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Where URLs are requested below, it is preferred that either URLs which a= re likely to remain stable over time (three years or more) are provided, or= home (main) page URLs are provided with a short explanation of how to acce= ss the corresponding information.
The term "patent" covers utility models and Supplementary Protection Cer= tificates (SPCs). Offices which issue design patents should report their de= sign patent information activities in their Annual Technical Reports on Ind= ustrial Design Information Activities.
Applications for national UK patents went down slightly from 29,911 in 2= 002 to 29,819 in 2003 (-0.3 %). In 2003, and in its capacity as a receiving= office, the UKPO handled around 8,100 applications for European patents. A= pplications from UK residents fell from 20,304 to 20,158 (-0.7 %). Patents = granted increased from 8,690 to 9,761 from 2002 to 2003 (+12.3%).
The surge in applications for patents relating to electronic commerce ac=
tivities which resulted from the dot com boom means we are now refusing an =
increasing number of applications because methods for doing business as suc=
h are not patentable under the law.
Small organic compounds continue to dominate in the field of pharmaceutica=
l patents where the prime targets are still cancer, heart disease, Human Im=
munodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and an=
ti-inflammatory therapies. However, activity has been influenced by world e=
vents such as the emergence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and=
the threat of anthrax poisoning. In the related field of biotechnology the=
re has been a notable drop in applications for =E2=80=9Cper se=E2=80=9D gen=
e inventions. This may be a consequence of the Office=E2=80=99s published E=
xamination Guidelines for Biotechnological Inventions which gives applicant=
s a greater understanding of the current requirements for industrial applic=
ability and inventive step for such inventions. On the increase is the numb=
er of applications based on gene silencing and Ribonucleic Acid interferenc=
e (RNAi) technology.
(1) Paper
A-Documents
These are prepared by an outside printer. The front page is compiled by do=
wnloading bibliographic data (ASCII with special characters) from the corpo=
rate database OPTICS to the Internet for collection by the external printer=
. The data is composed using XICS (Xerox Integrated Composition System), a =
bespoke system of Xerox. The abstract text, typed or scanned, is added, and=
any abstract drawings are scanned and merged to finalise the front page. T=
he finished page is added to the rest of the specification and reproduced. =
The finished documents are then scanned onto CD on a weekly basis for the E=
PO (WIPO Standard ST.33). The publishing cycle is 5 weeks.
B-Documents
These are prepared by an outside printer. The front page is compiled by do=
wnloading bibliographic data (ASCII with special characters) from the corpo=
rate database OPTICS to the Internet for collection by the external printer=
. The data is composed using XICS (Xerox Integrated Composition System), a =
bespoke system of Xerox. The finished page is added to the rest of the spec=
ification and reproduced. The finished documents are then scanned onto CD o=
n a weekly basis for the EPO (WIPO Standard ST.33). The publishing cycle is=
5 weeks.
(2) CD-ROM
In association with the EPO, we publish GB A-documents on CD-ROM on a fort=
nightly basis, ESPACE-UK. The CD-Rom collection covers the years 1979 to da=
te, i.e. for GB serial numbers in excess of 2,000,000.
In conjunction with the EPO and the IP Offices of Belgium, Switzerland, Ho=
lland, Luxembourg and Portugal, an ACCESS-EUROPE CD-ROM containing the bibl=
iographic data of published BE, CH, LU, NL and UK applications is produced =
on a monthly basis.
(3) Patents and Designs Journal
Official notices and selected bibliographic data relating to UK patent app=
lications and granted patents are published in the official weekly newspape=
r called the Patents and Designs Journal on the date of publication. The Jo=
urnal appears on the Patent Office website in PDF format, at www.patent.gov=
.uk/patent/notices/journals/2003.
(4) ESPACENET, EPOQUE etc
The full text, drawings and bibliographic data of all published UK patent =
applications and granted patents is published on the EPOQUE system soon aft=
er the domestic publication date. Esp@cenet is a free internet service whic=
h contains a number of different patent collections including all GB applic=
ations published since 1978 (http://gb.espacenet.com/).
The Patent Office website (www.patent.gov.uk) plays an increasingly impo= rtant part in the dissemination of notices regarding patents and other IPR.= In particular we frequently hold consultations with our community of users= . However we continue to place such announcements in our Journal of Patents= and Designs, which is available without charge on our website.
The office has a DVD and CD-ROM collection containing published/granted =
US, WO, EP and GB documents on CIMS (Consolidated Imaging System), which ca=
n produce paper copies of documents for use in the office.
The office has a classified paper collection of GB documents, with some WO=
and EP documents classified on the UK Key between certain dates. The offic=
e also has a partial collection of US, EP and WO documents classified under=
ECLA (this collection is now frozen and in the process of being disposed o=
f since it is more effectively searchable on EPOQUE).
The Patent Office uses Microsoft Windows NT4 which provides an integrate=
d and extensive network of applications that are available to all staff. Al=
l staff have their own personal workstation on which numerous applications =
are available. Word processing can be carried out using Word Perfect 8 or W=
ord XP; Powerpoint and Excel are also available; all classification keys us=
ed by the examining staff (UK Key, ECLA, ICO, IPC, USPC and Japanese F- and=
FI-Terms) are accessible, as are office notices, manuals, search tools inc=
luding access to online databases, internal and external telephone director=
ies, translation software, management and administration information etc. T=
here is also a corporate mainframe database (OPTICS), a Paradox database (P=
AFS) for recording file movement data and examining group statistics, and a=
utomated production of search and examination reports using the PROSE syste=
m. The office intranet contains a very large collection of essential inform=
ation for staff, including search and classification tools.
Copies of US, EP, WO and GB documents cited in the search reports are prod=
uced by the in-house centralised printing system (CIMS) for supply to appli=
cants, and in addition this system has been extended to enable the ad hoc o=
rdering by staff of any types of patent documentation from CIMS, direct fro=
m their desktop. All staff have access to the Internet and to the office in=
tranet and have their own e-mail (via Groupwise 5.5) and official e-mail ad=
dress.
See =E2=80=9CPublishing, printing, copying etc.=E2=80=9D.
Our staff can translate any document to or from English, French or Germa= n (and possibly Japanese and/or Russian) using translation software that is= available at the desktop. Patent examiners check all patent abstracts prov= ided by the applicant, and amend them when necessary to ensure that the abs= tract printed on the front page represents a useful search tool.
The office classifies UK patent applications on the UK Classification Ke=
y (Edition V in 2003) and the IPC (7th Edition). The office does not reclas=
sify documents except as a result of a UK Key change.
On 1 January 2003, Edition V of the UK Key came into force. Certain amende=
d parts of the Key were republished and these republished parts together wi=
th the unamended parts of Edition T collectively constitute Edition V. Key =
changes for Edition V have been effected in the following headings:
A6D Radical overhaul.
G1A Clarifications in heading introduction
G4A Reorganisation and further detail classification.
G4H Detail classification
G4T Clarification of heading scope.
G4V Clarification of classifying schedule; Detail classification and intro=
duction of indexing schedule 3.
G4X Detail classification and introduction of indexing schedule.
H2E Further detail classification.
H3P Detail classification
H4B Detail classification.
H4F Replace Terms FBB and FRW with FBBB and FRWX
H4L Further detail classification; Clarifying amendments.
H4M Clarification of relationship with between headings H4P and H4B
U1S New Schedule - Schedule 4
Some UK Key headings have deep indexing schemes, with terms that are ele= ctronically searchable on OPTICS.
Double-purpose indexing, currently a feature of the IPC, is searchable i= n the usual forms in which the IPC is searched. Such schemes do not exist i= n the UK Key.
Bibliographic data, abstracts (checked by examiners) and full specificat= ions of GB documents are uploaded via CDs and tapes to EPO databases such a= s EPODOC on a weekly basis. This information can be searched there.
File building and updating of our paper search files classified under th=
e UK Key is centralised, as are our progressively-disappearing search files=
classified under ECLA.
Our UK Key paper search files contain GB A-documents to date, pre-1978 Old=
Act GB documents, a collection of Irish documents and some other documents=
as requested by the examiner in charge of a particular heading. The docume=
nts are placed in easily-searchable collections of box files. Whenever a do=
cument is published, a spare copy of the document from the printer is sent =
to the examining groups, optionally placed on a search card as required, an=
d then placed in the right box file for the correct UK Key heading(s) and m=
ark(s) that have been applied to the document. This is a constant process a=
nd the UK Key files are always growing. These search files also contain fro=
zen collections of US, EP and WO documents within certain date ranges that =
vary for the headings concerned.
Our collection of ECLA files (containing US, EP and WO documents) has now =
been frozen as mentioned above. The majority of this formerly very large co=
llection has now been disposed of.
All the UK search files above are also available electronically on our OPT=
ICS database.
See =E2=80=9CFile building=E2=80=9D above. Upkeep of search files is car= ried out centrally by administrative staff, in a process that includes list= ing (comparing the search file contents with the OPTICS record of what shou= ld be on that file).
See =E2=80=9CFile building=E2=80=9D above and =E2=80=9CMass storage medi= a used=E2=80=9D above.
See =E2=80=9CFile building=E2=80=9D above. Patent collections from the r= est of the world that are not in our collection are available by online sea= rch techniques.
The OPTICS (Office of Patent and Trademarks Integrated Computer System) = database is the only in-house system we have for searching. See =E2=80=9CEq= uipment used=E2=80=9D below. Technical searching can be carried out on sing= le UK Key classifying or indexing terms, combinations of terms from the sam= e or different headings, etc. IPC terms can be searched too, as can registe= r, legal status and other parameters.
We have a list of over 40 external databases that we use regularly, incl= uding EPODOC, WPI, JAPIO, CAS ONLINE and other specialised chemical, biotec= h, electrical and other databases. We interrogate these databases using a n= umber of online hosts that the office subscribe to, including EPOQUE, STN, = DIALOG and others. Our official policy is that a worldwide online search sh= ould be carried out as whole or part of every patent search done in this of= fice.
Register and legal status information is stored on the OPTICS database, = as are a number of types of statistics such as file sizes for UK Key marks.= Examining group statistics, file movements etc. are recorded using a Parad= ox system called PAFS (see =E2=80=9CWord processing and office automation= =E2=80=9D above).
Our corporate database (OPTICS) runs on an ICL mainframe located at the = Logica Data Centre at Bridgend, South Wales. The internal network uses a cl= ient-server arrangement on an Ethernet LAN running Novell Netware. The SAGE= platform used by the Patents Directorate uses 3 PC database servers, for P= aradox applications, the directorate e-mail =E2=80=9CPost Office=E2=80=9D a= nd for providing various other applications such as Windows, OPTICS, EPOQUE= etc. Client PCs are used by all staff as are Pentium machines with a mixtu= re of 15", 17" and 21" screens, which are mostly CRT but with an increasing= number of new LCD space-saving screens.
We use some EPO tools such as EPOS for finding out synonyms for helping = with keyword searches, and a number of other EPO preparations. The UK Key C= atchwords Index and the IPC Catchword Index are available on examiners=E2= =80=99 desktops and on paper, and a scientific dictionary called Routledge = is also available on desktops. All these tools are used regularly.
Our internal library is in our Newport office and is run by the Document=
ation Unit. The available collections include GB abridgements/abstracts (in=
cluding Bennet-Woodcroft), copies of the UK Key, IPC and ECLA, various pamp=
hlets, manuals and other publications, some law reports, name and subject-m=
atter indexes for locating old historic patents, official journals of the U=
K (Patent and Designs Journal) and of the EPO, magazines for circulations e=
tc. Much of this information is also available on the office Intranet. The =
collections are located in our main building and are therefore secure.
=
We have a Front Office in London which is primarily used to help in lodgin=
g patent applications. There are facilities for the public, both in that of=
fice and in our main Newport office in Wales, where official publications c=
an be obtained and where searching e.g. on the Internet can be carried out.=
All staff are free to suggest additional material for inclusion in our l= ibrary collection, and suggestions are periodically invited by management.<= /p>
The Documentation Unit is charged with the task of maintaining our libra= ry.
The Science Reference and Information Service (SRIS) of the British Libr=
ary, located in St. Pancras, London, houses the national collection of pate=
nts, science and technology. It remains administratively separate from the =
UK Patent Office, and is funded by the UK Government=E2=80=99s Department o=
f Culture, Media and Sport and by revenue from its services which are heavi=
ly used.
SRIS has telephone access to selected examiners in the Patent Office, to h=
elp with public enquiries on patent searching.
SRIS and the Patent Office jointly offer support to the Patents Informatio=
n Network (PIN), which consists of 13 libraries outside London, open to the=
public, which hold patent material. Both SRIS and the PIN libraries collec=
t most patent specifications in CD-ROM format rather than in paper or micro=
form, although some continue to arrive on paper. Over 25 countries=E2=80=99=
patents are covered.
SRIS also continues to offer public access to commercial patent online dat=
abases through its Patents Online search service. This is a priced service =
which handles a number of commissioned searches monthly, mostly for subject=
searches.
The Patent Office takes part in numerous exchange and grant programmes wit=
h other patent offices around the world as in previous years. IP documentat=
ion received by the Patent Office is not held by us but by the British Libr=
ary which provides a national resource for users of this information.
The Patent Office=E2=80=99s Search and Advisory Service continues to pro=
mote its activities in providing priced non-statutory patent and trade mark=
investigations. In all, 7050 patent and trade mark-based searches were pro=
cessed, an increase of about 20 % over the previous 12 months. This is a re=
sult of considerable growth in trade mark requests and UK award schemes for=
smaller technologically-oriented companies, such as the Smart scheme which=
aims to enhance competitiveness by encouraging innovation. The Service is =
also looking to build on its provision of commercial patentability and infr=
ingement searches.
The Patent Office=E2=80=99s call centre (Central Enquiry Unit) continues t=
o provide a much needed service to customers, with about 3,000 enquiries co=
ming in every week. Customer satisfaction is very high.
See =E2=80=9CInterlibrary lending=E2=80=9D for details of library services=
remote from our office.
We apply all relevant WIPO standards including ST.8 for machine-readable= records.
Paper. We can accept priority documents in CD form provided they have th= e appropriate electronic signature.
Filing is on paper only at present, but means to allow electronic filing= and electronic case management are being developed. Electronic filing is e= xpected to be implemented in our office in 2004.
We send copies of GB A- and B-specifications electronically to the EPO w= eekly.
Nothing new since the 1997 report.
The UK Patent Office has an active programme of bilateral and other coop= eration with various countries, including a number of developing countries.= In 2003, the Search and Advisory Service carried out 21 free patent search= es for WIPO under the programme of Patent Information Services for Developi= ng Countries. We also deliver seminars and lectures in various places inclu= ding developing countries.
As in past years, the Marketing and Information Division of the Patent O= ffice has continued to have a presence at many exhibitions, to give seminar= s, and to host visits to the Office. In order to get the widest possible co= verage in the media, the Patent Office employs a PR company whose role it i= s to develop newsworthy stories about a wide range of intellectual property= issues and to effectively communicate them to the media, as well as having= a more general liaison role with the media.
See =E2=80=9CEvolution of patent activities=E2=80=9D above.
Nothing new since the 1997 report.
1. | Classification is=
allotting one or more classification symbols (e.g., IPC symbols) to a pate=
nt application, either before or during search and examination, which symbo=
ls are then published with the patent application.
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2. | Preclassification=
is allotting an initial broad classification symbol (e.g., IPC class or su=
bclass, or administrative unit) to a patent application, using human or aut=
omated means for internal administrative purposes (e.g., routing an applica=
tion to the appropriate examiner). Usually preclassification is appli=
ed by the administration of an office.
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3. | Reclassification =
is the reconsideration and usually the replacement of one or more previousl=
y allotted classification symbols to a patent document, following a revisio=
n and the entry into force of a new version of the Classification system (e=
.g., the IPC). The new symbols are available on patent databases. &= nbsp; |