An Introduction To U S Patent Searching

Whether you're a patent examiner, patent attorney, commercial patent searcher, patent liaison, IP librarian, law professor, or competitive intelligence analyst, you'll find Patent Searching: Tools and Techniques to be just the guide you have been waiting for, with a range of approaches to patent searching that will be useful to you regardless of your technical expertise or role in the intellectual property community.

This work first provides a general overview of the U.S. patent system, covering such issues as the patent document and patent infringement. The requirements of the invention and the conditions for patentability are discussed, with a focus on the patent application and the approval process. Major patent offices and international patent treaties are next examined, providing a full description of both the U.S. and international patent and classification systems. Methods for searching patent documents, the requirements of a reference, and general patent rights are discussed.

After an introduction to patents, their historical development and their current characteristics, this book describes the uses to which patents can be put, followed by details of their availability. You get a lot for your money with this book...content is extensive...historical background enlightening and more universal than other texts...has a good international viewpoint. --THE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION RECORD

The U.S. patent system is in an accelerating race with human ingenuity and investments in innovation. In many respects the system has responded with admirable flexibility, but the strain of continual technological change and the greater importance ascribed to patents in a knowledge economy are exposing weaknesses including questionable patent quality, rising transaction costs, impediments to the dissemination of information through patents, and international inconsistencies. A panel including a mix of legal expertise, economists, technologists, and university and corporate officials recommends significant changes in the way the patent system operates. A Patent System for the 21st Century urges creation of a mechanism for post-grant challenges to newly issued patents, reinvigoration of the non-obviousness standard to quality for a patent, strengthening of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, simplified and less costly litigation, harmonization of the U.S., European, and Japanese examination process, and protection of some research from patent infringement liability.

These Guidelines are designed both for general users of patent information, as well as for those involved in producing Patent Landscape Reports (PLRs). They provide step-by-step instructions on how to prepare a PLR, as well as background information such as objectives, patent analytics, concepts and frameworks.