Cassis Currents NO. 17
July 2002

THE OG GOES DIGITAL!

On 2002 July 2, the Official Gazette for Patents (OG) went electronic. The Electronic Official Gazette for Patents (eOG:P) premiered on the USPTO Website on Tuesday morning at www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog. The eOG:P is also available as a CD-ROM product.

The production schedule is now in place to ensure that the eOG:P will be posted to the Website on Tuesday mornings. As many weeks as possible will be maintained on the Website. The eOG:P Index page is displayed in Figure 1.

The eOG:P on CD-ROM for July 2 and 9 was sent to PTDLs on July 10. The production schedule for the CD-ROM product is also now in place and discs are arriving in house on the day before or on the day of issue. Subscribers should receive discs within a week of issue. All current subscribers to Cassis optical disc products will receive a sample of the premiere July 2 disc.

Similar to the paper OG, users can browse the eOG:P by patent number, classification, patentee, patent type, and geographic location of the first listed inventor. The Official Gazette Notices, relating to both patents and trademarks, are also included. Figure 2 displays the main page with the menu of choices in the left window and basic instructions in the right.

While the eOG:P contains virtually the same information traditionally contained in the paper version of the OG, retrieval of patent records has been enhanced thanks to electronic formatting. A few of the enhancements follow:

· There is a comprehensive index of patentees in addition to the traditional individual indexes by patent type

· There are direct links to the patent from patentee names in the Index of Patentees 

· Plant patent images have been added to the bibliographic record

· Changed text in Reissues is displayed in red 

· Patentees by country have been added to the Geographic Index

· There are direct links to patents by state or country in the Geographic Index (See Figure 3 for a look at this Index)

· A user can link directly to the types of utility patents: general and mechanical, chemical, and electrical

· The patent record can be easily saved or printed

· A recently added feature allows the user to jump to the full text of the patent in the USPTO Patent Full Text Database. Just click on the Full Text button in the upper left corner to jump to the full text of the patent.

The eOG:P on CD-ROM is sold as an annual subscription for $300 per year and as single copies for $15 per issue. Information on ordering the eOG:P is included in the Notices section of each issue, on both the Web and CD-ROM.

An FAQ is being compiled and will be available from the Index page on the Website and from the main page on the CD-ROM product. Please let us know what you think about the eOG:P. 

Kudos to Ed Vocke, project leader, and the eOG:P team!

Figure 1 eOG:P Index on USPTO Website

Cassis2 CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

The recent Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL) Training Seminar was highlighted in the previous issue of Cassis Currents. During the Cassis2 training sessions, the trainees were asked to evaluate the products and make suggestions for improvements. Some of their ideas and responses from EPB follow.

Suggestion: Several trainees mentioned that the resize button feature should be improved so that the user doesn’t have to click on a search form and then return to the results screen before the screen resizes. Response: We are pleased to announce that our developer has found a way to resize the screen without switching screens! This feature will be added to the Cassis2 user interface with subsequent discs.

Suggestion: Please consider adding back the ability to add or remove all selected checkmarks in the results list. Response: We are also pleased to announce that we are adding a “deselect all” button that will remove all of the selection checkmarks in the results list. This button will be added to all of the Cassis2 products as soon as possible.

Suggestion: In a Patents BIB search, applications are at the end of the results list. As a default, could applications be mixed in with patent grants, not just by sorting? Response: The current results list displays patent documents in the following order: utility patents, defensive publications (T), reissues (RE), plants (PP), SIRs (H), and designs (D), with patent application publications displayed at the end. Perhaps the need for a different ordering scheme should be further investigated. Let us know. Presently, the only way to integrate the numbers is to sort by a field common to patents and applications.

Suggestion: Add an Inventor County search field. Response: Inventor county information is not required as part of a patent application. Although TAF prepares an annual report by inventor county, these counts occur during the following calendar year and the database is presently only updated through 2000.

Suggestion: Cassis2 would be more valuable if the Print icon also allowed for printing selected documents, all documents, etc. Response: The print icon on the toolbar gives the user a chance to quickly print the current document with two clicks, while the print option from the file menu provides the full variety of printing choices. We believe that these two printing methods serve two distinct purposes.

Suggestion: The addition of a “Back” key, like on the Internet, would be helpful. Response: Unfortunately, we cannot add a back key to the user interface, but you could think of the search and results tabs as “back” and “forward” keys. Going from the search screen to the results screen or vice versa will take you back and forward in your search session. Also similar to a back button, several files, including the MPEP, that have internal hyperlinks have a “previous link” icon that returns you to your previous location in the document.

Suggestion: Add References Cited information to Patents BIB record. Response: Currently, U.S. references cited are only added to the TAF database on an annual basis during the following calendar year; the database contains citations from utility patents from approximately 1975 through 2001. However, there are plans to begin capturing citations on a weekly basis in 2003 and this is something that could easily be added to Patents BIB records if there is interest.

Not only did we receive suggestions for improvements, we also received several favorable comments.

Comment: I find Cassis2 to be a valuable tool for our searching.

Comment: This training was very helpful to see how powerful the Cassis tools are.

Comment: The new Cassis is great - I forgot how flexible it is!

Thank you for all of your comments. We appreciate receiving feedback from our customers. We have worked to make Cassis2 both a user-friendly and efficient search tool and will continue to do so.

Figure 2 eOG:P Main Page

USAPat BACK FILE UPDATE

Keep a look out for the next to last set of USAPat back file discs! The last complete set of 50 discs should be arriving very soon. This shipment contains discs 351 - 400, including patents from 1994 - 1998.These discs will supercede the earlier CD-ROM discs.

The merged cumulative index will be included on USP2002W29. Back file discs do not need to be installed individually.

The next set, which will complete the back file project, will contain patents for 1998 - 1999. There will be approximately 40 discs in that shipment. We anticipate shipping the ninth set in October.

Figure 3 Geographical Index Page

Cassis2 TIP - MPEP

The Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) provided on the 2002 March issue of the Patents ASSIST disc contains a significant enhancement. Internal links have been activated to enable users to jump to references throughout the document. These references include sections of 35 U.S.C. and 37 C.F.R., which are provided in the MPEP Appendices. In addition, links to specific MPEP sections cited in the manual are also activated.

Figure 4 displays internal MPEP links. Double-click on the link to jump to that section. Double-clicking on a reference to 35 U.S.C. or 37 C.F.R. will link to the proper area in the Appendices. To return to your previous location, use the “Previous Link” icon on the toolbar or select the Previous Link option from the View Menu. The icon is displayed in Figure 5. 

Figure 4 Internal Links in MPEP

Figure 4 below also shows the use of the Table of Contents feature that is provided in the MPEP and other files on Patents ASSIST. The hyper-linked table of contents allows you to jump to a specific chapter or section in the MPEP rather than search by words or numbers in titles.

Figure 5 Previous Link Icon

We hope you will agree that adding the linking and table of contents features to the ability to search for specific subjects has made the MPEP more accessible.

UPDATED TRADEMARKS ASSIST DISC PUBLISHED

An updated Trademarks ASSIST was published in July on CD-ROM. This disc updates the previous edition published in 2001 July. The new disc contains revised versions of nearly all of the manuals included on the disc. In addition, this disc contains the Trademark Examination Guides, Notes, and Announcements. These documents provide information on many subjects, including Internet domain names and the new International Classes for Services.

The following files are included on the 2002 June Trademarks ASSIST:

· Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP), 3rd ed., 2002 June

· Goods and Services Manual, 2002 June

· Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure (TBMP), 1st ed., 1995 September

· U.S. Trademark Law: Rules of Practice and Federal Statutes, 6th ed., 2002 June

· Trademarks Telephone Index, 2002 June

· Design Search Code Manual, 2002 June

· Trademark Examination Guides, Notes, and Announcements, 2002 June

Figure 6 below displays the files on Trademarks ASSIST as they appear in left sidebar of the Cassis2 user interface.

Figure 6 Trademarks ASSIST Files

As with the Patents ASSIST disc, there are several special features available on the Trademarks ASSIST disc. The TMEP, TBMP, Rules and Statutes, and Trademark Examination Guides each have a hyperlinked Table of Contents that enables you to jump to a specific chapter or section of the document. The manuals are also text searchable.

The text of the Design Search Code Manual is searchable. The manual also contains internal links to jump to another section of the manual. After linking to the referenced section, use the Previous Link icon (pictured in Figure 5) to return to your previous location.

Trademarks ASSIST is published on an irregular basis. The new disc is available for $50 as a one-time purchase. Contact us for further information on ordering copies.

Figure 7 eOG:P Disc