The International Liaison Staff (ILS) acts in an advisory capacity for the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, and provides international technical support at several levels.

These include:

There are several focal points of ILS activities at WIPO:

WIPO's Standing Committee on Information Technologies (SCIT). ILS provides technical input and representation to SCIT working groups, principally the Working Group on Standards and Documentation. In the Standards and Documentation Working Group, ILS provides US expertise and representation on the proposal and negotiation of patent document, data and information standards, which are of key importance to USPTO operations. With their backgrounds in international patent standards development, ILS personnel are uniquely qualified for supporting USPTO goals in this technically demanding field.

International Patent Classification (IPC). In the USPTO view, the IPC is at a critical juncture. Its role and ability to respond to patent offices' needs in an increasingly automated environment is tied to the successful implementation of IPC reform, which is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2006. ILS provides a lead role in development and implementation of the reformed IPC. They coordinate related efforts to ensure that USPTO data delivery, storage and search systems are developed or modified to take maximum advantage of the reformed IPC.

Trilateral

Since 1983, Trilateral cooperation in patent matters between the USPTO, EPO and JPO, established through a US initiative, has been ongoing and highly successful. Data standards developed by the Trilateral partners have been jointly proposed and successfully advocated to WIPO where they were adopted as international standards. These standards have served as a basis for enabling rapid growth in available, compatible electronic patent information worldwide. Numerous Trilateral projects aimed at enhancing information exchange and solving common problems have been launched. ILS participates in many of these projects.

Bilateral Agreements

Foreign patent information must be made available to USPTO patent examiners. ILS plays a key role in making this happen. For more than a century, by virtue of over 100 exchange arrangements, foreign patents in paper, microfilm and, increasingly, electronic form, have streamed into the USPTO to make foreign patent searching possible. ILS is responsible for the administration of these arrangements. ILS ensures that the provisions of each arrangement are met, both by the USPTO and the other patent office that is party to the agreement. ILS handles inquiries, solves problems, keeps statistics, prepares reports, and ensures that these documents are made part of the examiner's search systems.

Within USPTO

Within the USPTO, ILS serves as the USPTO's "resident expert" on foreign patent documentation and information matters. ILS personnel serve as consultants in establishing requirements, including capabilities and data content, for the USPTO's automated foreign patent search systems. They participate actively in the development of such systems to ensure that the examiners' foreign patent search needs are met. ILS provides the resources when information is needed concerning the policies and procedures of foreign patent offices, concerning their documents, search practices, automation efforts, and foreign patenting statistics - current and historic.