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II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Information and support provided by the Office to applicants regarding filing on paper and/or e-filing (instructions, seminars, etc.) - URLs
Information on filing, including Patents application guide and other materials, is available from the following web page:
https://www.gov.uk/topic/intellectual-property/patents
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
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https://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-ipsum.htm
Classification1, preclassification2 (if applicable), reclassification3 activities; classification systems used (e.g., International Patent Classification (IPC)); matters concerning indexing of patent information
All UK patent applications are classified in the IPC. In 2005 the IPO started classifying all UK patent applications in ECLA, which was replaced by CPC classification in October 2013. Pre-classification (i.e. allocation of applications to examining groups) is done manually at subclass level using the CPC. Clusters of CPC subclasses provide the basis for the structure of examining divisions and groups. The office does not reclassify documentation.
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Our staff can translate any document into English using translation software made available by the European Patent Office and other national patent offices. Patent examiners check all patent abstracts provided by the applicant, and amend them where necessary to ensure they form a useful search tool.
Other activities
The IPO is an active participant in the work of the IPC Union Committee of Experts and the IPC revision working group, and meets regularly with other participating offices at WIPO to discuss ongoing revision of the IPC.
III. SOURCES OF PATENT INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE
Main types of publications of the Office (patent applications, full text, first pages, abstracts, bibliographic data, granted patents, etc.), medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URLs)
(1) PDF
A-documents
These are prepared in-house in a 5 week publication cycle using a bespoke IT system linked to PDAX (the IPO’s electronic case management system). The front page is compiled by downloading bibliographic data (XML format) from the corporate database COPS and is married with the abstract text from our internal examiner database (PROSE). The abstract drawing is extracted from PDAX and merged to finalise the front page. The finished front page is added to the rest of the specification pages from PDAX and reproduced in a single PDF image. The PDF image is then loaded onto the IPO’s publication server on our external website for customer download. The IPO no longer publish “A” documents in paper format, the official publication means being electronic (please see the following link):
https://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/patent/p-os/p-find/p-find-publication.htm
The PDF A documents are then transferred via Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to the EPO. This is done on a weekly basis and includes a separate ST.36 XML file for the bibliographical and full text abstract data.
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These are prepared in-house in a 5 week publication cycle using a bespoke IT system linked to PDAX (the IPO’s electronic case management system). The front page is compiled by downloading bibliographic data (XML format) from the corporate database COPS and merged with the rest of the specification pages from PDAX and reproduced in a single PDF image. The PDF image is then loaded onto the IPO’s publication server on our external website for customer download. The IPO no longer publishes “B” documents in paper format; the official publication means being electronic (see the following link):
https://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/patent/p-os/p-find/p-find-publication.htm).
The PDF B documents are then transferred via Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to the EPO. This is done on a weekly basis and includes a separate ST.36 XML file for the bibliographical data.
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https://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/patent/p-os/p-find/p-find-publication.htm).
The PDF Errata documents are then transferred via Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to the EPO. This is done on a weekly basis and includes a separate ST.36 XML file for the bibliographical data.
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Espacenet is a free internet service which contains a number of different patent collections. GB patents published from 1895 and Granted from 2002 are available through the worldwide database, please see: https://worldwide.espacenet.com/
Official Gazettes: main types of announcements, frequency of publication, medium (on paper, on CDs, online - URL), etc.
Up until 26th March 2008 the official notices and selected bibliographic data relating to UK patent applications and granted patents were published in the official weekly electronic newspaper called the Patents and Designs Journal (PDJ) on the date of publication, and are available on our website in PDF format.
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https://www.gov.uk/check-the-patents-journal
In In relation to the dissemination of more general notices regarding patents and other IPR, our website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/intellectual-property-office plays an important role. In particular, we frequently hold consultations with our community of users. However, we continue to place such announcements in our on-line e-Patents Journal, which is available without charge on our website.
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Examiners are encouraged to access National Patent Office Organisation websites as necessary to search collections of patent documents, or to retrieve family member search and examination reports (e.g. EPO, USPTO, WIPO).
Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to external users, conditions of access (e.g., free of charge, subscription, etc.)
Our main office is located in Newport, Wales, where the public can file applications and discuss possible IP protection with an IPO Advisor. In addition we also have a front office in London where customers can file applications.
Legal status information (kind of information, coverage, medium, etc.)
Legal status information is contained on the UK patent register and may be searched by publication or application number at:
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This data is complete for all UK national applications in force in the UK and granted EP (UK) applications which are in force.
Other sources
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
Specific software tools supporting business procedures within the Office: general description, characteristics, advantages, possible improvements
We use Microsoft Windows 7 which provides an integrated and extensive network of applications that are available to all staff. The desktop environment is provided by virtual machines running on a server which are accessed via thin clients rather than desktop PCs. Word Word processing can be carried out using Word 2007; all other MS Office applications, including Outlook for e mail and PowerPoint and Excel are available; all major classification keys that are used by the examiners are accessible, as are office notices, manuals, search tools including access to online databases, internal and external telephone directories, translation software, management and administration information etc.
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Copies of documents cited in search reports are produced by the in-house Computerised Image Management System (CIMS) for supply to applicants, and in addition this system has been extended to enable the ad hoc ordering by technical staff of any types of patent documentation, direct from their desktop. All staff have access to the Internet and to the office intranet and have their own e-mail (via Microsoft Outlook) and official e-mail address.
Hardware used to supporting business processes of the Office
Staff access their Windows 7 desktops via thin clients (WYSE terminals) which are connected to 24 inch wide screen monitors.
Internal databases: coverage, updates, interlinks with external sources
Register and legal status information is stored on our bibliographical register (COPS), as are a number of types of statistics. Examining group statistics, file movements etc., are recorded using a VB.NET system called PAFS (see previous entry above). In addition, we use an in house system called PDAX to electronically store and access our patent application case files. The databases referred to are updated continuously and views of the data contained on COPS and PDAX are made externally available via our website.
Establishment and maintenance of electronic search file: file building, updating, storage, documents from other offices included in the search file
GB patent bibliographic data is available electronically and may be searched on our OPTICS database. Published GB patent specifications may be accessed and searched via EPOQUE and from our on-line publication server, see "Main types of publication" above.
Administrative management electronic systems (register, legal status, statistics, and administrative support)
See entry in relation to internal databases.
Other matters
Nothing to report.
V. PROMOTION ACTIVITIES AIMED TO SUPPORT USERS IN ACCESS AND EFFICIENT USE OF PATENT INFORMATION
Patent library: equipment, collection management, network of patent libraries in the country, cooperation with foreign patent libraries
The Patlib Network was founded by the European Patent Office but PATLIB UK is autonomous and driven by its members and the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO).
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Our office, through the British Library, takes part in numerous exchange and grant programmes with other patent offices around the world as in previous years.
Publications related to different business procedures and patent information sources available to users, for example, books, brochures, Internet publications, etc.
Our main office is located in Newport, Wales, where the public can file applications and discuss possible IP protection with an IPO Advisor. In addition we also have a front office in London where customers can file applications.
Office's initiatives on providing foreign patent information in the local language(s) (e.g., machine translation tools, translation of abstracts)
Cooperation with universities, research centers, technology and innovation support centers, etc.
Our Business Outreach continues to raise awareness of IP, helping businesses reach an informed decision on how to use, manage, and enforce their IP to its full potential. This is done via a portfolio of business tools including mobile and online resources, seminars, workshops/training and working with partners to deliver broader dissemination and understanding of IP:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/intellectual-property-for-business
Education and training: training courses, e-learning modules (URLs), seminars, exhibitions, etc.
We continue to communicate IP awareness to young people from primary through to secondary school. We have developed a range of curriculum linked education resources to raise awareness of innovation, creativity and intellectual property in partnership with UK Music, Aardman Animations and the Industry Trust. Campaigns are supported through crackingideas.com an online hub to support UK and devolved Governments’ curriculums plus advice and guidance for schools on intellectual property. We have introduced a new online tool for Universities (IP Tutor) helping students and lecturers understand intellectual property rights:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/intellectual-property-for-universities/ip-tools-for-universities
Other activities
All marketing and PR is carried out within the External Communications team and we are achieving great coverage particularly on our social networking platforms. We have recently launched an Instagram account with a focus on cultivating a following and specifically targeting entrepreneurs and designers: instagram.com/ipforbusiness
VI. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF PATENT INFORMATION
International exchange and sharing of patent information in machine-readable form, e.g., priority documents, bibliographic data, abstracts, search reports, full text information
We apply all relevant WIPO standards including ST.8 for machine-readable records and ST.36 for xml transfer of bibliographic data.
In October 2009 we launched a Patents Digital Access Service for the digital preparation and transfer of patent priority documents to WIPO. The service is free to electronic filers and will benefit both UK business and the IP community.
The new service automatically prepares digital patent priority documents and securely stores them at WIPO for future use. This service removes the financial burden on our customers who currently pay National IP Offices to prepare priority documents for filing at other IP offices. Please see the following link for further information https://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-types/pro-patent/pro-p-os/pro-p-apply-online-pdas.htm.
It is also possible to exchange priority documents in paper and on CD provided the appropriate electronic signature is provided.
Participation in international or regional activities and projects related to patent information
Assistance to developing countries
Other activities
Nothing to report.
VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS
1.Classification is allotting one or more classification symbols (e.g., IPC symbols) to a patent application, either before or during search and examination, which symbols are then published with the patent application.Anchor f1 f1
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