USPTO has launched Interactive Patent Pendency Model (PPM)

The USPTO on December 19 announced the launch of an interactive patent pendency model (PPM) that enables users to see how overall application pendency is affected by the number of examiner hires per year; the amount of overtime worked, and patent filing levels. In one example, the model shows that an additional 1,000 examiners hired in the period during 2010-2012 could reduce the backlog from 719,000 to just over 470,000 by the end of 2012. Alternatively, if no new examiners were hired and no overtime was allowed, the current backlog could increase to 1,651,000, and the first action pendency would increase from 25 months to 67 months. The PPM was established to further the USPTO's efforts to increase transparency and to reduce patent pendency. The PPM webpage can be found in the Patent statistics area of the USPTO Web site.

Free access Weblink to chemical molecules and associated patents

Ipblogger has come across a weblink under the link name http://www.chemspider.com/. The said weblink is a free access service providing a structure centric community for chemists. Providing access to millions of chemical structures and integration to a multitude of other online services, ChemSpider is the richest single source of structure-based chemistry information.

A simple or an advanced search for a particular molecule can provide the searcher a good deal of information pertaining to different chemical properties as well as patent information from the USPTO, EPO as well as PCT website. The search takes few seconds to complete. Interested scientist/chemist can further create an account and can also upload information. Although this is a free to access website but ipblogger would like to recommend the same to each and every scientist/chemist to try this website once.

Note: Ipblogger would like to specially acknowledge Mr. Ratish Acharya who provided the information about this website.

Setrue Patent search-A free patent search tool

A new “free” patent search tool called the Setrue Semantic Patent Search Engine has been explored by the Ipblogger. The Setrue website states that the search tool includes features such as: semantic natural language query capabilities; query auto-complete suggestions; detailed USPTO class directory structure enabling a one click segmentation of search results to a specific USPTO patent class; clustering of search results by USPTO classes; clustering of search results by years; clustering of search results by assignees; similar patents segmentation; dynamic weighting of search terms; and much more.

Ipblogger would like to mention that the Setrue semantic patent search engine is a free patent search engine for non-commercial usage only. If you are a law firm, a private patent attorney, a patent search agency, a litigation attorney, or a corporation, or if you are planning to use Setrue semantic patent search engine commercially, the website asks that the Setrue sales team be contacted first to purchase a commercial license. The basic Setrue search tool is available here, with advanced search capabilities available here.

Website for searching US patent attorneys

Ipblogger had come across a site www.patentbuddy.com which is dedicated for searching out good US attorneys. The site mentions as of today 39,259 attorneys/agents and 13,081 organizations. The site covers all USPTO-registered patent attorneys and agents, not just members. This site is also an interactive place where one can social networks or groups of myriad interests. One advantage of this site is the feasibility monitoring the career moves of other attorneys and agents, going thorugh their career history and a listing of their current and past colleagues.