Cassis Currents No. 7
April 2000

CHANGES FOR ODPP

On April 3, the Information Dissemination Organizations (IDO) was restructured and is now under the direction of the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). Major reorganizing is taking place and several office names have changed. ODPP is now the 

Optical Disc Publishing Services (ODPS).

The Office for Patent and Trademark Information (OPTI) is now the Information Products Division and the Public Search Services Division. The Information Products Division is responsible for the Data Dissemination Branch providing magnetic tape products, and the ODPS providing optical disc products. The Public Search Services Division is responsible for the Public Search facilities at the USPTO and the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program. 

These two new divisions are under the Deputy CIO for Information Technology Services, Ron Hack. In addition to the Office of Information Dissemination Services, he has responsibility for several other areas including the USPTO Computer Center, Telecommunications Network, Help Desk and the USPTO Website

Another organizational change is that Wes Gewehr has become the Deputy CIO for Systems Modernization. He has shifted to the product development aspect of information technology. All of us who worked with Wes have appreciated the leadership and support he has given to the dissemination of USPTO's information products and services for the past six years. Thank you, Wes, and we wish you all the best in your new position!

USER RESPONSE TO THE Cassis2 TEST DISC 

The Cassis2 test disc was distributed to over 1300 users in January. Users were asked to respond to ODPP with comments, suggestions, and questions. We received approximately 100 responses. A postage-paid return postcard for comments was enclosed with the disc and this proved to be the most popular feedback vehicle. Comments were also sent via e- mail, telephone, and even U.S. mail. 

Here are a few of the comments we received:

The windows for viewing documents are too small.

Wonderful! Long overdue! How soon can I get ASSIST with the MPEP/TMEP in Cassis2 disc format?

Zoom control - good feature.

We need to be able to save data in spreadsheet format.

It would be nice if there was a cancel option if you accidentally sort a large number of records.

Looks like a user friendly interface.

After starting the program, I currently have to click 3 times every time until I get to Patents BIB search window. Just list all the Cassis products on the first screen. There's room to show the various patent and trademark, products right there.

Was not able to figure out how to select which data fields to display in the individual document window, as can do now. For example, suppose I only want to see the patent number, title, and publication date?

What about field selection for printing?

There is no way to print search history information.

Overall, the responses were positive about the search screens, the ease of use of the search screens, and the move to Windows functionality. Two recurring themes in the responses were about resolution problems and the need for the ability to export data.

In response to these user comments, the Cassis2 development team has been busy working to implement the data export capability, resolve resolution issues, as well as looking at integrating graphics with text records. They have also added the ability to resize the screens to allow for a larger display area and have worked out the functionality of having more than one database open at a time. 

In addition, the team is working on multiple style sheets to offer a variety of display and print options. They have also added the ability to print the search history. To eliminate a few steps in opening databases and to speed up access, most of the products are now displayed on the first screen as the program opens.

The next test disc will incorporate all of these changes. Plans are still being finalized about the data that will appear on this next test disc. We expect to distribute it in May or early June.

PTO BECOMES A PBO

Major changes are occurring at the Patent and Trademark Office, based on recently enacted legislation. The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 went into effect on 2000

March 29. The PTO has officially become a Performance-Based Organization (PBO). In addition, the Patent and Trademark Office officially became the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

A PBO is a concept created in 1996 by Vice President Al Gore and the National Partnership for Reinventing Government. A results-driven organization, a PBO delivers the best possible services to its customers. The USPTO is only the second government agency to become a PBO. 

A PBO commits to accountability for results by having clear objectives, specific measurable goals,customer service standards and targets for improved performance. In exchange for this commitment to accountability, it can be granted managerial flexibilities to achieve these goals.

Other important changes from this legislation include:

The domestic publication of foreign filed patent applications and domestically filed patent applications, if requested - called PGPub, for Pre-Grant Publications (you will hear more about this in the next issue of Cassis Currents);

The title of Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks has changed to Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO;

The Assistant Commissioner for Patents will now be known as Commissioner of Patents, and the Assistant Commissioner for Trademarks as the Commissioner of Trademarks; 

The separation of patent and trademark operations; 

Two nine-member advisory committees will be put in place, one for patents and one for trademarks, to review policies, goals, performance, budget, and fees.

As a USPTO customer, you will be hearing more about these changes and how they will affect the products and services that you receive.

USAPat BACK FILE NEWS

The USAPat back file project is moving ahead. An in-house test disc has been evaluated and approved. Data for the first 12 discs has already been sent for mastering and data continues to be processed for subsequent discs. Plans are in place to distribute the first set of 50 discs by 2000 September. 

The USAPat back file will consist of approximately 400 DVD-ROM discs containing the images of all U.S. patents granted from 1790 to the present. The back file must be purchased as a complete set and is available for $20,000. For more information, contact ODPS.

DocDW UPDATE

Over the past year, there have been many enhancements to the DocDW retrieval software used with the USAPat and USAMark document delivery products. In order to better document these enhancements and other changes, the DocDW User's Guide is currently being reformatted and updated. The User's Guide will use the same format as the Cassis2 Installation and Reference Manual that was distributed with the Cassis2 Test Disc. This will be the format used for all future optical disc product manuals, as well. The updated manual should be completed by the end of May.

We are also developing an online help system for both DocDW products. We anticipate an early version of the online help to be available for 2000 May issues. 

The DocDW team is pictured in Figure 1. Jeff Alderson is the ODPS staff member leading the team. Alison Hairston, Usha Ananthanarayan, and Debbie Askin provide DocDW programming support. Shahana Begum and Yousuf Nawab provide operational support for USAPat and USAMark data production. 

Figure 1 DocDW Team (left to right) Yousuf Nawab, Alison Hairston, Shahana Begum,
Usha Ananthanarayan, Debbie Askin, and Jeff Alderson

PTDL TRAINING SEMINAR XXIII COMES TO CRYSTAL CITY

During the week of March 19 through 24, more than 100 librarians from most of the 86 Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs) visited the USPTO for their twenty-third annual training seminar. Providing assistance to the public with the use of the patent and trademark information disseminated from the USPTO, these 86 libraries are located throughout the country, with at least one in each state, and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

In addition to the PTDL representatives, there were guests from several international organizations in attendance. These included the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the British Library, the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, and a representative of the World Patent Information publication.

This year's seminar featured updates on future changes due to recently passed legislation, USPTO automation, and the new Cassis2 interface. Six training sessions in the use of the new Cassis2 interface were held for the attendees. This training gave them an overview as well as hands-on experience with the new product that will soon be available to the public at their libraries. 

We received many comments and suggestions during these training sessions. A photo of one of the training classes is shown below in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Cassis2 Training Class at PTDL Training Seminar XXIII

DISTRIBUTION OF USAPat FRONT FILE ON DVD-ROM BEGINS

After a slow start due to problems with the manufacturing contract, the production and distribution of USAPat for 2000 on DVD-ROM has begun. The production backlog will be entirely caught up in April. Very soon, future production will be back on track for shipping discs 10 - 15 days after issue. Because of the capability to store approximately 10 times as much data as CD-ROM, you will only receive 1 DVD-ROM per week, instead of the 5-7 discs you had been receiving. We hope that you will find this to be a major improvement for space and filing. Please verify that you have received all discs. Let us know if you have not received all issues by mid-May.

Figure 3 displays the catch-up production schedule for USAPat for 2000 January - March.

Figure 3   USAPat Production Schedule

Issue	Mailing Date	Pressing Date	Shipping Date
USP2000W01	6 March	F12 March	28 March
USP2000W02	6 March	13 March	29 March
USP2000W03	15 March	20 March	30 March
USP2000W04	15 March	30 March	3 April
USP2000W05	16 March	1 April	4 April
USP2000W06	17 March	1 April	4 April
USP2000W07	21 March	2 April	4 April
USP2000W08	21 March	2 April	4 April
USP2000W09	30 March	5 April	7 April
USP2000W10	30 March	5 April	7 April
USP2000W11	30 March	6 April	10 April
USP2000W12	30 March	6 April	10 April
USP2000W13	30 March	7 April	11 April
USP2000W14	7 April	11 April	14 April