2009 Patent Update Chemistry Librarians Workshop University of Toronto / June 5, 2009

1. 2009 Patent UpdateChemistry Librarians WorkshopUniversity of Toronto / June 5, 2009 Michael White Engineering & Science Library Queen’s University michael.white@queensu.ca

2. Stormy Weather • Fewer applications in 2008-2009 • EPO  1% (big drop in Q4) • JPO  1.2% • UKIPO  12% • USPTO  10% in 2009? • WIPO  2.4% (smallest increase since 2005) • Fewer maintenance fees paid • Companies weeding portfolios • CIPO budget = 52.3% • USPTO budget = 31.4% • Less revenue • USPTO hiring freeze • AU, DK, UK, EPO staff layoffs • Cancelled or delayed IT projects? CLOSED Sources: USPTO, EPO, JPO annual reports; IAM Magazine

3. Gloomy Forecast • Quality counts! Patent offices tightening up on allowed applications: • USPTO 44.2% ( from 72% in 2000) • JPO 48% • EPO 42% • Backlogs still growing: • EPO 250K / 40 months  1 million by 2011? • USPTO 1.2 million / 32.3 months • USPTO abandoned applications up 25% Sources: USPTO, EPO, JPO annual reports; IAM Magazine

4. Milder in Asia • 50+ % of new applications are filed in Asia (1.76 million worldwide) • 828K Chinese applications • Apps per million pop. (US = 800) • JP, KR 2500 • Apps per $million in R&D (US = .8) • KR 5.5 • CN, JP 3.5 • Top 25 university assignees • #10 Tsinghua University (Beijing) • #24 Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology Sources: WIPO 2008 World Patent Report; Boliven Top 25 Report, 2008

5. Patent Office Cooperation • USPTO Patent Prosecution Highway (est. in 2006) • Fast track patent application process; eliminate redundancy • Partners: DE, SG, KR, AU, CA, JP, EPO, AU, UK • Patent Work Sharing Initiative (USPTO, KIPO, SIPO, EPO, JPO) • Common document database (EPO) • Common hybrid classification system (EPO) • Common application format (JPO) • Mutual machine translation (KIPO) • Common search and examination support tools (USPTO) • Common approach to sharing and documenting search strategies (USPTO) Sources: EPO Patent Information News, WIPO press releases

6. Fun Facts • EPO publishes 2,000,000th application in Dec. 2008 • USPTO issues patent 7,500,000 in Feb. • USPTO publishes 2,000,000th application in Feb. • Kia Silverbrook received 581 US patents in 2008 • Founder, Silverbrook Research, Sydney, AU • 400 employees • Specialist in inkjet printer technology • Issue fees = $438,655 (small entity fee) • 2,500 US patents total, 1994+

7. CIPO • “Filings down minimally but payment of maintenance fees down substantially” – CEO Mary Carman, May 7 • Patent Appeal Board rejects Amazon’s “one-click” patent application (CA 2246933A1) • Increase IP instruction at the university and college level • Canadian Patents Database • Data available within one week of filing / issue • PCT application data within 9 weeks of date of national entry • Modified search interface • Download biological sequence files

8. WIPO / PatentScope • Inventor and individual application address data suppressed • Does not affect searches or search alerts • Still printed on PDF • New kind codes • A4 Amended claims or statement • A8 republished front page data • A9 republished with corrections, alterations or supplements • Complete file contents of published applications (2006+) • Int. Application Status Report available • New 44-page guide to using patent information

9. USPTO • Record-breaking 495,095 applications in 2008 (5.7 percent) • New Director…TBA • Patent reform? • First to file v. first to invent • 18 month publication – no opt out • MPEP 8th edition, July 2008 rev. • Glossary of USPC terms US 7500000 – Method and system for assigning or creating a resource Assignee: IBM

10. New USPC Classifications • 850, Scanning probe techniques and apparatus • 73, Measuring and testing • 506, Combinatorial chemistry technology: method, library, apparatus • 374, Thermal measuring and testing US 7320261 - Animal skin and eye moisture and heat simulator

11. Chemical structure searching via SureChem • Personal accounts now store: • 10,000 documents in up to 20 folders • Titles added for cited references • CitePatents: encourage journalists and bloggers to link to patents mentioned in stories

12. EPO / esp@cenet • Beta SmartSearch • One search box for searching inventor & applicant names, numbers, dates, keywords, IPC • Advanced SmartSearch: Combine up to 21 terms in 23 fields • Download up to 100 pages • “My patents” stores 100 documents • Data for Cuba, Peru, Costa Rica and El Salvador • Chinese legal status back to 1985 • New online helpdesk for Indian patents • New online tutorials and webinars • Espace EP : search four weeks of EP full text documents • Global Patent Index in 2009?

13. Claims Display Priority Claims Table

14. Patent Family Chart US provisional applications US application WO application Full Text WO publication US patent

15. Boliven Patents • Launched in Jan. 2008 • Start-up company based in NYC • Search, analysis and valuation services • Networking site for inventors, IP attorneys, business development professionals • Patent database • US, KR, EP, JP… • 60 million documents

16. Boliven Patents Search Results

17. Analyze Search Results

18. Website for patent searchers • Created by Landon IP • patent and trademark search firm based in N. Virginia • Supported in part by advertising • Quick comparison of patent search systems • Find prior art resources by technical field • Interactive patent coverage map • Wiki - Best practices in prior art searching

19. Other News • IP Australia launches AusPat, retires PatentSearch • Bib data, 1970+; full text 1998 + • Google Patents • US applications added, six month delay • Patents.com launched in Sept. 2008 • Formerly Patentmonkey.com • US, 1976+; EP 1998+? • Supported by advertisements