Annual Technical Report 2013 on Patent Information Activities submitted by United Kingdom (CWS/ATR/PI/2013/GB)
Where URLs are requested below, it is preferred that either URLs which are likely to remain stable over time (three years or more) are provided, or home (main) page URLs are provided with a short explanation of how to access the corresponding information.
The term "patent" covers utility models and Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs). Offices which issue design patents should report their design patent information activities in their Annual Technical Reports on Industrial Design Information Activities.
I. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PATENT INFORMATION ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
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The Office is seeking to undertake a major programme of work to review the business processes and IT systems which support the delivery of patent rights to customers. This work will include migrating data and functionality from the existing mainframe system to a modern alternative. It is envisaged this will provide a number of benefits including improving our service offering to customers with more services offered electronically, greater integration between systems and more flexibility to provide new services in future.
The work will be divided into a number of small projects which it is anticipated will be delivered over the next three years.
New projects launched or resumed this year in the context of the policies and plans mentioned above, short description: aims, partners, tasks
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Statistics related to patents at the Intellectual Property Office can be accessed through the annual reports, annual reviews and facts and figures at:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ourpublications-review.htm
Information on filing, including Patents application guide and other materials, is available from the following web page:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-apply.htm
The procedure after filing, including publication, examination and grant is described at:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-after.htm
Information regarding dispute resolution, including hearings, mediation and opinions may be found here:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-dispute.htm
Results of past patent decisions are available at:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-challenge-decision-results.htm
Information on how applicants may appeal is provided at:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-appeal.htm
Other business procedures such as the Patents Act, finding patents, how we classify and renewals are covered by web pages accessible from the main Patents portal:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/patent.htm
The Patent Informatics service, which delivers analysis and intelligence through patent mapping is described at:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/informatics.htm
A link to the EPO search dataset Espacenet is provided from the online patent services portal:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-os.htm
The UK patent register may be searched by publication or application number at:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-ipsum.htm
The UK patent register may also be searched by publication date at:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-find-publication.htm
II. SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
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Information on filing, including Patents application guide and other materials, is available from the following web page:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-apply.htm
Availability of the application dossier in electronic form
The UK patent register and some of the documents from may be searched by publication or application number at:
http://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
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(1) PDF
A-documents
These are prepared in-house in a 5 week publication cycle using a new 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 OPTICS 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 publishes “A” documents in paper format, the official publication means being electronic (please see the following link:
http://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.
B-Documents
These are prepared in-house in a 5 week publication cycle using a new 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 OPTICS 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 (please see the following link: http://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.
Corrected ‘Errata’-Documents (A8, A9, B8 & C)
These are prepared in-house in a 2 week publication cycle using a new 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 OPTICS 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 “errata” documents in paper format, the official publication means being electronic (please see the following link: http://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.
(2) CD-ROM
In association with the EPO, we publish GB “A” documents on CD-ROM on a fortnightly basis, ESPACE-UK. The CD-ROM collection covers the years 1979 to date, i.e. for GB serial numbers in excess of 2,000,000.
(3) Patents and Designs Journal (PDJ) and the new on-line e-Patents Journal 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. From 5 March 2008 the new e-Patents Journal became searchable online, and may be downloaded in PDF or XML formats. It also includes a back-file of the UK applications filed section from 26 July 2006. The new Patents Journal and archived PDJs may be accessed from:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-types/pro-patent/pro-p-os/pro-p-journal/p-pj-data.htm
(4) ESPACENET, EPOQUE etc
The full text, drawings and bibliographic data of all newly published UK patent applications and granted patents is published on the EPOQUE system soon after the domestic publication date.
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 http://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. From 5 March 2008 the new e-Patents Journal became searchable online, and may be downloaded in PDF or XML formats. It also includes a back-file of the UK applications filed section from 26 July 2006. The new Patents Journal and archived PDJs may be accessed from:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-types/pro-patent/pro-p-os/pro-p-journal/p-pj-data.htm
In relation to the dissemination of more general notices regarding patents and other IPR, our website (www.ipo.gov.uk) 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.
Our website received, on average, 2.9 million page views per month during 2013, of which 15,000 were for the e-Patents Journal.
Information products and patent document collections (coverage, medium, etc.) available to examiners, including external collections and databases
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A collection of historical documents is located at our Newport office and maintained by the Documentation Unit. The available collections include: historical GB abridgements/abstracts (including Bennet-Woodcroft); historical copies of the UK Key and IPC; various pamphlets, manuals and other publications; law reports; name and subject-matter indexes for locating old historic patents; and historical official journals of the UK (Patent and Designs Journal) and of the EPO. Much of this information is also available on the office Intranet. The collections are located in our main building and are therefore secure.
Our main office is located in Newport, Wales, where the public can obtain official publications and conduct searches using Espacenet for example. 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:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-ipsum.htm 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
Nothing to report.
IV. ICT SUPPORT TO SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO PATENT INFORMATION CARRIED OUT BY THE OFFICE
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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 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. There is also a corporate mainframe database (OPTICS), a VB.NET database (PAFS) for recording file movement data and examining group statistics, and automated production of search and examination reports using the PROSE system. We also have a PDAX electronic case file system whereby all the documents relating to patent applications are available electronically to examiners at their desktop. The Office intranet contains a very large collection of essential information for staff, including search and classification tools.
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
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Our Documentation Unit is charged with the task of maintaining our library and seeks the views of staff to identify additional material for inclusion in our subscriptions.
The British Library, located in St. Pancras, London, houses the national collection of patents, science and technology. It remains administratively separate from the Intellectual Property Office, and is funded by the UK Government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport and by revenue from its services which are heavily used.
The library has telephone access to selected examiners in the Intellectual Property Office, to help with public enquiries on patent searching.
The library and the Intellectual Property Office jointly offer support to the PATLIB patent libraries, which include 12 libraries outside London, open to the public, which hold patent material. The PATLIB libraries collect most patent specifications in CD-ROM format rather than in paper or microform. Patents from over 25 countries are covered.
The British Library also continues to offer public access to commercial patent online databases. This is a priced service which handles a number of commissioned searches monthly, mostly for subject searches. It also offers public access to free databases such as Espacenet.
Our office 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.
A collection of historical documents is located at our Newport office and maintained by the Documentation Unit. The available collections include: historical GB abridgements/abstracts (including Bennet-Woodcroft); historical copies of the UK Key and IPC; various pamphlets, manuals and other publications; law reports; name and subject-matter indexes for locating old historic patents; and historical official journals of the UK (Patent and Designs Journal) and of the EPO. Much of this information is also available on the office Intranet. The collections are located in our main building and are therefore secure.
Our main office is located in Newport, Wales, where the public can obtain official publications and conduct searches using Espacenet for example. 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)
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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 new 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 new 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 http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-types/pro-patent/pro-p-os/pro-p-apply-online-pdas.htm.
Note: This service was enhanced this year with the introduction of security access codes.
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
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VII. OTHER RELATED MATTERS
Nothing to report.
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| 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.
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| 2. | Preclassification is allotting an initial broad classification symbol (e.g., IPC class or subclass, or administrative unit) to a patent application, using human or automated means for internal administrative purposes (e.g., routing an application to the appropriate examiner). Usually preclassification is applied by the administration of an office.
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| 3. | Reclassification is the reconsideration and usually the replacement of one or more previously allotted classification symbols to a patent document, following a revision and the entry into force of a new version of the Classification system (e.g., the IPC). The new symbols are available on patent databases.
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