Announcing New “Search and Save” Search Tool

Wednesday, 14 January 2009

Introducing Search and Save, the online search tool that lets you save selected search results: http://search.patentbytes.com

Search and Save lets you conduct a search, presently using Google’s patent, web, books, and blog search engines. As you find search results that you want to remember or come back to, you simply click the “copy” button and that search result is copied to another part of the page. All of the search results that you save will remain saved while you continue to review other search results and make further search queries. The Search and Save tool is particularly useful for conducting patentability searches. As you find patents, books, articles, or other “material” items, you can copy them to the saved column, where they will remain while you continue your search.
Search and Save is still in beta testing, and is still undergoing further development. Future improvements will include the ability to export the saved search results, for example to a csv file. For now, you can simply copy/paste the saved results into a separate document, such as a Word document, if you would like to retain a record of the search. There are also plans to expand the data sources that are available for searching.

Esp@cenet Introduces New SmartSearch

Thursday, 8 January 2009

Espacenet.com has introduced a new Smart Search feature, presently in beta phase. This new Smart Search feature allows for searching the Esp@cenet worldwide patent database using a single search field for keywords, inventor names, publication numbers, etc. If you have used Esp@cenet before, you know that in the past you had separate fields for each type of search entry. This new Smart Search looks like it will be a welcomed improvement.

Give the new Smart Search a try now. UPDATE: The search form has been moved to the right column.

Patents for Sale or License in the Official Gazette

Tuesdays are special days.  Patents always issue on Tuesdays, so each Tuesday brings with it a new batch of patents to explore.  Tuesdays are also the days when you can get a great deal on tacos at Rosa’s Cafe (if you are fortunate enough to be near one).

 If you are in the market for a new patent, or if you have a patent to sell, then once a month Tuesday is particularly interesting.  On the second Tuesday of each month the Official Gazette of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office lists patents for sale or license.  If you would like to list a patent for sale or license, contact the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at at 703.308.9250 ext. 143.  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s website states that the cost is $25 per listing.  More information about listing a patent for sale or license in the Official Gazette can be found here: http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/pubs/pubsservices.htm

Conduct full-text search of MPEP, TMEP, PCT Regulations, and BPAI Opinions.

Today I added some new searching functionality to PatentBytes.com. For now there are four different searches available. You can conduct a full-text search of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP), opinions of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI), and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), along with PCT Regulations and Administrative Instructions. The searches use Google’s searching technology to conduct custom searches of these documents. I hope you find these searches useful. Let me know if you experience any problems with the search features. Also, I’d like to add additional custom searches in the future. Let me know if you have any ideas for useful IP-related searches that can be added to this site. Direct feedback and suggestions to webmaster@patentbytes.com

Know of a good IP-related link, newsfeed, or blog?

Drop me a line and tell me about it. webmaster@patentbytes.com

Beginning today, www.patentbytes.com will take you to the new beta site. The old site is still up and running, and I’ve provided a link at the bottom of the page to the old site. The old site will continue to be updated and maintained just as it always has for the foreseeable future. My plan is to keep both sites running in parallel until I reach a point where I’m confident that the new site is stable and offers the same features as the old site. Well, at least those features that I plan to keep. If you would like to link directly to the old site, you can do so by using the url www.patentbytes.com/index.php.

Welcome to the Beta site for the new PatentBytes website!

This site is still under construction and undergoing testing. I plan to continue to add many of the same features that were included on the old PB site. The new PB site will still provide the latest IP-related headlines and blog titles from around the web. I also plan to continue blogging about IP issues as things capture my interest and as time permits. I’m not a professional or paid blogger – this is nothing more than a hobby for me. I’ve got a few other ideas I’m kicking around in my head. My main goal for the new site is to make information more visible and easier to find. I hope it becomes a useful resource for you.

Search engines commonly include targeted advertising along with search results. If your company owns trademarks, you may have also noticed that some of these ads include your mark.

So what can you do if you feel that your mark is being used in one of these ads in such a way that it violates your trademark rights?