronic books and journals are accessible via the STIC NPL website. To locate the NPL Services for Examiners on the USPTO intranet site, go to the Patent Examiner’s Toolkit and click on Non-Patent Literature. Collections are arranged by TC and are also accessible by title via the STIC Online Catalog.
Each Electronic Information Center has a small print collection tailored to the art areas covered by the TC.
The primary vehicle for locating e-books, e-journals, database and subscription resources, books in print and other materials is the STIC online catalog. The online catalog contains a record of all materials held by the STIC collections, including location, call number, and availability. Examiners can access the online catalog from their desktops via the Patent Examiner’s Toolkit or via the STIC NPL website.
Print and electronic materials acquired by STIC are classified according to the Library of Congress classification system. Print materials including books and bound periodicals are intershelved in the stacks according to this classification system. New unbound periodical issues are shelved in a separate area of each EIC, in alphabetical order by title.
All STIC materials in print except non-circulating items may be checked out at the Reference Desk in the EIC or Main STIC. Non-circulating material includes reference publications, journals in print, foreign patent documents, and microfilm. Examiners may use the Department of Commerce Libraries as well as other Federal Government libraries in the area. STIC’s staff can answer questions regarding the accessibility and lending practices of other libraries. If books in print are needed from another library for official use, a request can be submitted using the Reference Delivery Request Form available via the STIC NPL website. The Reference Delivery Service Center will process the request on behalf of examiners and deliver the reference upon receipt.
STIC’s Reference Desk staff assists examiners in the use of the STIC services and its resources. Upon request, they provide guidance on finding information in the electronic and print collections, and updates on the status of service requests. If any problems are encountered in locating materials or finding answers to informational needs, please check with the staff. They are ready and willing to assist. Queries may be made in person or by using STIC Reference Desk contact resources by phone, email, instant message or simply using the Ask-STIC chat-room.
STIC staff located in the EICs in each TC perform prior art and bibliographic searches for examiners using commercial databases (CDBs) and subscription resources STIC staff access many CDBs such as ProQuest Dialog, Scientific and Technical Network (STN), Questel-Orbit, IP.com and others. When they are identified as meeting the needs and requirements of the Office, new database vendors are added. A list of the databases offered by each vendor is available on the vendors' websites.
CDBs extensively cover the fields of knowledge examined by USPTO, and make it possible for expert search staff to retrieve bibliographic information e.g. title, author, publication date, source, language etc., and may also include abstracts, chemical structures, and DNA sequences. Often the full text of the articles, depending on the database can be provided in PDF or other electronic formats.
CDBs and other subscription resources provide access to non-patent literature that is typically not available on the Internet, and require expert knowledge in order to use special indexing, perform complex chemical substance and structure searches, and classification search systems that improve retrieval. Examiners can submit a request for a prior art/text search by using the Text/Regular Form on the STIC NPL website. For bibliographic searches, examiners may submit a request for a legal/litigation search by using the Legal/Litigation Form. Patent Family searches may be requested by using the Text/Regular Form or contacting the Reference Desk staff in the EIC. Completed searches are emailed to the examiners.
Online searching of nucleic and amino acid sequences is conducted by the staff of the STIC EIC for TC1600 through the use of an in-house computer system developed for this purpose. On an as-needed basis, introductory classes are conducted by STIC staff to assist examiners in understanding the sequence search results. Examiners can also conduct this search on their own via the in-house ABSS search system.
Examiners may also conduct searches of online commercial databases independently of STIC staff. Once approval for a commercial database login and password from the supervisory patent examiner (SPE) has been obtained, training by the vendor is provided through STIC’s Digital Resources Division. Individual assistance in searching these databases is also available from the Electronic Information Centers (EIC) staff, especially for searching chemical structures and DNA sequences.
The staff of the Foreign Patents Service Center of the STIC is available to assist with any problem or informational need regarding foreign patent document retrieval or foreign patent documents. These services are also available to examiners in the Electronic Information Centers.
Online patent family searches are performed for patent examiners by the Foreign Patents Service Center. The services provided include: identification of English-language or preferred-language equivalents; determination of priority dates and publication dates; searches by inventor name or abstract number; other patent family and bibliographic document retrieval searches; and foreign classification information.
Examiners who choose to perform their own foreign patent searches after receiving appropriate training through the Office of Patent Training can consult foreign patent experts for difficult document retrieval searches.
The staff of the Foreign Patents Service Center can supplement the online document retrieval searching effort with manual searches of foreign patent journals, including Official Gazette(s), patent concordances, and/or indexes. The staff also provides training in the use of the Foreign Patents Access System (FPAS) in EAST/WEST and the use of the foreign patent collections.
SPECIAL NOTE: Members of the public can order copies of foreign patent documents from the Foreign Patents Service Center.
Examiners may consult the translators in the Translations Service Center of STIC for oral assistance in translating foreign language patents and foreign document sources that may be possible references for applications being examined. Oral translations are performed for the major European languages and for Japanese. Examiners may also request written translations of pertinent portions of references being considered for citation or already cited in applications. Full translations are also made upon request. Written translations can be made from virtually all foreign languages into English. See also MPEP § 901.05(d).
The Translations Service Center maintains a database of all previously completed document translations. Patent translations are indexed by country and patent number; articles are indexed by language and author or title. Any copies of translations coming to examiners from outside the Office should be furnished to the Translations Service Center so that it may make copies for its files.
When needed for official business purposes, STIC will borrow from other libraries materials not available in-house. Requests can be submitted to the STIC facility in an examiner’s TC or via the electronic form on the STIC NPL website. STIC has borrowing agreements with libraries throughout the U.S.
For the convenience of the Examining Corps, photocopy machines are available for employee use in STIC. These are to be used for photocopying STIC materials which do not circulate, or for materials which examiners do not wish to checkout.
Requests pertaining to the earliest date of publication or first distribution to the public of publications should be made to the STIC EIC facility in the examiner’s TC. For U.S. publications, the staff can obtain the day and month of publication claimed by the copyright owner. The same information can be obtained for foreign publications through correspondence although it will take a little longer.
Special tours of the STIC and its service centers can be arranged for examiners or for outside groups by contacting the STIC EIC facility in the examiner’s TC.
See MPEP § 901.06(a), STIC Services - Interlibrary Loans.
Applications vested in the Alien Property Custodian during World War II were published in 1943 even though they had not become patents.
Care must be taken not to refer to these publications as patents; they should be designated as A.P.C. published applications.
An A.P.C. published application may be used by the examiner as a basis for rejection only as a printed publication effective from the date of publication, which is printed on each copy.
The manner of citing one of these publications is as follows: A.P.C. Application of ............, Ser. No. ............, Published ............
The Patent Search Room contains a complete set of A.P.C. published applications arranged numerically in bound volumes. The U.S. A.P.C. bib data is located on the following database (2964 total): http://db.library.queensu.ca/apcdocuments/.
Abstracts and Abbreviatures are U.S. Patent and Trademark Office publications of abandoned applications. Defensive Publications (the O.G. defensive publication and search copy) are U.S. Patent and Trademark Office publications of provisionally abandoned applications wherein the applicant retains their rights to an interference for a limited time period of 5 years from the earliest effective U.S. filing date. On May 8, 1985, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office stopped accepting Defensive Publication requests and began accepting applications f
