The use of American patent legal status query database

The Patent Literature DepartmentZou Chunqing

A,            The publicPAIRAnd personalPAIR

USA USPTO patent application information retrieval (Patent Application Information Retrieval, referred to as PAIR) is online America patent legal status query database. It includes two parts: public PAIR and private PAIR.

Public PAIR will only display the America patent (Issued Patents) and open application (Published Applications) legal status. With the patent number, application number, the public can be legal status query on the public PAIR.

Electronic text of individual PAIR so that customers can from the Internet to view the latest patent legal state. Pending stage users personal PAIR can safely, instant into America patent application from the Internet, and full use of digital certification issued American patent and Trademark Office public key mechanism. America patent and Trademark Office for all the responses of the patent application, PAIR can provide instant information for users. However, the authorized user can use individual PAIR, these users instant view information is a prerequisite: must be patent attorneys, patent attorneys, independent inventors; there must be a user ID; must have a digital certificate must be related to PKI.

Two,            PAIRQuery interface

The public PAIR is open for all the public on the Internet, so the content of this article is limited to the public PAIR, later in the paper in the introduction, PAIR refers only to the public PAIR. Below is the PAIR query interface:

 Figure 1The PAIR query interface

The query interface is very simple, the left "select search mode" (select search method) is a drop-down button box, the most commonly used is the Application Number (application number) and Patent Number (Patent No.). For example, search for Patent Number, the "number" (Enter Number) box, enter "5000000" after the carriage return, there will be the following interface:

 Figure 2Application data

Three,             "Application data"

In fact, PAIR 6-7 total available options to open, open the default is "application data" (application data), the options are as follows:

Application Number: application No.

Filing or 371 (c) application of Date: or 371(c) date

Application Type: application type

Examiner Name: reviewer's name

Group Art Unit: Technology Group

Confirmation Number: No.

Attorney Docket Number: lawyer sign

Class / Sub-Class: / small class number

First Named Inventor: the first inventor Full name

Title of Invention: invented the name

Customer Number: the name of client

Status: legal status

Status Date: legal status date

Location: shows that the official document current location

Location Date: storage date

Earliest Publication No: is the earliest Publication No.

Earliest Publication Date: is the first public date

Patent Number: patent No.

Issue Date of Patent: patent authorization date

In addition to the above "application data" option, this paper focuses on "to continue to apply data" (Continuity Data) and the "cost" (Fees) the two most commonly used options.

Four,            "To continue to apply data"

Open to application data label is shown below:

Figure 3To continue to apply data

"To continue to apply data" mainly have two columns: "source to continue to apply data" that this application (07/3520621989 May 15th application) is proposed based on a prior application application, while "to continue to apply data" that the application after the application is based on. The combination of these two columns in the content, can draw:

1       This application (07/352062) is another USA application 07/239099 (source application) part to continue to apply, but the source application has to give up;

2       America application 07/624227 (sub application) and 07/670821 (sub application) is the application (07/352062) part continue to apply for, have to give up;

3       American application 07/846344 (sub application) is the application (07/352062) part to continue to apply, has authorized (Patent No. 5424202).

Five,            Cost.

This option has several radio button:

L         Maintenance fee -- payment query (Maintenance Fees - Retrieve fees to pay): to provide maintenance fee to pay.

L         Maintenance fee -- to view the payment window (Maintenance Fees - View payment windows): should provide payment date.

L         Maintenance costs -- see "fourth years" to pay annual fee window (Maintenance Statement View 04 year payment window): to provide "payment payment year fourth years".

L         Maintenance costs -- see "eighth years" to pay annual fee window (Maintenance Statement View 08 year payment window): to provide "payment payment year eighth years".

L         Maintenance costs -- see "Twelfth years" to pay annual fee window (Maintenance Statement View 12 year payment window): to provide "payment payment year twelfth years".

 More than 90% of the USA invalid patent, is due to unpaid maintenance fee. With this option, you can easily query to the situation.

American patent fee is divided into three payment payable from the date of authorization: fourth years, eighth years, Twelfth years. In particular: calculated from the date of patent authorization, back three years (if it is a non work day postponed) the corresponding day of "fourth years" to pay the annual open day (Open Date), with an open date one year as the deadline of payment, so in the future four years of patent authorization corresponding day "fourth years" to pay annual closing date (close date). "Eighth years", "Twelfth years" to pay the annual fee is this year. For example, US5000000 patent authorization date is March 19, 1991, so the "fourth years" to pay annual open day for March 21, 1994 (1994 March 19, 20 for non working days), closing date for March 20, 1995 (because March 19, 1995 is the non working days), the following is the United States Patent 5000000 check the payment window:

Figure 4Maintenance fee -- to view the payment window

As for the query USA No. 5000000 patent maintenance fees, can one by one to open the three "fourth years", "eighth years", "Twelfth years" to pay annual fee view window, if you open a window in the lower part of the page with a single table, that in the years to maintain cost paid. Below is the US5000000 patent in the "Twelfth years" to pay annual fee of the patent, payment records in the "Twelfth years" to pay the annual, this means that the term of protection of the patent America will maintain at the expiration of the (March 19, 2008).

Figure 5Table 1 the payment

Give a one year for non payment and the patent failure examples (American patent 5000002), when the payment we see "fourth years" payment year, did not appear the payment form, and in the corresponding position of the display:

*ERROR: There is no statement available for selected payment year

Figure 6Display no payment conditions

Description of the selected "fourth years" pay no annual payment records, then click the button "Get Bibliographic Data" (into the bibliographic data), the following display:

Figure 7Patent bibliographic data

Found that the patent authorization in the "fourth years" after the payment from the corresponding column, until the window is closed (1995/03/19), also did not pay the first maintenance time, so the patent invalidation.

As another before payment is to pay the annual maintenance fee, but the pay period continued to pay an annual not to (American patent 5508995). When the query "fourth years" and "eighth years" to pay annual fee, fee schedule are similar to figure 5, show that in the two year patent fee, maintenance fee per capita paid. But when the query "Twelfth years" to pay annual premium payments, will appear similar to the interface shown in Figure 6, then click on the "Get Bibliographic Data" button, the display will appear:

Table 5 records have been paid to maintain the bibliographic data fee