Minesoft and RWS Group today announced important advances in patent Legal Status Searching in PatBase, the global patent family database.
As patent sales and licensing deals and patent infringement cases increasingly dominate world headlines, the need for accurate, easily accessible and interpretable legal status data is more critical than ever. Recognising this need, Minesoft and RWS Group have introduced impressive new legal status data functionality to PatBase.
Legal Status Timeline
The new Legal Status Timeline gives searchers a fresh way to obtain an overview of the legal events that have occurred during the lifetime of a patent application. A graphical timeline view of legal status events, such as the grant or lapse of a patent, for all members of the patent family is available for each record. The colour-coded timeline makes it easy to see events over time, with a legend provided for quick reference.
Status information is additionally available for EP (European) designated states once the European patent has granted – this represents a distinct advantage to PatBase users since this information is not readily available on other patent search platforms.
Legal Status Groupings
To improve search efficiency, the PatBase data team has now completed a project to create Legal Event Groupings. Similar events (for example Lapsed/Expired/Ceased/Dead) are grouped together and can now be searched simultaneously from the Legal Status search form, saving valuable time.
Completing the new array of legal status enhancements, new Grant commands have been introduced to PatBase allowing users to search across the database for any records containing granted patents from any country with a single database command.
Informing Business Decisions
Ann Chapman, Director at Minesoft, added “Celebrating its 10th anniversary year from October 2013, PatBase incorporates the European Patent Office (EPO) worldwide legal status file INPADOC, which has formed the basis for legal status patent searching for patent professionals for decades.
In partnership with RWS, we have focussed development efforts on Legal Status functionality in PatBase that will assist users in making informed decisions regarding freedom-to-operate in the marketplace, technology transfer and licensing opportunities and competitive intelligence. Used in conjunction with existing features such as direct national register links and colour-coded legal status tables, these latest enhancements will benefit any searcher looking for concise legal status information for patents.”
For further information on PatBase, please contact Minesoft on [email protected]